A 10-year license for the South Carolina atomic factory near Columbia would be dangerous. A 40-year license renewal as described in The State’s Sunday front-page story would be senseless. (“Federal study supports new 40-year license for Columbia nuclear plant”) Things change. Forty years ago, the phrase, “Google it,” would have been meaningless, and no one had a phone in their pocket. Forty years from now, it’s barely credible that a few nuclear reactors will remain. Perhaps there will be none at all. Setting aside the real environmental dangers of leaking nuclear waste, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission recommendation to renew the license for 40 years doesn’t make common sense.
Indian spiritual and political leader Mohandas Gandhi circa 1935.
1/8/2021 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM Gandhi on Islam and Prophet Muhammad Presented by PICNA and Sound Vision Imam Abdul Malik Mujahid, President-Sound Vision, Chair Emeritus-Parliament of the World’s Religion, and internationally renowned Islamic Scholar, will speak about Gandhi’s views on Islam and Prophet Muhammad
Brad Stocker inside a caldera of Irazu, a volcano in Costa Rica when the fog rolled in ahead of a front. He remembers it as one of the most silent moments he has ever experienced.
Please join Columbia Friends and Brad Stocker for a Second Hour Program on December 20th at 11:30 to become more mindful of the way silence influences our care for the Earth.
Do not break the silence unless you can improve upon it.”
– William Ralph Inge.
We often mistakenly assume silence is the absence of sound and there is hardly ever a time that is so. It has been said that hearing is the last sense to die and so, we are encouraged to speak to those in a coma or near death. In this workshop we will explore silence in some of its varieties of uses and abuses. We will aim to become more mindful about how silence is functioning in our lives and effects our care for Earth.
Brad Stocker, Ed.D. was a professor at Miami Dade College. Brad served on the Council of the Earth Ethics Institute at the college for 20 years. He has a post- doctoral certificate in Ecology and Human Spirit and has been designing, developing, and teaching Earth Literacy workshops and courses since 1992. He is a member of Miami Friends Meeting and Quaker Earthcare Witness.
Quaker Earthcare Witness is a network of North American Friends and other like-minded people who are taking spirit-led action to address the ecological and social crises of the world, emphasizing Quaker process and testimonies.
Brad encourages everyone interested in QEW to consider signing up for the following publications:
BeFriending Creation. Quaker Earthcare Witness publishes a quarterly journal, BeFriending Creation, that reports and celebrates what Friends and Friends Meetings and organizations are doing and saying about the global crisis in ecological sustainability.
QEW Pamphlets for Sharing. QEW has more than 30 trifold pamphlets on a wider-range of Earthcare-related issues. Download the full pamphlet or order printed versions from our
There is no charge for pamphlets, but donations are encouraged to help cover printing costs and postage and handling expenses.
QEW Earthcare for Children Curriculum. We have recently updated our Earthcare for Children curriculum for First Day schools. You can download the printable PDF or each individual chapter by clicking here. QEW Earthcare for Friends Curriculum. Click here to read our newly updated curriculum, Earthcare for Friends, a Study Guide for Individuals and Faith Communities.
Many of you have heard about the proposed Dominion rate increase of 7.7%. As Tom Clements said in an Op Ed for the Lexington County Chronicle, Bonus section “During night hearings the week of Nov. 9, 2020, dozens of ratepayers voiced strong objection to the proposed rate hike. Comments came not only from average customers but also from former SCE&G employees and elected officials such as Sens. Tom Young, Shane Massey and Mia Mc-Cloud, all Dominion ratepayers. During the 3 live-streamed public hearings, ratepayers presented well- reasoned arguments against granting the rate hike. The bulk of those testifying in 3-minute oral comments cited financial hardships, which was heart-wrenching to hear as many of our fellow citizens, especially the elderly and those on fixed incomes, are suffering. Many voiced opposition to a rate hike during the covid-19 economic chaos…”
Governor McMaster has also voiced strong opposition to the rate increase and has recommended that Dominion withdraw their request. See the following from his letter to Dominion:
If Dominion is not willing to withdraw its application, it should, at a minimum, seek the parties’ consent and the PSC’s approval to suspend, stay, or otherwise pause further proceedings in the midst of the present pandemic. In the event that Dominion plans to proceed with seeking the PSC’s approval of its requested rate increase, please know that I will ask the PSC to reject Dominion’s application in its current form.
Dominion and formal intervenors will have their say to the PSC during a hearing in January, 2021 but for now us members of the public can keep submitting comments for the official record.
Comments into the formal proceeding – Application of Dominion Energy South Carolina, Incorporated for Adjustment of Rates and Charges, Docket 2020-125-E – can be submitted via mail and email. Even if brief, comments by the public are important.
You can send in comments, with the docket number noted in your message, to the Public Service Commission of South Carolina, 101 Executive Center Drive, Suite 100 Columbia, SC 29210, to the email address [email protected] or you can download a protest letter from the PSC website:
