Pope Francis, a darling of the social justice-obsessed left, is not shy when it comes to professing his thoughts on climate change.
In 2015, he penned a 184-page Encyclical claiming, “Climate change is a global problem with grave implications… It represents one of the principal challenges facing humanity in our day.”
Interestingly, Francis’ 2015 Encyclical, which reads more like a policy document than a religious text, came just before the highly touted United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris. Yes, the very conference in which the Paris Climate Accords were negotiated.
Also, of interest, shortly after Francis’ climate change opus was released, several so-called experts associated with international organizations dedicated to combating climate change came out and praised Francis, because, of course, the pope is an expert in the field of climate science.
Here are just a few of their responses:
Executive Director of the UN Environment Program Achim Steiner: The United Nations “welcomes Pope Francis’ unambiguous call to action in the face of global environmental degradation and climate change. This encyclical is a clarion call that resonates not only with Catholics, but with all of the Earth’s peoples. Science and religion are aligned on this matter: The time to act is now.”
UN Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres: “Pope Francis’ encyclical underscores the moral imperative for urgent action on climate change to lift the planet’s most vulnerable populations, protect development, and spur responsible growth. This clarion call should guide the world towards a strong and durable universal climate agreement in Paris at the end of this year. Coupled with the economic imperative, the moral imperative leaves no doubt that we must act on climate change now.”
Gee, I wonder if the United Nations and other global institutions devoted to peddling the falsehood that climate change is an existential threat are aware of the irony involved with mingling religion and science?
Remember, once upon a time, the Catholic Church persecuted Galileo for insisting that the Earth revolves around the Sun. And, the Catholic Church instituted the Inquisition. Suffice to say, when it comes to science, the Catholic Church does not boast the best track record.
However, this has not stopped the current leader of the Catholic Church, with its 1.2-billion-member flock, from engaging in the climate change debate, despite his utter foolishness on the topic.
In his most recent attempt to cement his climate change bona fides, Pope Francis released an Apostolic Exhortation titled, “To All People of Good Will on the Climate Crisis,” in which he states, “Despite all attempts to deny, conceal, gloss over or relativize the issue, the signs of climate change are here and increasingly evident. No one can ignore the fact that in recent years we have witnessed extreme weather phenomena, frequent periods of unusual heat, drought and other cries of protest on the part of the earth that are only a few palpable expressions of a silent disease that affects everyone.”
He also proclaims, “the world in which we live is collapsing and may be nearing the breaking point” and “the necessary transition towards clean energy sources such as wind and solar energy, and the abandonment of fossil fuels, is not progressing at the necessary speed.”
What’s more, he lamented “the irresponsible lifestyle connected with the Western model,” and singled out the United States for being the worst emitter of carbon dioxide while giving a pass to China.
In reality, as we climate realists well know, the idea that climate change represents an existential threat to our existence is downright absurd. For millions of years, the climate has changed. As the record shows, there have been fluctuations in the Earth’s temperature going back billions of years, way before humans harnessed the ability to use fossil fossils to generate power.
Moreover, while Francis chides the “Western lifestyle,” he conveniently ignores that Western society, the advent of fossil fuels, and free-market capitalism have lifted billions from poverty while inventing technologies and developing medical breakthroughs that have made the entire world better off. And, is Francis unaware or simply overlooking the fact that the United States has reduced its carbon dioxide emissions substantially over the past 30 years while countries like China and Russia have increased theirs?
Put simply, Pope Francis is completely wrong regarding all things concerning climate change. However, I can’t help but wonder if he is being used as a pawn by those who benefit from touting the climate change lie, seeing as how he is the leader of one of the most influential religious institutions the world over. Maybe climate change and religion, which are both based on belief, have more in common than we thought.
Photo by Long Thien. Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0.
Chris Talgo is senior editor at The Heartland Institute and a research fellow for Heartland’s Socialism Research Center.
