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Will TPA, TPP and TTIP create “Sufficient, Sustainable Livelihood for All?”

Rachel Williams, Legislative Intern

In the State of the Union speech last month, President Obama reaffirmed his priorities and his interest on passing trade agreements with Asia and the European Union. These agreements, he claimed, would “protect our workers, protect our environment and open new markets to new goods stamped ‘Made in the USA.'” Announcing his intentions, the President is now looking to Congress to help pass three main pieces of legislation, including:

  • Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) – the authority of the President to negotiate trade agreements from Congressional approval. It is a technique which has been used to block opportunities for dissenting members of Congress to amend or filibuster an agreement.
  • The Trans-Pacific Partnership Act (TPP) – A trade agreement between 11 different countries in the Pacific Ocean Region. Congress and the public have not seen the trade agreement itself, making it difficult to know the final compromises and agreements.
  • The Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) – A trade agreement with European Union members.

Trade may at times seem insignificant, but it affects many aspects of our daily lives: from jobs, wages, and benefits, to international relations and global poverty. In light of the globalizing economy and reality of these new agreements, we must ask ourselves as people of faith, “will these policies help all of God’s people thrive?”

The Evangelical Lutheran Church of America supports policies which help promote holistic economic growth, recognizing the value of raising families out of poverty and fostering a “sufficient, sustainable livelihood for all” (see the ELCA Statement on Economic Life). We believe that everyone should be able to support themselves and prosper within an economy.

Proponents of TPA support the trade agreements because it shows a united government during trade negotiations, creating stronger leverage in the trade talks. However, there is concerned about haste in passing these agreements. Some have indicated that there won’t be enough time to read the agreement, debate it, or know what agreements will actually be upheld in the final version. Opponents worry that, if written carelessly, agreements may continue to weaken standards that harm workers (both domestically and internationally), enable policies which harm the environment, and prey on marginalized communities for their resources. With that being said, strong trade policy can be a chance to create regulations that benefit both businesses and consumers.

The Church has acknowledged that what is in our interest must be placed in the context of what is good for the neighbor.When making decisions in the economic realm how our actions affect our neighbors must also be taken into consideration.Sudden shifts in globalized capital and financial markets can dramatically affect the economic well-being of millions of people, for good or for ill (ELCA statement on Economic Life).

Some Members of Congress have also explained how TPP and TTIP could be a chance to set high-standard trade rules for the international community. These trade agreements could create regulations that benefit both American businesses and consumers. Although TPP and TTIP can be a chance to create regulations that benefit both American businesses and consumers, terms of trade often work to the disadvantage of developing countries. Furthermore, benefits of trade agreements hinge on whether or not the countries signatory to them honor them as well whether there are ways to enforce the trade agreements.

Trade agreements are important reflections of our values as a country and can have a positive or detrimental effect on the daily lives of billions of people. With TPP agreements to finish in March, we will continue to support policies that are inclusive and protect marginalized populations. Trade agreements should give everyone a chance to thrive and create a livelihood can be an agreement we all can stand behind. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus brings good news to the poor and releases the captive. God executed justice for the oppressed. As followers of Christ, we must ensure that the actions of our government do not cause dire consequences to those with less power.

Lenten Reflection: Thinking about food in a time of fasting

Mary Minette, Director for Environmental Education and Advocacy

“You crown the year with your bounty; your wagon tracks overflow with richness.  The pastures of the wilderness overflow, the hills gird themselves with joy, the meadows clothe themselves with flocks, the valleys deck themselves with grain, they shout and sing together with joy.”

Psalm 65:11-13

For Lent, some people give up a favorite food as a way to reflect on scarcity and abundance, the gifts that God has given, and the sacrifice embodied in Christ’s life, death and resurrection.  I’ve done this myself because I thought it was a good way to focus on the meaning and purpose of the Lenten season (although my husband says that the year I gave up chocolate I became unbelievably cranky).  Rather than giving up a food this year, my plan for Lent is to try to be more mindful of and thankful for the food that blesses and feeds me and my family. I aim to do this by finding ways to eat more sustainably and avoid waste.

mary23If you’ve been reading the “Living Earth Reflections” I send each month, you probably know that I get a little obsessive about food waste.   I lay that at the feet of my depression-era mother, who never had a leftover too small to stick in a little plastic container against some future need.  For her to do otherwise would have gone against what she was taught during her childhood. Food was a gift and a blessing, especially in times of scarcity. To waste it was wrong.

