Using Financial Resources in line with Quaker Principles

The members of the PSO committee started last year reflecting on our concern over the destructive impact the use of fossil fuel is having on life on earth and how should we as people of faith respond to this concern. We saw the dime a gallon project as a means of not only responding to this concern but also as an avenue to make us more conscious of the problem as well as our own non-thinking collaboration with the systems that aggravate these problems.

With time, we have begun asking ourselves if perhaps we should be expanding our focus to take a look at other life choices that we make that can have an impact on the world. There are certainly a number of options and we look forward to exploring some of these options beginning with the scheduled January 28 meeting open to all.

During the past year the PSO Committee within itself has begun gathering information relating to one of these areas that impact our lives and those of others - financial choices. We thought it would be good to begin sharing some of the gathered info as a support for Chico Friends members and attenders' reflections relating to financial resources..

Each of us makes choices regularly that involve the use of money. These cover the range of daily purchases to decisions over entertainment options to saving for a new car to putting money aside for retirement. How can we assure that these financial choices reflect our values not only in relation to fuel usage but also in relation to many other environment concerns, as well as in regard to health issues, basic human rights for all people, acceptance of corporate and individual responsibility, and the building of a world that offers options to a world dominated by militarism.

Some areas identified that merit our attention:

1) Socially Responsible Investment

2) Community Investment

3) Compensatory energy credits/ off-setting

4) Share holder/ local activism

Socially Responsible Investing

What is it? Socially responsible investing (SRI)is an effort to integrate one's personal and societal values into their investment decisions. It is not just an altruistic effort to prioritize social values over financial compensation, but rather it is a recognition that investment choices can have a positive impact on social and environmental concerns, which in turn can have a positive impact on the company as well as on the condition of the world.

When SRI was first started it was mostly focused on avoiding investing in items that were considered to have negative influences - such as companies with investments in tobacco or military weapons. With time the screening of companies for inclusion in socially responsible investing took on a number of other social issues that people were wanting to impact for the better. Now socially responsible investors are asking that companies also be screened on such issues as fair employment and fair trade practices, health issues (relating to employees and the environment), human rights issues, alternative solutions to energy questions, while continuing those of avoidance of military expenditures, tobacco and such like.

These demands are based on the belief that a cleaner environment and a more equitable economy will happen only if we invest in them.

With time a number of mutual funds have been established that are dedicated to building funds based on social responsible investing principles. Each fund decides which screens it most wants to prioritize according to its own social values. Some funds apply all of them while others are more focused on one or two of the screens. The objectives and priorities of each fund can be found on its web page along with information as to how to invest in the fund

Some well established social responsible investment funds that can be found on the internet:

Pax World www.paxworld.com 1-800 767 1729
Fund started in 1971 by ministers concerned with the issues that came out of the Vietnam War

New Alternatives Fund 1-800 423 8383 www.newalternativesfund.com
Focused on alternative Energy development and the environment.

Green Century Fund 1-800-93-GREEN info@greencentury.com www.greencentury.com Focused on companies that are making a positive contribution to improving the environment

Calvert Investments www.calvert.com
Has a number of different funds as well as a number of different social screening tests used in selecting companies for its funds.

Domini Social Investments www.domini.com
Also applies a number of different social screens for selecting companies

 

Community Investment

Community Investment options were developed to create means to support development initiatives in low-income communities both in the United States and in developing countries. Community Investment provides affordable housing, creates jobs, improve community conditions and helps responsible businesses get started.. Community Investing is achieved mainly through four types of institutions: Community Banks, Community Credit Unions, Community Loan Funds and Micro-enterprise lenders (see descriptions below).

As socially responsible investors, these options give us the option to at least invest part of our funds based on human needs. In this way community investing offers opportunities to further align our financial resources with our social mission in meaningful and measurable ways.

Community investment demonstrates a sustainable partnership between capital and humanism that cuts across partisan lines -- one that is compatibly capitalist in its nature while also opening up opportunities to involve, and even educate individuals and institutions on social issues. It also allows us to decide where we want our capital put to work - locally, domestically, or internationally, and what we are most interested in funding: housing, micro-credit, small business, environment protection, sustainability or other forms of community development.

