April 29, 2009

Catholic coalition seeks to influence outcome of climate-change bill

WASHINGTON (CNS)—Led by a coalition of more than a dozen Catholic organizations, religious communities are ramping up efforts to ensure that the legislative debate on climate change beginning April 22 in Congress will not overlook the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people. The effort of the Catholic Coalition on Climate Change and the National Religious Partnership on the Environment came as the House Energy and Commerce Committee opened hearings on a clean energy bill. The Catholic coalition unveiled the Catholic Climate Covenant, a wide-ranging climate-change campaign, during a nationwide teleconference April 21. Aimed largely at Catholics in the country’s 19,000 parishes and 6,250 elementary schools, the campaign integrates the traditional Catholic practice of prayer with specific actions meant to reduce an individual’s carbon footprint on the world while influencing public policy. Several coalition leaders said specific steps involve lobbying Congress and state legislatures about the need to pass prudent legislation that takes into account the needs of the common good, specifically the poor whom they say are affected most by climate change.