Letter
Comments to EPA from Archbishop Wenski Bishop Pates on Carbon Pollution Standards in Spanish, July 30, 2014
Comments to EPA from Archbishop Thomas G. Wenski, Chairman, Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development and Bishop Richard E. Pates, Chairman, Committee on International Justice and Peace on carbon pollution standards, July 30, 2014 (in Spanish)
"We write as Chairmen of the Domestic and International Committees of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) to welcome the setting of standards to reduce carbon pollution from existing power plants and thereby mitigate climate change. We support a national standard to reduce carbon pollution and recognize the important flexibility given to states in determining how best to meet these goals. These standards should protect the health and welfare of all people, especially children, the elderly, as well as poor and vulnerable communities, from harmful pollution emitted from power plants and from the impacts of climate change.
As bishops and people of faith, we do not speak as experts on carbon pollution or on the technical remedies to address climate change. We are pastors in a faith tradition that teaches, as Pope Francis recently stated, “Creation is a gift, it is a wonderful gift that God has given us, so that we care for it and we use it for the benefit of all, always with great respect and gratitude.”