Major vehicles for community investing include:
Community Development Banks operate similarly to regular banks, but their business is the permanent, long-term economic development of low-and moderate-income communities. They target loan resources to residents of their primary service area - the people living, working, and doing business in their marketplace. Deposits are FDIC insured like conventional banks. There are many Community Development Banks across the country where you can open a variety of accounts just as you would at a conventional bank.

Community Development Credit Unions operate just like commercial credit unions, but focus on economic development in specific areas. Credit unions provide the same range of savings and investment options. The difference is that credit unions are membership-owned and controlled and they are nonprofit financial institutions. There are over 100 Community Credit Unions in America, serving people and communities with limited access to traditional financial institutions. Like commercial credit unions, Community Credit Unions are federally insured and regulated.

Community Development Loan Funds and Micro-enterprise Lenders. Community loan funds are direct unsecured loans targeted toward high-impact community development. Loan funds use grant money and pre-funded loss reserve to help protect individual investors. Loan funds typically accept investments at rates of 0-5 % for 1-10 years. Community loan funds generally operate in specific geographic areas. A subset of Loan Funds is the Micro-enterprise Loan Fund. Micro-enterprise lenders have lent more than $25 million to low-income individuals for home purchases and small business start-ups. These funds help people who may not be able to obtain financing through traditional lenders, which tend to favor more established enterprises. Community loan funds and micro-enterprise development loan funds are not federally insured.

Visit www.communityinvest.org for more information about these options.

 

 

Your Contribution to Global Warming
(and What You Can Do About It)

The Peace and Social Order Committee (PSO) is keenly aware that many Friends are concerned about global warming and the amount of greenhouse gases generated by their respective lifestyles.

The facts:

>  The average car puts 5 tons of CO2 into the atmosphere every year.
>  Another 5 tons per year per person comes from heating and cooling our homes,
          using electricity, and traveling by other forms of transportation.
>   Indirect generation, as with the purchase of goods that have been manufactured,
          transported, grown, refrigerated, etc., produces another 14 tons per person per
          year. (Source: US Dept. of Energy's Energy Information Agency)

To address these concerns, PSO has done research on the "offsetting" of greenhouse gases. Several organizations, such as those below, offer ways to compensate for the amounts of greenhouse gases each of us produces. Here's how it works: using a carbon calculator (available at a number of websites), you figure out how many tons of carbon dioxide are produced by your day-to-day lifestyle. You then make a monetary contribution of a certain amount per ton of carbon dioxide you produce in order to fund projects such as renewable energy, energy efficiency, or reforestation projects. All of these projects are intended to supply alternative, non-carbon dioxide producing ways to generate energy and/or provide a means of removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere in order to mitigate your individual contribution to global warming.

Carbonfund.org is a nonprofit organization offsetting greenhouse gases through renewable energy, energy efficiency, and reforestation projects. At $5.50 per ton of carbon dioxide, Carbonfund is the most efficient program out there for reducing greenhouse emissions. Unlike TerraPass, Carbonfund allows one to address the greenhouse gases produced not only by one's car, but also by heating and cooling one's home, using electricity, etc.

Self.org is the Solar Electric Light Fund, a nonprofit organization focusing on bringing solar power and wireless technology to villages in the developing world. Their website is very detailed, and they are involved in projects in a number of countries. They seek to provide electric lighting as an alternative to kerosene-powered lamps, which emit harmful fumes in addition to greenhouse gases. This is their main tie-in to the offset issue. But for those who are concerned about people in developing countries not being left behind educationally and economically, this program may be of interest.

Terrapass.com is a for-profit company focusing exclusively on automobile emissions.

 

The Work of Friends Meetings in regard to Earth Care
--A report by Luisa Palmer, CFM Peace and Social Order Committee

The Friends Earth Care Witness Retreat held Sept 29 -Oct 1, 2006 asked each Meeting present to respond to the question: What steps are Friends Meetings in California taking in relation to concerns regarding Earth Care?

