Letter
Letter to Senate Energy Natural Resources Committee from Bishop Wenski on Climate Change, February 7, 2007
Letter to Senate Energy Natural Resources Committee from Bishop Thomas G. Wenski on Climate Change, February 7, 2007
"At a time of growing and overdue attention to the challenges of global climate change, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops welcomes your leadership on this issue which literally affects the future of God’s creation. The just released report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has outlined more clearly and more compelling than ever before the case for serious and urgent action to address the potential consequences of climate change as well as highlighting the dangers and costs of inaction.
We are encouraged by the increasing signs of serious attention to climate change. President Bush addressed this matter in his State of the Union speech. Congress has begun a series of important hearings, and a variety of proposals are being put forward. We hope this will be a time for our nation to come together across partisan, ideological and interest groups lines to address the moral, human and environmental dimensions of this growing challenge that faces all of humanity.
In Global Climate Change: A Plea for Dialogue, Prudence and the Common Good, the Catholic bishops of the United States insisted: “At its core, global climate change is not about economic theory or political platforms, nor about partisan advantage or interest group pressures. It is about the future of God's creation and the one human family. It is about protecting both "the human environment" and the natural environment.1 It is about our human stewardship of God's creation and our responsibility to those who come after us.” I enclose a copy of our statement, Global Climate Change: A Plea for Dialogue, Prudence and the Common Good."