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.
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.
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’.
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.
Pope Francis tackles more than just dirty air and polluted rivers in his new encyclical on the environment. He also warns that a society dominated by media and Internet can stifle human relationships and dull the mind, a syndrome he refers to as “mental pollution.”
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Human beings urgently need to wipe themselves out to avoid ecological catastrophe, the leader of the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement has claimed. In an interview with the Big Issue magazine, Les U Knight (pseudonym assumed) said that the extinction of
President Obama used a commencement address at the Coast Guard Academy Wednesday afternoon to make clear that his administration views climate change as the most severe threat to national security.
In the United States, and most of the western world, there is an ideological war with dire physical consequences. It is the war on fossil fuels. But, even if you understand that energy is central to everything in modern society, the war is much bigger than energy. It is about freedom. It is about control. It is about global governance.
Honduran Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga lambasted “movements in the United States” that have expressed criticism of the Pope’s upcoming encyclical letter on the environment, calling it “absurd” to disparage a document that has not yet been released.
Sooner or later, like Chelsea meeting Manchester City, there had to be a Papal Encylical on Global Warming. After all, ecology and Rome are the two main religions of the Western World. We already know the main thrust of what
The state Senator has faced unsubstantiated accusations of belief in the “chemtrails” theory solely on the basis of a constituent-requested public forum on environmental quality she held back in June of 2014.
The BBC’s Daily Politics has just staged a party political debate on energy and climate change. It was every bit as awful as you would have expected: four politicians (Labour; Conservative; Green; Lib Dems) spouting pure, unadulterated drivel; one talking
WASHINGTON (AP)—The board of the Clinton Foundation said Wednesday night that it will continue accepting donations from foreign governments, but only from six nations, a move that appears aimed at insulating Hillary Rodham Clinton from controversies over the charity’s reliance on millions of dollars from abroad as she ramps up her presidential campaign.
I never thought I would be writing this. However, having consulted both manifestos, it is only fair to admit that the Greens have spelled out a more detailed and reasonable energy policy than Labour. Labour’s stated energy policy is extremely
Parents across America who struggle to keep their young rambunctious kids clean now have a new obstacle: the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
As part of its effort to help save the planet from the dangers of taking too many baths, EPA’s WaterSense program is trying to convince kids they should avoid bathtubs in favor of showers, which it says is a far more efficient use of water.
During CPAC, Spyridon Mitsotakis of Breitbart News caught up with Katie Kieffer, author of “Let Me Be Clear.” The title turns Barack Obama’s famous catchphrase against him.
I’d been meaning to write today about why Oxford University should divest itself of one of its zoology graduates. But I’m afraid that will have to wait because I’ve just read today’s Guardian cover story and have realised that the
Posters mocking Ed Begley Jr. and Robert Kennedy Jr. have popped up in Hermosa Beach, California and other nearby neighborhoods ahead of the pair’s appearance at an environmental event Thursday.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has taken yet another regulatory action to interfere with oil and gas production – long considered an activity with de minimus impact on air quality. The Agency now sets its sights on methane, which is the primary component of natural gas. Methane emissions from natural gas systems have fallen by 14.3% from 2008-2012. Any leaks from hydraulically fractured natural gas wells have fallen by 73% from 2011-2013. In this same time frame, the U.S. has become the world’s leading producer of natural gas, nearly quadrupling production rates from those in 2008, as well as increasing natural gas pipelines by 30%. In spite of the steep decline of methane emissions and steady economic growth, the White House recently moved forward with the Climate Action Plan, directing the EPA to propose expansive rules by the summer of 2015. The new regulations aim to reduce methane emissions by 40-45% from 2012 levels by 2025 through a series of actions targeting the oil and gas industry.
The Pope gave further indications as to the content of his upcoming letter on the environment Saturday, as he addressed a group from the Italian National Farmers Confederation. Francis told his hearers that in their work of cultivating the land, they were responding to God’s commission “to till and keep” the earth.
