WASHINGTON, D.C. – American faith activists today delivered 166 copies of the Pope’s “climate change” encyclical to every Catholic member of the US Congress. In an accompanying letter, the activists asked the lawmakers to act on Pope Francis’ call to action on global warming by supporting HR 1027, “The Healthy Climate and Family Security Act.”
See below the full text of the letter submitted to House and Senate Catholics from the Franciscan Action Network and the Chesapeake Climate Action Network.
“We are reaching out to Catholic lawmakers today because – right now – they can take the kind of bold action the Pope is calling for worldwide on climate change,” said Patrick Carolan, director of the Franciscan Action Network. “Congress has a moral obligation to act, and Catholic lawmakers should – like the Pope – lead on this issue.”
Carolan called on the members of Congress to support HR 1027. The bill, introduced by Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), would cap US carbon emissions, require fossil fuel companies to pay a fee to pollute, and then rebate the collected revenue back to all Americans in equal-sized quarterly “carbon dividend” payments. This so-call “cap-and-dividend” approach to climate policy has been growing in popularity in recent years in Congress and across the country.
“The Pope in his encyclical calls for a morally thoughtful and socially fair solution to climate change,” said Mike Tidwell, a Presbyterian activist and director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network. “In our view, HR 1027 is both an effective tool for reducing carbon pollution and a just tool that makes sure vulnerable Americans actually prosper during the transition to clean energy.”
Click here to read the letter delivered to Congress.
Contact:
Patrick Carolan, Franciscan Action Network, 203-522-2324, pcarolan@franciscanaction.org
Mike Tidwell, Chesapeake Climate Action Network 240-460-5838, mtidwell@chesapeakeclimate.org
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