She definitely had a point.  In our world of abundance, many still don’t have enough to eat.  In our country and in the developed world as a whole, we waste a lot of food.  This waste has economic, environmental and moral costs.

Each year an average U.S. family of four wastes an estimated $1484 in food. In our slowly growing and wage-stagnant economy, that’s not a small amount! In 2010, the USDA estimated that 153 billion pounds of food with a retail value of $161 billion was wasted by U.S. consumers and retailers, more than one-third of our food supply. Wasted food also wastes all of the resources that go into growing, shipping, packaging and refrigerating food before it even reaches your table—and this also includes a lot of energy, much of which comes from polluting fossil fuels.

Most wasted food ends up in a landfill. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, food thrown away by consumers, restaurants, grocery stores and others at all points along our industrial food chain is the largest single component of landfills.  Food waste not only takes up space in landfills, it also produces methane as it decays. (Methane is one of the most potent of the greenhouse gases that is causing climate change, and landfills are the third largest source of U.S. methane emissions.)

Then there is the moral cost of food waste. Wasting food shows disregard for the farmer who grew the food, to all those who played a role in bringing it to the table and to our God whose creation offers us food in abundance.  In a world where many of our neighbors are hungry, wasted food seems to embody an indifference to their suffering.  When your mother told you to “think of the starving children” if you refused to clean your plate, she was making a moral point that deserves further reflection.  How should we as Christians view a food system that allows millions of tons of food to rot in landfills while billions go hungry?  And what role does our own wasted food play in that system?

Lent and its focus on spiritual discipline is a good time to ponder the role of food in our lives and to try some new, more sustainable practices (and see if they stick).  Here are just a few:

Thank you for this opportunity to reflect with you today.

Reflect and take action with us this Lenten season

Tia Upchurch-Freelove, ELCA Program Director of Communications and Grassroots Outreach
“Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin?”
– Isaiah 58:6-7
This season of Lent is a time of fasting, prayer and reflection in preparation for the feast of Easter. The words of the prophet Isaiah remind us that our fasting should connect deeply to meaningful changes in the way we live our daily lives and the way we see our world.
As we journey through these 40 days of Lent, we invite you to join our ELCA Advocacy staff each week for reflections on important issues and discussions on ways in which we can act together to affect positive and long-lasting changes in our communities.
Today, on Ash Wednesday, we pray that God grants us renewed and honest hearts so that we may fully repent our sins and receive forgiveness through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. This day, we begin to think about the beauty and brokenness we see in our world, and we consider how our daily lives affect this beauty and brokenness.

Reflecting on hunger and poverty in our world

As you begin your fasting and reflection this week, consider those in the world for whom going hungry is not a spiritual practice. We encourage you to raise awareness around issues surrounding hunger and poverty by utilizing multiple important ELCA World Hunger resources:
Be the first to recieve our Advocacy Reflections this Lenten season by signing up for our ELCA Advocacy Alerts!

ELCA State Advocacy Update: February 2015

ELCA Advocacy

​Lutherans are taking action across the country! Below you will find our monthly State Advocacy Newsletter. Share with your friends!

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Washington, D.C.
Advocacy Director, Stacy Martin

LOGUMWe are a church energized by lively engagement in our faith and life. Informed by our Lutheran heritage and theology, the ELCA works for change in public policy based on the experience of Lutheran ministries and programs in communities around the world. We work to create and influence public policies that embody the biblical values of peacemaking, hospitality to our neighbors, care for creation, and concern for our sisters and brothers facing poverty and struggling with hunger or disease. As we engage with our elected officials in Congress and the administration in 2015, we work with a focus on the following advocacy priorities:

Addressing root causes of poverty and injustice internationally. This year, ELCA Advocacy will work to pass the Food for Peace Act, the International Violence Against Women Act, and will address funding needs for humanitarian relief and promote peace in the Middle East. In 2015, we will improve the treatment of migrants in-transit and seek opportunities to address the root causes of migration in Central America by ensuring policies uphold human rights and dignity. “Our calling to love of neighbor obligates us to act to prevent wars and seek alternatives to them” (ELCA Social Statement, “For Peace in God’s World”).

