Duluth was a robust village in the early fur trade on the Great Lakes, and today our community is the most active inland port in the global enterprise of shipping.
Things change.
For both enterprises on the Great Lakes, personal capacity depended on the community’s possibilities. The people who gather here understand Duluth is a port of possibilities. We believe in our ability to respond to challenges with focused teamwork, from digging the canal to funding the airport and building the DTA hub.
This is why you are invited to an unprecedented event in our port: the Duluth area’s People’s Climate Hike this Sunday from 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. at Kingsbury Creek. A group of local faith partners organized the gathering so we can demonstrate our hope and strengthen our teamwork. We do not intend to agonize over negative climate trends. With your help, we plan to magnify our teamwork and focus our gifts.
This bipartisan and nondenominational gathering was planned by local leaders with partners at Minnesota Interfaith Power and Light, Interfaith Power and Light and Bill McKibben’s global team at 350.org. It is our sense that God is still speaking.
Pope Francis, President Barack Obama and Gov. Mark Dayton all have said the time for climate teamwork is now. Researchers at the University of Minnesota Duluth echo that call. Our global situation calls us to respond to the greatest challenge ever confronted by Homo sapiens.
Our People’s Climate Hike will be aligned with the People’s Climate March on the same day in New York City. There may be hundreds of thousands involved with this national celebration of our creation and the recognition of climate warming. Our Duluth response will be digitally shared with our partners in New York City.
We are all in this together. And we need to respect each citizen’s gifts and capacity. We clearly need more assets to build our response together. Each year Minnesota spends $13 billion to import coal, oil and natural gas. We can do better for our kids.
Our local hike will begin at the trailhead for Kingsbury Creek, a site that was devastated by the 2012 storm of the millennium. The storm dropped 10 inches of rain in less than two days. That caused more than $100 million of damage to homes, businesses and our infrastructure. We need to pay attention.
Climate is one very large portion of our creation that supports our economy. Some arrogantly view the creation as external to the market. But people can work together to improve the odds for our kids, critters and communities.
Our gathering will give voice to our gratefulness for the creation and share direction toward more-focused teamwork.
We can choose a less-destructive energy path that will not hurt kids and communities - if we act together.
Our prayers also will be digitally shared with partners in New York City as we march in solidarity.
There is a role for faith in the 21st century. It begins with giving voice to our common ground. We hope your family and friends will join us to hike, celebrate and pray. Our response will be economic, political and spiritual. It seems possible the Pope, president and governor are right. Some of us are listening.
Bill Mittlefehldt of Duluth is a member of Peace Church and of the Minnesota Interfaith Power and Light Board.
