Photo by Julia Baker.

When I was young, I was not materialistic – at least not by my own society’s standards. Every time I moved, I divested myself of possessions so that I could mail what I owned to myself.

Several factors protected me from accumulating belongings. I liked working at summer camps for minimum wage more than I enjoyed laying sod for twice the pay.

I did not own a car, so I could buy only what I could carry on the bus or on my bike. I was a dedicated student. I did not have time to go shopping. I disliked shopping.

To this day, when I walk into a clothing store, I feel the clerks staring at me the way they did at Julia Roberts’ character in “Pretty Woman” when she tried shopping on Rodeo Drive. You have to wear fashionable clothes to shop for fashionable clothes. I love the way that Diane Keaton dressed out of her father’s closet in “Annie Hall,” and my wardrobe still reflects her fashion statement.

In the wake of our inspiring guest speakers, Bill McKibben and Shane Claiborne, I have listened to many discussions about simplicity as a way of life. I thought that it would be appropriate to share the rock that caused me to stumble and leave a larger carbon footprint.

Before my son was born, we scoured yard sales to buy the equipment we needed. We received garbage bags full of secondhand baby clothes. All was well until I started noticing the superior strollers and baby seats and cozy Baby Gap clothes protecting other babies.

I became self-conscious. Looking at my son now, you would never guess that the desire to drive him around in a presentable vehicle, to house him in a home that I owned rather than rented and to provide him with “nifty stuff” could be the factor that tipped the balance from my being one who divests to one who consumes.

I fell into the trap of being a “good Mom.”

Beware! The pressure to conform and compromise is most powerful when it plays into one’s desire to take care of one’s own. If one reads the gospel of Matthew thoroughly, one will find that Jesus’ call to discipleship comes with a caveat not to let concern for one’s family become a stumbling block.

Jo-Ann Brant is professor of Bible, religion and philosophy at Goshen College.

Photo by Christine Ludin.

Coming away from Bill McKibben’s lecture on Wednesday, I was struck by the gravity of the current global climate change problem.   Clearly, we have to do something to address this crisis, or we’ll cause irrevocable environmental harm to our world.

When we talk about responses to climate change, I think it’s easy to forget that – coming from relatively economically privileged communities – we can more easily make environmental changes in our lives than many around us. If we factored environmental costs of our lifestyles into our daily lives (as a cap on carbon emissions would force us to do), our cost of living would rise dramatically and many would lose their jobs. For many people already struggling during the current economic recession, the extra cost may be too much to bear.

While I like to point out how unsustainable big-box stores like Wal-Mart are, my uncle who lives near Bentonville, Arkansas likes to needle me, noting that many low income families survive because of the cheap prices at Wal-Mart. Likewise, while we advocate buying food at the local farmers market, many get by because they’re able to buy less expensive food at Kroger.

Moving away from unsustainable economies would put many people out of work. Right now we’re seeing the effects of double-digit unemployment in Elkhart County as RV companies shut down. What would happen if we permanently shut down this unsustainable industry?

When I worked with the S.W.A.P. program in West Virginia during the summer of 2007, I encountered many people who relied on the coal industry. They knew about the environmental costs.

One man named Casey talked about how coal was killing him (black lung disease) and killing the environment (polluted water ways/mountain top removal). I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t argue about the realities of climate change.

Still, Casey wanted coal companies to remain in McDowell County because it was his only source of income. What happens to people like Casey when we put a cap on carbon emissions?

I don’t say any of this to suggest that we don’t need to change. Clearly we do. But I want to make sure that we talk about change with empathy.

Ultimately, we’re in the economic position to make sacrifices because we’ve benefited from unsustainable growth. So while it is incredibly important that we mobilize to limit carbon emissions, we should spend equal time talking about the wealth distribution necessary to make change palatable for those who are less economically secure than we are.

Matt Harms is a senior history major from Ephrata, Pa.

McKibben will visit Goshen College on Mar. 11 to present his Yoder Public Affairs Lecture “The Most Important Number in the World: Building a Worldwide Movement to Fight Climate Change,” at 7 p.m. in Sauder Concert Hall.