Caring for all of God’s creation. We look forward to gathering support for a strong Endangered Species Act, working to protect water and air standards, and continuing to encourage a strong and proactive U.S. position in the negotiations for the Paris climate change agreement. “Made in the image of God, we believe that we are called to care for the earth as God cares for the earth” (ELCA Social Statement, “Caring for Creation”).

Standing with our communities facing poverty and struggling with hunger and disease. Advocacy will work to help end hunger by enhancing domestic programs, including reauthorizing the Child Nutrition and WIC Act, supporting older Americans, establishing a sufficient living wage, securing funding for low-income housing, caring for veterans, ensuring a fair tax policy, and reforming education systems. “Out of deep concern for those affected adversely by poverty, we find it a moral imperative to seek a sufficient, sustainable livelihood for all” (ELCA Social Statement, “Sufficient, Sustainable Livelihood for All”).

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New York, NY
Advocacy Director, Dennis Frado

At the United Nations: This past January, LOWC collaborated on various documentary screenings at the U.N. Church Center and in New York focusing on detention facilities throughout the United States. Students from the University of Maryland visited LOWC on Jan. 16 to learn about the U.N.’s structure and focal points for the work of our office.

Hunger Leadership Gathering: ELCA Advocacy staff from our New York and Washington offices also participated and collaborated with Global Mission and ELCA World Hunger to lead workshops about proposed U.N. sustainability goals and action through advocacy at the ELCA World Hunger Leadership Gathering in San Francisco.

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California
Mark Carlson, Lutheran Office of Public Policy- CA ​

1ELCA Hunger Leadership Gathering: The Lutheran Office of Public Policy – CA, as a participant in the Sierra Pacific Synod Hunger Team, helped welcome participants to the San Francisco area, including several advocacy colleagues. LOPP-CA Director Mark Carlson, in cooperation with ELCA World Hunger staff and Oakland congregations, helped initiate site visits and neighborhood walks in Oakland. We walked to the Remember Them monument, and returned to San Francisco past BART’s Fruitvale Station, the location of the Oscar Grant shooting. Later, ELCA Director of Domestic Policy John Johnson joined Mark in Sacramento for the annual MLK365 march, which drew an estimated 29,000 walkers.

Sustainable Development Goals and the U.N. 70th anniversary:2 Mark joined ELCA pastors and community representatives in an initial planning meeting for a Swedish church choir visit to California. A focus of the event will be celebration of progress made on the Millennium Development Goals and call to action on the new Sustainable Development Goals.

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Colorado
Peter Severson, Lutheran Advocacy Ministry – Colorado 

Families living in poverty: Lutheran Advocacy Ministry-Colorado Director Peter Severson testified before the Senate Health and Human Services Committee in support of a bill to allow child-support payments from non-custodial parents to “pass through” to the child in cases where the custodial family is also receiving benefits from the Colorado Works program (SB15-012). LAM-CO supports this change to allow children living in poverty to gain the benefit of child-support payments that are owed to them, overwhelmingly used for basic medical, educational and food expenses.

Affordable housing: LAM-CO is supporting a bill to use money from a surcharge increase on county documents for an affordable housing fund administered by the Colorado Housing Finance Authority (SB15-079).

Events: Lutheran Advocacy Ministry-Colorado will host its 2015 Faith Advocacy Day on Feb. 16 under the theme “Homelessness and Justice.” Register by clicking here. Director Peter Severson was present at the 2015 ELCA World Hunger Leadership Gathering in San Francisco to lift up the critical role of advocacy in the domestic work of ELCA World Hunger.

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Minnesota
Tammy Walhof, Lutheran Advocacy – Minnesota 

State Legislature: The Legislature is in full swing with new legislators and with quite a shake-up of several House committees bringing a new rural-urban divide. Perceptions are that rural legislators were left out of all major decisions, so the educational focus needs to emphasize Greater Minnesota. In addition to coalition efforts to educate legislators, Lutheran Advocacy-MN Director Tammy Walhof is working to bring Lutheran advocates up to speed.

Housing/homelessness: At a hearing last week, it became clear there is an effort by some legislators to direct new funding to higher income renters/owners. Lutheran voices focused on “the least of these” will be especially important in this context. In collaboration with Lutheran Social Services and Catholic Charities, Tammy met Republican Rep. Anna Wills of St. Paul. She agreed to be lead author of the House Homeless Youth Bill.

