
In an address before the United Nations Office in Nairobi Thursday, Pope Francis reiterated his environmental message, declaring that it would be “sad, and I dare say even catastrophic,” were particular interests to prevail over the common good at the
by Thomas D. Williams, Ph.D.27 Nov 2015, 5:34 AM PST0

A major Italian weekly magazine, L’Espresso, is attributing mass migrations into Europe from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and North Africa to global warming, warning that a legally binding agreement at the upcoming climate conference in Paris is necessary in order to preserve world peace.
by Thomas D. Williams, Ph.D.23 Nov 2015, 1:27 PM PST0

In a rare recognition of the abuses of radical environmentalism, Pope Francis condemned the immanentism of a form of ecology that refuses to look beyond creation to discover the glory of its Creator.
by Thomas D. Williams, Ph.D.14 Nov 2015, 6:55 AM PST0

Long one of the world’s worst polluters, a large part of mainland China is now surrounded by a pall of unbreathable smog that at times reaches levels of particulates 50 times higher than the maximum levels set by the World Health Organization.
by Thomas D. Williams, Ph.D.10 Nov 2015, 6:59 AM PST0

In the lead-up to the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris next month, a group of cardinals, patriarchs and bishops have called for a radical, legally binding international climate agreement that mandates, among other things, complete global decarbonization by 2050 and “an end to the fossil fuel era.”
by Thomas D. Williams, Ph.D.27 Oct 2015, 5:30 AM PST0

A Reuters piece Tuesday accuses certain U.S. bishops of open opposition to Pope Francis’ call for respect for the environment, citing several new contracts for drilling rights to oil and gas companies.
by Thomas D. Williams, Ph.D.22 Sep 2015, 11:42 AM PST0

In a meeting with environment ministers of the European Union, Pope Francis urged the adoption of UN sustainable development goals later this month as well as intensified preparation for the “COP21” in Paris.
by Thomas D. Williams, Ph.D.17 Sep 2015, 5:30 AM PST0

In their write-up on the poll, Associated Press journalists Rachel Zoll and Emily Swanson wondered aloud how American bishops and priests could be so negligent in carrying the Pope’s words to their flocks. The writers lament that early on “questions arose about whether American bishops and parishioners would embrace the message with any enthusiasm.”
by Thomas D. Williams, Ph.D.20 Aug 2015, 1:02 PM PST0

As Breitbart News reported in “Pot Tax: Sacramento Politicians ‘Jonesing’ for a Spending Fix,” the Democrat-controlled California Legislature is desperate for marijuana taxes, which could arise from a 2016 ballot initiative legalizing marijuana, in hopes of gaining a consistent new tax revenue source. But the California Department of Fish and Wildlife estimates that illegal pot growing is drying up watersheds and causing some at-risk fisheries to approach collapse.
by Chriss W. Street27 Jul 2015, 1:47 PM PST0

A two-day Vatican workshop on climate change and human trafficking came to a close Wednesday after a like-minded group of some 60 mayors from around the world met with Church officials and United Nations representatives to discuss a coordinated response to environmental challenges.
by Thomas D. Williams, Ph.D.23 Jul 2015, 3:54 AM PST0

California Governor Jerry Brown mounted his bully pulpit at the Vatican Tuesday, citing the Bible and excoriating climate change skeptics as greedy swindlers more interested in profits from oil than the well-being of humanity.
by Thomas D. Williams, Ph.D.21 Jul 2015, 6:17 PM PST0

A city ordinance banning the use of horses to pull the traditional carriages around Rome went into effect Thursday, in response to a wave of 100+ degree weather that is said to threaten the horses’s lives.
by Thomas D. Williams, Ph.D.17 Jul 2015, 10:04 PM PST0

The United States will be heavily represented at the workshop, with its eleven politicians making up nearly 20 percent of the total participants. There will be no one participating from some of the countries with the worst record of polluting the environment, including Russia, China and the former Soviet Republics.
by Thomas D. Williams, Ph.D.16 Jul 2015, 11:42 AM PST0

