clair031

Pope Francis visited the United States in September 2015.   He addressed the issue of global warming as a worldwide concern on several occasions.   He stressed that we have to begin now, acting in concert, to stabilize the planet and improve our common home, the earth in its entirety.   The need is great not only to protect the environment for our children, but also as a matter of justice for today’s peoples who are impoverished and cannot take action on their own to protect against the damages from warming. Both the Old and New Testaments provide the basis for taking action; the moral foundation motivating Pope Francis is drawn from the Golden Rule.   Leaders of other religions also are calling for action at this time. The Pope’s message, if taken to heart, can help inspire the world’s leaders to reach agreement on climate action at the United Nations conference at the end of this year. Pope Francis visited the U. S. in September 2015 .   He repeated the ...

[Updated September 17, 2015 ]   California’s praiseworthy effort to curb emissions of greenhouse gases, initiated by former Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, suffered a major setback when present Governor Jerry Brown and state legislators agreed to exempt petroleum from the program.   They succumbed to intense pressure from the oil industry.     To minimize further global warming and its harms we all have to limit accumulation of additional atmospheric greenhouse gases.   The oil industry campaign in California has the opposite effect, ensuring addition of more gases rather than minimizing their buildup.    We and future generations will suffer the harmful consequences.   Former Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of California , addressing a United Nations conference on the environment in June 2005, indicated his understanding that climate change is an indisputable threat.   He revealed his plans to combat global warmi...

Just as Beirut ’s current garbage crisis results in unconstrained buildup of garbage in its streets, so humanity’s continuing emission of carbon dioxide waste into the atmosphere results in unprecedented buildup of harmful greenhouse gases.   Ultimately the causes of each of these parallel phenomena lie in political intransigence among groups or nations unable or unwilling to resolve differences.   Recent developments hold considerable promise for reaching agreement on global warming.   These efforts should be welcomed and supported.   Garbage has been piling up uncollected in the streets of Beirut , Lebanon this summer, festering in the heat of summer ( New York Times , Aug. 27, 2015 ; see the photo below). Accumulated garbage in Beirut , Lebanon . Source: New York Times, Aug. 27, 2015 ; http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/28/world/middleeast/growing-trash-piles-reflect-lebanons-political-gridlock.html   The landfill that had been used for Beirut ’s waste for 20 ...