Clean energy and jobs campaign: Efforts are underway to secure lead authors. Lutheran Advocacy – Minnesota was a key player with other partners in planning Clean Energy Day at the Capitol on Feb. 2 at Christ Lutheran on Capitol Hill (location of Lutheran Advocacy – Minnesota).

Payday lending: We are building from previous efforts.

Upcoming advocacy days: Thursday, Feb. 19 – Lutheran Bishop/Legislator Breakfast and Lutheran Pastor’s Day for Advocacy Day; Tuesday, March 10 – Day on the Hill with Interfaith Partners (Joint Religious Legislative Coalition).

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​Nevada
Rev. Mike Patterson, Lutheran Episcopal Advocacy Nevada https://leanforjustice.wordpress.com/

Legislative forum on MLK Day: Lutheran Episcopal Advocacy in Nevada held the first legislative forum event on the Martin Luther King holiday to learn about issues that will be coming up in the 2015 legislative session.  James Hardesty, chief justice of the State Supreme Court, was the featured speaker. He gave credit to the faith community for its advocacy in past years for rehabilitation and re-entry programs, saying it has changed the culture at the Nevada Department of Corrections. Other speakers spoke about the needs of the hungry in our state, education, and the continued need to work for the rights of all minorities in Nevada.

Backpacks for a cause: Also on the holiday legislators joined in the “Backpack Challenge.” Legislators were allowed to pack school supplies for Title 1 schools in their respective districts. The challenge was designed to demonstrate to legislators that our schools need proper funding. Supplies came for donations by member churches and a special price break from an office supply company.

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​New Mexico
Ruth Hoffman, Lutheran Advocacy Ministry – New Mexico 

3Commitment to hunger: The legislative session is off to a rocky start as the Republicans took control of the state House of Representatives for the first time in over 60 years. The first week was taken up with reorganization of the House and the House standing committees. LAM-NM has been working to introduce our work to the many new House members.

4Prayers for leaders: On opening day, LAM-NM Director Ruth Hoffman joined other faith leaders in offering prayers for the people of our state and for elected leaders to have the political will and courage to stand with our many neighbors living in poverty and hunger. Ruth was also invited to join faith leaders in an informal conversation with the Rev. James Forbes about the nature of and need for public witness.

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Pennsylvania
Amy Reumann, Lutheran Advocacy Ministry in Pennsylvania 

5ELCA World Hunger Leaders: LAMPa staff met in San Francisco, including a dinner with Pennsylvania hunger leaders (pictured), where six synods shared the effort in their part of the state and learned how we can collaborate, connecting our work, particularly around the churchwide Day of Service and Advocacy.

Education: LAMPa advocates called lawmakers for a statewide day of action on education funding. LAMPa voted as part of the Campaign for Fair Education Funding on a proposed formula as recommendation. LAMPa Associate Director Tracey DePasquale met with the incoming governor’s policy director to advocate for trauma-informed education and later traveled to Glade Run Lutheran Services to see work they are doing in education with victims of childhood trauma.

Immigration: Amy addressed an Immigration Forum at Trinity, New Holland, and Tracey met with a York County commissioner about funding for an immigration detainee visitation program.

Hunger: LAMPa staff met with leaders of Hunger-Free Lancaster County about the church’s leadership in hunger work. We met with the new chair of the House Housing and Urban Affairs Committee about expanding the state Housing Trust Fund. LAMPa is partnering with social ministry organizations in an access to benefits training in Philadelphia.

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Virginia
Marco Grimaldo, Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy 

Little agreement in legislation: Virginia is in the middle of a 45 day legislative session and so far very little legislation has been agreed to. While there is an agreement in principle for the governor’s budget amendments to the biennial budget, the bills we support, including raising the minimum wage, making Virginia’s Earned Income Credit refundable, and a range of bills to offer protection from predatory lending and gun violence, have had a much more difficult time.

Day for All People: On Jan. 20, 2015, we hosted 250 advocates, including 90 leaders supporting just immigration policies, who visited with legislators as part of our Day for All People advocacy day. Many had previously met with their legislators prior to the session and now returned to stress their support for specific bills.

Synod-wide Childhood Hunger Task Force: Bishop Jim Mauney of the Virginia Synod has convened a Childhood Hunger Task Force, and we are supporting him in his work to call other faith leaders to address policies that will help hungry children. Bishop Mauney now serves on the Governor’s Commission to Close the Nutritional Divide. We were also pleased to recently work with Bishop Mauney on an article for the Richmond Times Dispatch’s editorial page.

