Acton Institute Powerblog Archives

Post Tagged 'earth day'

April 22, 2015

Why We Should Celebrate Fossil Fuels on Earth Day

Every year on Earth Day events are held around the globe to demonstrate support for environmental protection. You aren’t likely to see any celebrations of fossil fuels, though, despite all the ways they have improved the environment for human life and flourishing. Continue Reading...
April 22, 2015

Explainer: What is Earth Day?

What is Earth Day? Earth Day is an annual event, celebrated on April 22, on which events are held worldwide to demonstrate support for environmental protection. It was first celebrated in 1970, the anniversary of what many consider the birth of the modern environmental movement. Continue Reading...
April 22, 2014

Earth Day and Asceticism

It is becoming increasingly common for theologians to recommend asceticism as a more eco-friendly lifestyle, as Fr. Michael Butler and Andrew Morriss note in their recent monograph, Creation and the Heart of Man. Continue Reading...
April 22, 2014

How the Profit Motive Helps the Environment

On this Earth Day, says Pierre Desrochers, we should spare a thought for the profit motive, an unheralded but long-standing champion of the environment. “The search for increased profitability,” ntoes Desrochers, “has long delivered both economic and environmental improvements by promoting the evermore efficient use of material resources.” With Earth Day near (this Monday), we hear the usual annual litany of laments from environmentalists, urging us to mend the errors of our industrial ways. Continue Reading...
April 22, 2014

Explainer: What is Earth Day?

What is Earth Day? Earth Day is an annual event, celebrated on April 22, on which events are held worldwide to demonstrate support for environmental protection. It was first celebrated in 1970, the anniversary of what many consider the birth of the modern environmental movement. Continue Reading...
April 29, 2011

Debt and the Demands of Progress

The curious alignment of Good Friday and Earth Day last week sparked much reflection about the relationship between the natural world and religious faith, but the previous forty days also manifested a noteworthy confluence of worldly and otherworldly concerns. Continue Reading...
April 20, 2011

Commentary: Humility, Prudence, and Earth Day

My contribution to this week’s Acton News & Commentary. Earth Day is Friday. Sign up for Acton’s free weekly email newsletter here. Humility, Prudence, and Earth Day By John Couretas At a World Council of Churches conference last year on the French-Swiss border, much was made of the “likelihood of mass population displacement” driven by climate change and the mass migration of people fleeing zones inundated by rising seas. Continue Reading...
April 23, 2010

Tocqueville on Earth Day?

I know I am a little late on this post, but… This year marks the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day, but if we want to understand its origins, one of the best sources is Alexis de Tocqueville’s master work, Democracy in America and his chapter on Democracy and Pantheism. Continue Reading...
April 22, 2010

Colson: Creation and Man

On The Christian Post, Chuck Colson talks about Earth Day and Christian world view in “Creation and Man.” … Christians are rightly concerned that extremists have turned Earth Day into “Worship-Earth Day.” Just listen to a few of these suggestions for Earth Day 2010 that some of the more radical groups are proposing: taking down “global eco-criminals” like Exxon-Mobil; having school kids meditate about the Spirit of Life (that’s “Spirit of Life” with capital letters); seeking international cooperation on reducing the human population; or working for, and I quote, the “ultimate, inevitable, and necessary dismantling of industrial civilization.” We Christians certainly do not want to be yoked with new agers, neo-pagans, or folks who just downright hate humanity. Continue Reading...