Editor's note: Associate Conference Minister Andy Gustafson is on sabbatical, traveling across the country. He will be visiting United Church of Christ Justice and Witness immersion centers and mission sites and the UCC General Synod and blogging about what he sees. His posts about those sites will be posted here on macucc.org. His full travel blog is here : http://travelblogs.mapquest.com/32860/changing-lives-tour.

As we traveled across the country we hear again and again about concerns around climate change.

• In New Jersey they are worried about more Hurricane Sandys;
• In Georgia a desk clerk talked about their drought. She said even though many others didn't believe in global warming, she did;
• In Florida at a natural spring and wildlife sanctuary they are worried about loss of species;
• In Biloxi soaring insurance costs driven by climate change threatens both homeowners and non-profits like Back Bay Mission;
• At Mesa Verde National Park they have had many fires and now worry that the trees and plants that once covered the mesas will not come back because of climate change;
• At the Glen Canyon Dam, Lake Powell has dropped 98 feet;
• A member of the United Church of Kanab-Fredonia in Utah told me they have real serious water problems after 13 years of drought;
• At Bryce Canyon the park sign says "last precipitation May 10th";
• In Zion National Park a store clerk tells how fights over water have broken out in her area;
• Here at General Synod the resolution to support divestment from fossil fuel companies is being debated as I write this.