The detractors have already begun their grandstanding. But for a moment, let us at least recognize that the efforts of Al Gore and the IPCC to inform the world of the threat of the human impact on climate change have as their end the restoration of responsible stewardship of the earth. And with responsible stewardship comes peace. While there may well have been more deserving candidates for the Nobel Peace Prize, I am satisfied with the result. Partisanship aside, the work of Gore and the IPCC has been important in raising the industrial world’s consciousness to what may be an immanent threat to whole civilizations and even to the planet itself despite whatever may be the inaccuracies among the data presented in An Inconvenient Truth. What is accurate, however, is that climate change is not a partisan issue and those who characterize it is a “liberal” phenomenon are not worth listening to. Gore, citing Ronald Reagan’s example, notes as much.
I wrote a few posts in the past on the Vatican’s interpretation of the data and its positions on climate change. What is interesting is that while the debate over global warming is largely framed by political and corporate paradigms, the Catholic Church introduces the issue of morality into the discussion, which suggests that concern over climate change and being environmentally conscious is not a mere option or the result of prudential judgment, but a duty and an imperative for every faithful Catholic. The intricate link between the dignity and value of the human person, the societies of peoples and the environment is perspicuous to the Catholic who has immersed himself/herself in the great writings of the Fathers (especially the eastern Fathers) and of the medieval mystics. The Catholic faith makes no concession in this regard–the Catholic must be an measured environmentalist.
For a summary of the Vatican’s recent statements on global warming click here. For John Paul II’s statements on the link between human industry and climate change, click here. For previous Vox Nova posts on climate change, click here.
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