EcoLinks 08.03.15

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Are Pope Francis’ views on climate change costing him supporters?
Sabrina McLaughlin, Patheos

“Laudato Si” was heralded in advance of its release by many of the national progressive Catholic organizations and thinkers I have come to admire (the Franciscan Action Network, NETWORK, Father James Martin, S.J., etc.), and it is still bring promoted and discussed online and in the media. When I attended mass in the weeks following the release of Laudato Si, I was expecting to hear this highly anticipated teaching referred to and passed on to the people from the pulpit. However, I was disappointed when other topics took precedence in the homilies that I heard during those masses. Laudato Si and its pressing message and urgent call to action seemed to be ignored.

Pope Francis sides with climate change
Ray Johnson, Press Republican

In late June, Pope Francis issued a 184-page encyclical, “Laudato Si.” This was not a spur-of-the-moment decision but evolved over many months, with the Pontifical Academy of Sciences playing a leading role.

Pope politics: How the ‘Francis factor’ could upend 2016
John Gehring, MSNBC

A pope who denounces “trickle down” economics and insists climate change is an urgent moral issue is recalibrating a values narrative in U.S. politics that in recent years has been off kilter. Less than two months before the pope visits the United States and becomes the first pontiff in history to address Congress, a “Francis factor” could prove to be one of the most intriguing storylines of the 2016 election.

Obama looks to legacy with new climate-change rule
Amy Harder, Colleen McCain Nelson & Rebecca Smith, MarketWatch

White House officials say Obama views addressing climate change as part of his legacy. He announced an aggressive climate deal with China in November and has put the issue high on the agenda in meetings with world leaders in recent months. The president also will discuss climate change with Pope Francis during his visit to the U.S. next month, following the pope’s release of an encyclical on the issue in June.

Obama Sends ‘Memo To America’ On The Biggest Thing A President’s Ever Done On Climate Change
Ryan Koronowski, ClimateProgress

Obama is also scheduled to talk climate change with Pope Francis, who recently released an encyclical about climate change, when he visits Washington, D.C. in September. In December, the U.N. will host talks aiming for a global agreement on greenhouse gas emissions reductions.

Climate change, Pan recall, gas station, river memorial, etc.
Rich Howard, Sacramento Bee

Thanks to The Bee for this challenging yet hopeful editorial. Yes, the need for action to address the changing climate is urgent, and it needs to happen at all levels: the personal, state and national levels suggested in the editorial, the moral level addressed in Pope Francis’ encyclical and the international level, e.g., the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Paris this December.