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​Washington
Paul Benz, Faith Action Network 

FAN-WA is busy in the third week of a 15-week legislative session. Here are some of the key issues we are working on this month:

Reducing wealth inequality: A Wage Theft package of four bills: wage recovery for employees, anti-retaliation protections, employee misclassification by the employer, triple damages/penalties for unscrupulous employers. A minimum wage bill would increase the minimum wage to $12 in four years.

Education for inmates: Lifting the state prohibition on the Department of Corrections to use public funds for post-secondary educational programming. Currently our state cannot educate inmates beyond a GED.

Immigration: Establish a “bright line” between federal immigration enforcement and local law agencies (county sheriffs and municipal police chiefs). The goal is to reduce federal detentions and deportations – called the Family Unity Act.

Building our networks: FAN is busy with legislative and advocacy forums in eastern and central Washington and the Capital. Our staff will be hosting guest sermons and educational forums at churches in Seattle, Pullman and Spokane, as well as at the ELCA Bishop’s Southwestern Washington Synod Convocation.

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Wisconsin
Cindy Crane, Lutheran Office for Public Policy in Wisconsin 

Bishops and LOPPW: At the beginning of this biennial budget season, all Wisconsin bishops and LOPPW sent a letter to the governor and to each state Senate and Assembly member.

Letter writing on prison reform: At the annual Epiphany Celebration at Redeemer Lutheran Church in Stevens Point, LOPPW gave a presentation and organized a letter-writing table (focus on prison reform for 17-year-old youth). Check out a great letter written by one of Redeemer’s high school students.

6Human trafficking: LOPPW/Cherish All Children’s kickoff event for our Safe Harbor Campaign on Feb. 7 in Menomonie received Eau Claire television coverage. Our task force members, Robbie Joern and the Rev. Diane House (also LOPPW council member) were interviewed. Also, Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice, Wisconsin Council of Churches and Fierce Freedom are now sponsoring our March rally.

FoodShare and minimum wage: The director is in dialogue with members of the ELCA who work directly with FoodShare recipients who have lost benefits and is planning meetings with representatives to make the problems known and to share our concerns about further barriers placed in front of FoodShare recipients. We will also discuss a drafted bill on minimum wage.

A Lutheran’s Guide to Methane Regulations

The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. – Genesis 2:15

In January, the Obama administration announced their plan with the Environmental Protection Agency to reduce methane gas emissions from the oil and gas sector over the next ten years. The plan will result in a 40-45 percent reduction in methane emissions, and a lot of people are excited about the plan.

That may leave you wondering: What’s so exciting about methane regulations? Below, some questions about methane and the plan put forth by the White House and the EPA are answered.

1. What is methane?

Methane is the primary component of natural gas, and is also considered to be a greenhouse gas. This means that methane warms the atmosphere when it is leaked into the air before use.

2. What’s so bad about it?

While methane only accounts for about 9 percent of the United States’ greenhouse gas emissions, it is far more dangerous than carbon dioxide. In fact, over a hundred-year period, when compared pound-for-pound, methane’s impact on climate change is twenty times worse than carbon dioxide.

3. Don’t methane emissions come from a lot of sources?

Yes, methane emissions come from a variety of sources, including landfills, coal mining, and even cow manure. However, the oil and gas industry is the largest contributor to methane emissions, with 29 percent coming from the industry according to the Environmental Protection Agency. The good news, though, is that there’s a lot that can be done to curb the emissions.

4. What does the plan call for?

There are a lot of components to the plan put forth by the White House and the EPA. The most important piece of the plan is its call to set new standards for methane emissions from new sources. While this piece of the plan has been criticized for only affecting new sources and not existing ones, it is still a sign of hope for change to come.

5. Why should I care?

As people of faith, we are called to care for creation. As we see in Genesis 2:15, God placed Adam in the garden to care for it. Although generations have passed since Adam’s creation, we are still called to do this work. Greenhouse gases have contributed to climate change, resulting in numerous problems like rising sea levels, extreme weather, and more frequent wildfires. The effects of climate change are most felt by vulnerable groups like children and low-income families, groups of people that we are called through faith to care for and defend. By reducing methane emissions, we answer the call to care for the earth and our communities.

This is just the beginning of the journey to reduce methane emissions. In the coming months, stay tuned for ways that you can help contribute to the conversation.