Active Hope for a Livable Future: Divesting from Fossil Fuels

About This Event

Hurricanes ramping from a Category 1 to 5 in mere hours, heat waves scorching our crops and people, flooding displacing millions of people each year, forest fires ripping through our beloved land at increasing heat and speed; we can see how, as Pope Francis wrote, The world in which we live is collapsing and may be nearing the breaking point. (Laudate Deum, 2). As Gonzaga educates students to be leaders in service for the common good and to give glory to God, we are called to reflect upon the ways in which we are investing in the sustainability or collapse of this world in which we are inviting them to lead. While fossil fuels were a powerful force for the common good for many years, we now also know about the catastrophic consequences of their use, and it’s time to re-evaluate our commitment to them, and particularly the companies which continue to make their profit from their extraction and use.

About the speaker: Anna Johnson is the North America Senior Programs Manager for the Laudato Si Movement, a Spirit-led movement that builds, inspires, and mobilizes a global community of Catholics to care for our common home and achieve climate and ecological justice, in collaboration with all people of good will. Prior to joining LSM, she worked for over a decade in Catholic Social Teaching and global solidarity curriculum design and leadership training, particularly with youth and young adults. Witnessing and experiencing how the climate crisis exacerbates all injustice, both globally and locally, drove her focus toward ecological justice. Anna has a BA in Peace Studies and Political Science from the University of Notre Dame, and an Executive Masters in Sustainability Leadership from Arizona State University. She lives in Washington, and on any given weekend you can find her camping, kayaking, hiking with her husband, Corbin, their two year old daughter, Helen, and their dog, Tilly.