Responses by member groups of the PYM meetings present included:

1) Various meetings stated that they had Unity and Nature Committees. Among other activities these committees have been encouraging recycling and energy conservation practices.
2) A couple of meetings are promoting the dime-a-gallon program originated by Strawberry Creek Monthly Meeting.
3) The Santa Monica Meeting has written and passed a minute on climate change, affirming its responsibility to pursue this issue
4) A couple of other meetings are now studying this SMMM minute for possible adoption.
5) The Santa Cruz Meeting has started a children's garden as a means of helping the children sense a greater connection to the earth.
6) Some meetings have established study groups on ecology.
7) A couple of meetings got their start thinking on the issue through the PYM survey on "how light do you travel."
8) Grass Valley Meeting has a program focused on global warming education and how to change life styles to make ourselves part of the solution.
9) Strawberry Creek Meeting has established cluster groups to encourage neighborhood meetings and to set up car pooling to the Sunday Meetings. They are also considering creating interest groups related to sustainable living.
10) Several meetings expressed the environmental concerns that have arisen as they consider whether they should move towards having meeting houses or not, and how they would assure environmental responsibility if they should take that step.
11) San Jose Meeting has 100 mile pot lucks - meaning that all food brought to pot lucks should come from within a 100 miles of the meeting house. It is a way of making people more conscious of the fuel used to transport food.
12) Palo Alto Meeting celebrates each 5th Sunday by holding the meeting outside in a place that allows them to enjoy and appreciate nature.
13) Appleseed Meeting has had an "Earth Care and the Bible" series as well as discussions on local watershed.
14) Friends House (under care of Redwood Forest Meeting) insures that every resident has the option to participate in gardening. Five residents have zap scooters that they share with others that allow them to get around easily.
15) Chico Meeting last year instituted the Dime-A-Gallon Project and now is encouraging people to ride their bikes or share rides to Meeting each First Sunday. Chico Friends plan to present the dime a gallon approach at the local interfaith council meeting and invite other faith communities to join us in this project.

Some recommendations for future work included:

A. From invited speaker Keith Helmuth:

1- FCNL has been an effective tool that has opened access to authorities and has served in educating people. It would be helpful to establish local groups who gather information and used it to talk to all local authorities, city councils, county supervisors , water districts, and so forth.
2- the market should be recognized and taken advantage of - changes in policies can shift advantages and bring in collaboration of businesses. Research shows about 10% of business operates out of values, and that the majority wants to contribute to earth and community care but are influenced by economic issues. When they get enough information to see that an area could be profitable (such as organic gardening), they want in While this is sometimes hard on the 10% , it is positive in the sense that a larger among of land is being farmed without pesticides.

B. From the gathered group:

1- develop study groups, including the study of present earth care issues, the study of local issues that affect the earth, a group for garden lovers to share ideas on building food sustainability, and a group for those who want to look at crisis planning issues.
2- study and reflect on how to link earthcare with all other issues among peace and social concerns, how to implement sustainable practices on the local level, how much focus to put on our meeting house and how much to reaching out beyond.
3- sit together regularly to hold the earth in the light, and let our concern arise form a spiritual base.
4- increase communication through shifting from e-mail to video conferencing.
5- engage authorities and businesses in dialogue on these questions. The distinctive contribution of Quakers is not that we care more about the earth - it is in our process, how we go about working on issues.
6- reach out to link to the work of other groups in our communities who are working in this area, and to encourage those who are not, to do so.
7- develop Sierra Quaker Center as a Quaker Eco Village.
8- encourage Meetings and Quarterly Meetings establish greater links with the Unity of Nature Committee and vice versa.
9- support Quaker Institute for the Future's efforts at starting a Friends World Media project as a means of being a voice in this area. QIF senses that it would be good to have a Quaker voice in relation to earth care, ecology , sustainability - and that Quakers should be leaders in these areas.