“Action does not spring from information, but a readiness for responsibility.”
(Dietrich Bonhoeffer).

Vision and values are crucial in bringing about a readiness for responsibility for improving life for people and planet local, national and international levels. The Alliance wants to creates a space, particularly as it relates to the metro New York area, where values can be clarified, developed and implemented. The Alliance intends to bring together people and organizations who believe that a socially and ecologically informed ethical system such as the sustainability ethical system of the Earth Charter is a crucial driving factor in resolving NYC conflicts and pushing the City into an equitable PlaNYC2030.

The Alliance was established as follow-up of the first Earth Charter Climate Crisis Community Summit held at Community Church of New York UU on October 11, 2008

Its specific goal is to infuse the Earth Charter’s vision with its integration of social and ecological values by means of a dozen task forces into all the aspects of New York City’s political, economic and cultural life, particularly as it applies to Bloomberg’s Sustainability Strategy, called PlaNYC2030. For this purpose the following task forces have been proposed: The Business Task Force; The Climate Crisis Task Force; The Education Task Force; The Energy Task Force; The Government Task Force; The Media Task Force; The Networking Task Force; The Religion Task Force; The Sustainable Communities Task Force; The Earth Charter Summits Task Force; The Transportation Task Force; The United Nations Task Force; Other Task Forces

Frans C. Verhagen, M.Div., M.I.A., Ph.D., sustainability sociologist at www.globalepe.org, gaia1@rcn.com, Saturday, September 13, 2008