Please note: Movement Circles were cancelled due to weather and have been rescheduled for May.
All are welcome to an informational program with guest speaker Tim Cywinski, Communication Director of the Sierra Club Virginia Chapter on First Day, January 11 at the rise of Meeting (12:30 - 2:00 pm).
The Earthcare Working Group, continuing our exploration of water issues, became interested in the phenomenal impacts of data centers. Data center developers are increasingly tapping into freshwater resources to quench the thirst of data centers, which puts nearby communities, and the greater aquifer source, at risk. A medium-sized data center can consume up to roughly 110 million gallons of water per year for cooling purposes, equivalent to the annual usage of approximately 1,000 households. Larger data centers can consume up to 5 million gallons per day, or about 1.8 billion annually, equivalent to usage of a town of 10,000 to 50,000 people!
We have invited Tim to do a deeper dive in our exploration. Tim is a noted expert speaker on data centers and skilled at empowering Virginians to voice their concerns when faced with powerful companies proposing such projects in their community. He will share latest information on the exponential increase of data centers in Virginia, their energy, environmental and economic impacts and what citizens can do. Tim will also share briefly on the environmental and environmental justice - related legislation being brought to this year’s General Assembly and ways we can support them.
Please bring your questions and thoughts to this first program of the New Year. There will be snacks! Questions? Contact Barb Adams.
Watch for a new date for an event with Steve Chase from Friends Meeting of Washington (FMW), who will share his personal and several Meetings' discernment journeys toward joining the Apartheid-Free Communities coalition and working for a truly just peace in Israel/Palestine. The original program has been postponed due to weather and driving conditions.
A brief excerpt from Steve Chase’s overview on the topic follows, with the idea that whatever the outcome of the cease-fire...
“We ... know that there will not be a sustainable or just peace without ending Israeli apartheid. We are therefore prepared to take up the long-term ministry of working to build a strong international, nonviolent, anti-apartheid movement in solidarity with Palestinian and Israeli activists. This will require us to engage in peace and justice advocacy, humanitarian assistance, peacebuilding efforts, and strategic nonviolent resistance—the four cornerstones of Quaker faith-based activism. ...
“... I often hear from people in the wider Quaker world who believe their congregations are just too divided, too ill-informed, or too apathetic to come to unity on Israel/Palestine. My response is that the experience of Friends Meeting of Washington proves that Quaker meetings can engage in deep discernment and move from fractured disunity and inaction to unity and powerful faith-based activism for peace, justice, and equality for all in Israel/Palestine.”
Reading Between the Lines will return on February 1 after taking a break in January.
Due to weather and driving conditions, Old Clerks/New Clerks has been rescheduled for Sunday, February 8, at 9 am in the community room! For both seasoned and new committee clerks, please join Nominating Committee for the annual clerking overview with coffee, tea, and bagels at 9 am, Sunday, February 1. The meeting starts at 9:15 am. Subjects covered include:
But, don't worry, you'll do fine!
Friends wanting to look at clerking resources may wish to visit the FGC site on the subject https://www.fgcquaker.org/fgcresources/practical/practices/clerking/ and this thoughtful article from Friends Journal https://www.friendsjournal.org/3011047/