Author of the bestselling book “Deep Economy” (Times Books, 2007), McKibben challenges the unlimited growth mentality of our economy.

According to McKibben, we should focus on local economies and ecological economics, or basically paying for the impact our purchases have on the environment. For example, a gallon of gas would cost $7-$8 per gallon if it took into consideration the damage that production and use have on the environment.

In 2007, McKibben founded the “Step it Up” organization to demand Congress to pass laws on carbon emissions, which would cut global warming pollution 80 percent by 2050. Altogether, the group has led about 2,000 demonstrations in all 50 states.

McKibben’s most recent effort is with the “350″ organization, which works to informs people that more than 350 parts per million of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere can cause irreversible damage to the earth.

On Monday, McKibben and the “350″ group, along with more than 90 other groups and organizations, went to Washington, D.C. to lead a mass civil disobedience protest of the coal-fired Capitol Power Plant as part of the Power Shift 2009 conference. More than 3,000 people from across the country (including Goshen) stood in front of the gates of the plant to shut down operations for the day. (To read more about the conference, read Jennifer Speight’s article.)

In an op-ed piece in the Washington Post on Sunday, McKibben wrote: “The power plant is only a symbol, of course – a lunch counter or a bus station in the fight for environmental justice. We’ll sit down at its gates for a single afternoon, but the message is much larger. It’s time to start figuring out how to shut down every coal-fired plant on the planet. Success won’t come right away because we’re up against some of the world’s richest corporations, but we have to start turning this tanker around someday.”

McKibben is no beginner when it comes to speaking up about the environment and global climate change. His first book “The End of Nature” (Random House, 1989) is regarded as the first book written for a general audience about climate change.

McKibben is a scholar-in-residence at Middlebury College, which is regarded as a higher education leader in sustainability.

Nathan Feltman spoke to a crowd of local business leaders and students on the state of business and economy in Indiana. Photo by Chase Snyder.

Business and community leaders gathered in the Church-Chapel Fellowship Hall for their annual luncheon and discussion on Monday.

The featured speaker for this year’s event was Nathan J. Feltman from Baker and Daniels LLP. Previously, Feltman was the Indiana Secretary of Commerce and the CEO of the Indiana Economic Development Corporation.

Another speaker during the luncheon was Dan Morrison, the co-CEO of Heritage Financial Group.

Feltman talked to business leaders about making sure the world is aware of what they have to offer. “Today, if you’re not reaching out globally,” Feltman said, “you have got to get out and tell your story.”

Feltman explained that even in the current market, there is hidden business success in Indiana. “We are so modest about the things we have,” said Feltman, referring to the successful businesses.

Indiana leads the country in the orthopedic industry, is fourth in the country in terms of people employed by science jobs and is one of the nation’s leaders in battery development and the RV sector.

Feltman mentioned the “great education in the Elkhart area,” and listed both Notre Dame and Goshen College among the region’s best institutions.

Goshen College President Jim Brenneman endorses Feltman’s exhortation. In an earlier speech, Brenneman said, “Even more, perhaps, than pastors, teachers, social workers or politicians, the most significant means of transforming societies for the good of the whole will come through creative business entrepreneurs and leaders who view their work as a divine calling to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly before God.”

We here at Goshen College continue to ask questions of what it means to be global citizens who live in such an inefficient country.  What power (no pun intended) do we have here at Goshen College to reimagine our carbon footprints?

This weekend a few Goshen College students and Paul Steury (from Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center) are attending Power Shift 2009, a conference that seeks to repower and reclaim our future.

One noteworthy attendee is Bill McKibben, the co-founder of 350.org.  He had an op-ed in the Washington Post today that foreshadows how members of Power Shift 2009 (including the GC ambassadors) will protest outside Capitol Hill tomorrow.  The New York Times lead story this morning also quoted McKibben.

Goshen College is fortunate to host McKibben for a lecture on March 11.

In this week’s March 5 issue of the Record, look for stories reflecting on the Power Shift 2009 conference and previewing the McKibben lecture.