Policy & Advocacy
Backgrounder on Global Climate Change, February 2015
Backgrounder on Global Climate Change for February 2015
Pope Francis intends to address climate change in an upcoming environmental encyclical. Climate change is a central global environmental challenge that disproportionately harms the poorest and most vulnerable people worldwide. The Catholic tradition emphasizes the moral dimensions of the issue and calls believers to care for creation and the “least of these” (Mt 25:40). U.S. power plants are a major domestic source of greenhouse gases and of local air pollutants; the EPA has concluded that current and projected greenhouse gas concentrations endanger public health and future generations. In June 2014 the EPA proposed national standards to cut carbon pollution from existing power plants through a federal‑state partnership that sets state emission targets and lets states choose how to meet them. These standards could reduce power‑sector CO2 by about 30 percent by 2030 and would also lower particle pollution, SO2, and NOx, improving human and environmental health. Globally, climate impacts — floods, droughts, food and water insecurity, and resource conflict — are already worsening conditions for the world’s poorest, and humanitarian agencies are assisting affected communities.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) supports prudent, justice‑based action to address climate change and insists mitigation measures be grounded in social and economic justice. In the absence of congressional legislation, the bishops view regulatory action as the primary realistic response. Bishop and archbishop leaders publicly supported the EPA national standard and submitted moral guidance on how the EPA and states should proceed.
Moral principles the bishops urged:
- Care for creation — stewardship of the environment.
- Promotion of the common good — policies should benefit the whole community.
- Respect for the human person — human dignity must guide decisions.
- Priority for the poor and vulnerable — protect those most harmed by climate change and by any policy costs.
- State flexibility — endorse allowing states to choose how to meet emission goals.
Recommended actions:
- Support national standards that reduce carbon pollution from power plants to protect health and vulnerable communities.
- Urge government and industry leaders to act responsibly, justly, and quickly to implement standards.
- Insist that costs from compliance be distributed fairly and not place undue burden on the poor.
- Remain engaged in public debate, especially while congressional efforts to block or delay EPA action are anticipated.