There is a moral imperative to combat climate change Opinion | State

A couple of weeks ago I did an outdoor retreat in the Rocky Mountains. We talked about our dependence on the air we breathe, that none of us can live without air for more than 4-5 minutes.

Yet we know that toxins in our air from fossil fuels kill 200,000 Americans every year. Our burning of fossil fuels has created a “blanket of pollution” in our atmosphere that is warming the Earth, exacerbating droughts, heat waves and wildfires.

Today I am filled with new hope. The US is going to step up our transition to affordable clean energy with the Inflation Reduction Act.

If it seems strange that a Catholic sister would be so excited about a political decision, let me tell you about it. Christians have been praying and advocating for a clean and healthy world for decades, including through an annual initiative that begins on September 1 called the Season of Creation. Catholic leaders, including sisters and priests, bishops and popes, have been talking about climate change for decades.

In 1981, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops began voicing the moral imperative to act on climate change. Leading bishops warned of scientists’ concerns about “significant climate change” and that “it would be the height of folly to intervene in ignorance of the ecology of the entire planet”.

In 1991, Saint John Paul II warned about the “greenhouse effect”. Pope Benedict XVI challenged us: “Can we remain indifferent to the problems associated with realities such as climate change and pollution?”

More recently, Pope Francis has drawn attention to the moral dimension of climate change. U his TED Talk 2020, he said we are faced with “a moral imperative and a practical need to rethink many things: the way we produce; method of consumption; our waste culture; our short-term vision; the exploitation of the poor and our indifference to them; rising inequality and our dependence on harmful energy sources.’

The last point of Pope Francis touches me the most. I have seen the growth of inequality first hand and I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt that it is the “least among us”, the economically vulnerable, who are suffering the effects of climate change. When floods hit and wildfires rage, they pay a much higher price—often with their lives—than those with an economic advantage.

It doesn’t have to be like this. God’s creation is by definition life-giving. And I hope that the promised investment in Law on reducing inflation are a sign that Americans are finally ready to participate in a life-giving cycle of creation that benefits all.

And that’s why I applaud our congressional leaders and their decision to invest in clean energy. From an economic point of view, jobs will be created in new and interesting fields. And our children and grandchildren will live longer and more fully if they breathe cleaner air and drink cleaner water.

The passage of this law is an important first step toward the world I have worked and prayed for. But the work is not done. Individuals—you and I—play a dual role in bringing the Inflation Reduction Act to its expected conclusion. We must personally invest in new wind and solar technologies as they emerge. And we must hold leaders accountable for the promises they made when the bill was passed.

Sister Elizabeth Fuhr – Fr Sisters of St. Francis of Peace and Christian Charity in Denver, Colorado. She wrote this piece for the Colorado Newsline, a sister site of the Pennsylvania Capital-Star, where this part first appeared.