Home / Front Page

As Catholic’s celebrate the end of their liturgical year this Sunday with the Solemnity of Christ the King, the global environmental community is assessing what happened after a two-week gathering of diplomats in Warsaw who had met to hammer out needed climate-change agreements.

Known informally as “COP19,” the 19th session of the “Conference of the Parties” to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change concluded with mixed, but mostly poor, reviews.

A poster to Twitter this morning said simply, "Leaving #Warsaw with feeling that #COP19was a waste of energy." In their COP19 statement, the Sierra Club sums up this sentiment. In part, the global eco-organization notes

Japan and Australia have backed out of their commitments, while other nations sidetracked the conference rehashing old differences. Now, [the planned] 2015 negotiations that should offer hope could instead be bogged down by a weakened process and delays.
Whether it's Haiyan, Sandy, Midwest droughts, or Colorado floods, the threat of climate disruption has become a dangerous new reality. We still have time to act to curb this crisis, but the window is closing quickly -- and we can't afford any more...

Catholic ecologists often quote Hebrew Scriptures. We do so to demonstrate how divine truths are united with the created order. Whether we realize it or not, in quoting these texts we are also building vital bridges of dialogue, understanding, and love with our Jewish brothers and sisters.

Three recent encounters—two virtual and one in person—have had me thinking about all this.

The most recent occurred last night at a talk by Rabbi Michael Klein-Katz, who spoke at the Dominican Order's Providence College for their fall semester’s Theological Exchange Between Catholics and Jews. Rabbi Klein-Katz, who had ministered in New York before moving to Jerusalem in the 1980s, is currently the Scholar-in-Residence at Temple Sinai in Cranston, Rhode Island.

The rabbi spoke powerfully to a group of Christians, Jews, Muslims, students, professors, and guests. His talk, “A Rabbi, a Priest, and an Imam Walk into a Room: The Victories and Challenges of Interreligious Dialogue,” included a good measure of humor, which always helps unite a room.

What struck me about his talk was its reminders of all that Jews and Catholics...

This past Friday I was one of over one hundred “climate leaders” from across New England. We gathered for an all-day summit of (mostly) local, state, and federal government officials as well as a sampling of those in the non-profit and for-profit community. 
While much good came from the event’s conversations, networking, and coordination, a speech by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) reminded me that political grudges don't mix with science and sound policy. 
It also made clear how Catholics may not always be welcome in large groups of eco-advocates.

First, kudos to EPA’s New England region for organizing what was by any measure a huge success. And kudos also to Rhode Island’s eco-friendly Johnson and Wales University for hosting us at their green campus, which sits along the Providence River in the shadow of three massive wind turbines that power the adjacent Fields Point Wastewater Treatment Facility.

Semi-kudos go to Senator Whitehouse, who is arguably one of the most outspoken members of Congress when it comes to eco-issues. He understands better than most elected officials the nuances of climate change and he...

With the Data Series interviews of natural scientists becoming so popular, I'm expanding the interview format to authors who write about aspects of ecology.

And so the "By the books" series is born.

Up first is Dr. Charles Camosy, Assistant Professor of Christian Ethics at Fordham University. Dr. Camosy was kind enough to field some questions on his latest book, For Love of Animals: Christian Ethics, Consistent Action (Franciscan).

Dr. Camosy has published articles in the American Journal of Bioethics, the Journal of Medicine and Philosophy, the Journal of the Catholic Health Association, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Washington Post, and Commonweal Magazine.

His other two books are Too Expensive to Treat? Finitude, Tragedy, and the Neonatal ICU (Eerdmans), which was a 2011 award-winner with the Catholic Media Association, and Peter Singer and Christian Ethics: Beyond Polarization (Cambridge) was named a 2012 “best book” with ABC Religion and Ethics.

...

Many queries that lead people to this blog are from people seeking information on the Catholic position on genetically modified foods. I haven’t posted much on the issue because I didn't feel I had the right amount of information.

But now I do.

When I interviewed him for a recent interview on biodiversity, Dr. Peter Raven of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences sent me a good deal of documentation on the use of genetic sciences in the arena of food security and supply. And yesterday, Cardinal Peter K. A. Turkson of Ghana told an audience in Des Moines, Iowa that the findings of science can and should be used to feed the hungry.

As reported in the Des Moines Register,

Citing Pope John Paul II, Turkson told a room filled with about 1,000 people attending the World Food Prize symposium in downtown Des Moines that adverse climate change has affected food production in poor countries, “and the findings of science must be put to use in order to ensure a high productivity of land.”
Turkson...

The Data Series continues with a look at trends in weather and what they can and cannot tell us about climate.


Helping us with this is David Vallee, the Hydrologist-in-Charge of the National Weather Service’s Northeast River Forecast Center in Taunton, Massachusetts. The center provides detailed forecasting information to National Weather Service Forecast Offices and the hundreds of federal, state and local water resource entities throughout the Northeast and New York. Mr. Vallee has also served as Science and Operations Officer and Hurricane Program Leader at the NWS Weather Forecast Office. Mr. Vallee is a graduate of Lyndon State College and is known for his outreach and education work on the behavior of New England Hurricanes, including many appearances on local radio and T.V. networks, the Weather Channel, the History Channel and the Discovery Channel.

NOAA's David Vallee

Mr. Vallee has also conducted research addressing severe storms, floods, heavy rainfall production, the...

Pages

Subscribe to

If you like Catholic Ecology,
you’ll love…

A Printer's Choice

The sci-fi novel with a Catholic twist.

A Printer's Choice

Learn more

About the Blog

Catholic Ecology posts my regular column in the Rhode Island Catholic, as well as scientific and theological commentary about the latest eco-news, both within and outside of the Catholic Church. What is contained herein is but one person's attempt to teach and defend the Church's teachings - ecological and otherwise. As such, I offer all contents of this blog for approval of the bishops of the Church. It is my hope that nothing herein will lead anyone astray from truth.