Friends Environmental Working Group 

1997 Annual Report 

Mission 

With awareness of the spiritual roots of our environmental concerns, and 

believing that a healthy earth is basic to all Friends' Testimonies, we 

work to encourage meetings and individuals within the Yearly Meeting to 

learn about and witness to these concerns. 

Accomplishments related to mission include: 

* "Open meetings" in September on "The Election and the Environment" 

attended by about thirty 

(program excellent, attendance disappointing) and January on 

"Economics and Sustainability" with Brent Blackwelder of Friends of the 

Earth USA attended by about 75 (program and attendance excellent) 

* Visits by clerk to 21 monthly meetings, 2 quarterly meetings, a 

tri-quarter conference, and 4 PYM 

committees, to further concern for ecological sustainability. 

Visits have resulted in a greatly increased circulation of EWG's 

books on environmental issues. Eight monthly meetings approved minutes of 

concern of ecological sustainability, and a "threshing"session at YM. 

* A seminar at Wm Penn House on "Energy and Sustainability" involving 12 

high school students 

and four adults that all participants rated "highly worthwhile." 

To be repeated next year. 

* Prospects for future collaboration with Baltimore Yearly Meeting, Wm 

Penn House, and other 

Friends organizations on "lifting up" the concern for ecological 

sustainability imore widely. 

* A proposal for a NJ QuakerNet on environmental and other PSO concerns. 

* Preparation of "Ecological Sustainability: What We Can Do" and 

"Queries and Advices for 

Monthly Meetings," plus revisions to "Adult Discussion Topics" and 

"Bibliography." 

Other activities include: suggestions to the Structure and Workings 

Committee and to CC2. 

It should be noted : Four new members have joined EWG this year as 

regular members. Two have 

shifted from regular to adjunct status. 

We would have liked: a) better attendance at our September "open meeting;" 

b) several additional 

members able to make a significant time commitment to the work of the group. 

Major strengths and weaknesses: As we reported last year our strengths 

lie in a small core Friends 

united in a commitment to lift of the concern for ecological 

sustainability. Our weakness is that so much of what we accomplish depends 

on the time spent by the clerk. 

Plans for the coming year: to focus our efforts on lifting up our concern 

for ecological sustainability 

within the Yearly Meeting by: 

* Continuing visits by our members to monthly meetings to share this 

concern, and to encourage continuing consideration by PYM to the 

concern and what Friends can do. 

* Collaborating with others' to promote PYM support for Abolition 2000. 

* Holding two "open meetings" ( scheduled for 11/1/97, on the "economics 

of ecological sustainability," and tentatively for 2/7/98, on "nuclear 

weapons and nuclear wastes" ). 

* Co-sponsoring two Washington Seminars at Wm Penn House, one with Mt 

Holly Meeting on Energy and Sustainability, and one with Wm Penn 

House and other Friends organizations on Friends' Witness to the problems 

of Population, Affluence and Technology. 

* Maintaining contacts with monthly meetings and promoting networks among 

monthly meetings to disseminate the concerns of individual Friends 

within our faith community. 

* Exploring avenues for increased collaboration with other faith 

communities for public witness for ecological sustainability, peace 

and justice for all. 

Hopes for the future: that Yearly Meeting will take up our concern for 

ecological sustainability, that 

new ways will open to act on this concern, and that a few Friends with more 

time to commit that most of our present members can afford will be led to 

join our group. 

Ed Dreby, clerk 6/25/97