Pope
Francis is redefining the ongoing transition to greener energy as a moral and
spiritual obligation.
By
Kicking
humanity’s addiction to oil, gas, and coal before those industries render the
planet uninhabitable may take a miracle. So it’s a good thing that the climate
movement found a patron saint.
I’m
talking about Pope Francis, of course. Before an upcoming encyclical makes the
Vatican’s stance official, he’s already spreading the gospel of a fossil-free
future.
In
case, like me, you’re not Catholic: An encyclical is a basically a memo the
church sends its 1.2 billion believers — one out of six people alive in a
community that includes 30 percent of Congress. Here’s looking at
you, John Boehner, Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush, and Ted Cruz.
Two years into what he says will be a brief tenure, the pope’s putting climate skeptics on the defensive.
Fretting
about the fate of the Earth is part of his broader condemnation of the global
status quo, which Francis considers to be a “throwaway culture.” And it
explains why he and some of his top aides came to call for a transition to
greener energy.
“The
ever-accelerating burning of fossil fuels that powers our economic engine is
disrupting the Earth’s delicate ecological balance on an almost unfathomable
scale,” warned Cardinal Peter Turkson, the Ghanaian cardinal who is taking a
leading role in drafting the climate encyclical. “Corporations and financial
investors must learn to put long-term sustainability over short-term profit.”
Turkson
spoke at a recent Vatican climate summit of religious and secular leaders.
The
group, which included Francis, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the presidents
of Italy and Ecuador, Nobel laureates, and leading scientists, released a statement urging a quick “transformation
to a world powered by renewable and other low-carbon energy.”
Some
Catholics believe that modern life requires the burning of every drop of oil
and every last hunk of coal. Increasingly, this fossil-fuel fundamentalism
leaves them at odds with their church.
Once
the Holy See officially condemns worship at the altar of dirty energy, those
fundamentalists may need to choose between what their church demands and what
the oil, gas, and coal industries dictate. Boehner and other conservative
Catholic lawmakers will surely squirm in their seats when Francis addresses Congress in September.
And
who could be a stronger spokesman for bringing the power of religion to fuel
this change?
Even
Ban, who refuses to divulge whether he adheres to a specific faith tradition,
can now connect with the pious. “Science and religion are not at odds on
climate change. Indeed, they are fully aligned,” he declared at the Vatican’s climate summit. “It
is a moral issue. It is an issue of social justice, human rights, and
fundamental ethics.”
Vatican
City has already shrunk its
carbon footprint. Pope Benedict XVI installed solar panels on the roof of a big building next
door to St. Peter’s Cathedral and ordered a hybrid popemobile.
Francis,
however, will take things much further if his encyclical drives all
Catholic-run outfits — including schools, hospitals, churches, and retirement
homes — to take action.
Plus,
he could divest from fossil fuels. Francis is the sole shareholder in the Vatican Bank, a financial institution with
$8 billion in assets that previously lacked adequate oversight. He’s already
shaken things up there by shutting down accounts belonging to money launderers,
mobsters, drug-runners, and corrupt politicians. Barring its investments in
oil, gas, and coal could be next.
With
the recent news about Antarctica thawing out, there’s no time to
lose. So it’s reassuring that Turkson, widely seen as a papal contender
himself, speaks so eloquently about the urgency of climate action.
“God
has given all of us this planet as a gift, to provide for our needs,” he
declared. “And the correct response to receiving such a magnificent gift is
surely one of gratitude, love, and respect.”
Columnist Emily
Schwartz Greco is the managing editor of OtherWords,
a non-profit national editorial service run by the Institute for Policy
Studies. OtherWords.org.