The Fresno Bee has published an editorial blasting marijuana growers, noting the environmental impact of marijuana farms around the state of California and the catastrophic ecological impact effect of 18 years of medical marijuana legalization, including “exacerbating the drought.”
by William Bigelow7 Jul 2015, 12:27 PM PST0

Naomi Klein, a Canadian environmental crusader who describes herself as a “secular Jewish Feminist,” addressed Vatican officials Wednesday, bashing “economic experts” who place “outsized value on protecting corporate profits and economic growth” rather than the poor, who she said will
by Thomas D. Williams, Ph.D.3 Jul 2015, 5:39 AM PST0

In a recent interview, Bishop Mario Toso, who co-wrote the first draft of the papal encyclical on the environment, Laudato Si’, denied that Pope Francis had any intention of “canonizing” scientific theories regarding climate change, but only wished to assert his authority on the moral level.
by Thomas D. Williams, Ph.D.30 Jun 2015, 11:11 AM PST0

Pope Francis’ controversial encyclical letter on the environment may already be having an effect on US politicians, according to Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski, who said Wednesday that the Pope’s words have softened the climate rhetoric of two Republican presidential hopefuls: Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio.
by Thomas D. Williams, Ph.D.25 Jun 2015, 5:08 AM PST0

In a truly bizarre reversal of roles, in the course of just a week the New York Times has gone from being the Church’s most trenchant detractor to being an ardent enforcer of Catholic doctrine, polling Catholics to find out whether or not their parish priests are preaching about the Pope’s new encyclical on the environment, Laudato Si’.
by Thomas D. Williams, Ph.D.22 Jun 2015, 9:48 AM PST0

Franco Prodi, a celebrated Italian atmospheric physicist and brother to former Italian Premier Romano Prodi, advises caution and humility when dealing with global warming, since we still know very little about the history of climate change and far less about its future.
by Thomas D. Williams, Ph.D.22 Jun 2015, 5:49 AM PST0

Rarely has the Vatican reacted more swiftly to a journalistic fiasco than it did this week, banning veteran Italian journalist Sandro Magister from the Holy See Press Office and revoking his accreditation just hours after Magister published online a leaked version of the letter.
by Thomas D. Williams, Ph.D.18 Jun 2015, 11:21 AM PST0

In no fewer than 17 tweets as of this printing, Pope Francis has begun e-blasting excerpts from his new encyclical letter on environmental stewardship, calling above all for an “honest debate” on the situation of the environment and what society can do about it.
by Thomas D. Williams, Ph.D.18 Jun 2015, 8:54 AM PST0

Nothing ever happens in a vacuum. Pope Francis’ ongoing concern for environmental issues, which will attain its fullest expression with the release of his encyclical on human ecology Thursday, has deep roots in his own personal experience, especially as archbishop of Buenos Aires, home to one of the most polluted places on the planet.
by Thomas D. Williams, Ph.D.16 Jun 2015, 10:09 AM PST0

There are still many organizations in the world that require employees to take an oath of secrecy regarding the information they are privy to, and the Vatican is one of them. It would seem that oath-taking, however, has come to mean little.
by Thomas D. Williams, Ph.D.16 Jun 2015, 5:56 AM PST0

The Pope has insisted that the poor are the ones who suffer most from systematically trashing the environment, and there certainly does seem to be a remarkable correlation between poverty and pollution.
by Thomas D. Williams, Ph.D.15 Jun 2015, 9:24 AM PST0

The Jesuit flagship publication La Civiltà Cattolica has released a prefatory essay on the theology of the environment to prepare Catholics—and the world—for the Pope’s upcoming encyclical on human ecology. Rather than seriously entertain the objections of climate change skeptics and others who have expressed concerns about the Pope’s letter, however, the article cavalierly dismisses them as unworthy of consideration.
by Thomas D. Williams, Ph.D.12 Jun 2015, 5:01 AM PST0