Pope Francis and President Barack Obama are addressing climate change in serious ways, yet Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker continues to deny that it’s a problem, according to members of the grassroots group Organizing for Action (OFA) on its day of action last Thursday.
In May, the pope stunned the world by releasing an encyclical letter on climate change, “Laudato Si: On Care for Our Common Home,” in which he urges better stewardship of the planet. Obama has renewed his efforts to combat climate change with his Clean Power Plan, which would allow the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to regulate and ultimately reduce the amount of carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants.
But Walker’s Wisconsin isn’t heeding the words of Pope Francis or President Obama.
During the past four years, Walker has failed to invest in renewable energy to reduce greenhouse gases and dependence on fossil fuels; appointed fossil fuel allies to the Public Service Commission, which is supposed to regulate utilities; cut 18 scientists and 11 educators from the Department of Natural Resources in his most recent budget; and has promoted highway expansion over building out the state’s public transit system, including high-speed rail.
Most recently, he’s allowed Wisconsin to join a lawsuit seeking to strike down Obama’s Clean Power Plan, saying that reducing harmful emissions would be too expensive for the state’s utilities.
More than 60% of the state’s electricity was produced from coal in 2013, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), although Wisconsin has no local sources of coal and utilities must bring it in from other states. Wisconsin spews more sulfur dioxide and carbon dioxide than the average state, according to EIA data.
Although Walker seems to be most worried about the Clean Power Plan’s cost to utilities, Wisconsin’s coal dependence is already expensive. Our electricity prices for residential and industrial consumers are 15% above the national average and Wisconsin ranks #17 in the nation for the average residential price for energy, the EIA found. Indiana, Illinois, Iowa and Minnesota have lower electricity rates than Wisconsin, according to the EIA’s 2013 data. Thirty years ago, Wisconsin had some of the lowest electricity costs in the Midwest, which Wisconsin promoted as it tried to lure companies to locate in our state.
A Moral Issue
Pope Francis will visit the U.S. later this month and will address the U.S. Senate on Thursday, Sept. 24. More than 100 faith-based groups will rally on the National Mall to support his message on climate change, according to the National Catholic Reporter. OFA plans to organize house parties to watch Pope Francis’ visit to learn more about his message on global warming.
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Pope Francis, in contrast to Walker, isn’t concerned with ensuring that fossil fuel-based utilities continue to generate profits at the expense of the planet. Instead, the pope addressed his message to “every living person on the planet” and asks that we see ourselves as part of a larger, interconnected ecosystem. Pope Francis stressed the need to take care of the planet on moral grounds, arguing that humans are part of an ecosystem that includes our “sister,” the Earth.
“This sister now cries out to us because of the harm we have inflicted on her by our irresponsible use and abuse of the goods with which God has endowed her,” the pope wrote. “We have come to see ourselves as her lords and masters, entitled to plunder her at will. The violence present in our hearts, wounded by sin, is also reflected in the symptoms of sickness evident in the soil, in the water, in the air and in all forms of life. This is why the earth herself, burdened and laid waste, is among the most abandoned and maltreated of our poor; she ‘groans in travail.’”
The pope—who worked as a chemist before becoming a Catholic priest—acknowledges that the causes of global warming are being debated, but he also asks that we observe the effects of climate change for ourselves.
“But we need only take a frank look at the facts to see that our common home is falling into serious disrepair,” Pope Francis wrote. “Hope would have us recognize that there is always a way out, that we can always redirect our steps, that we can always do something to solve our problems. Still, we can see signs that things are now reaching a breaking point, due to the rapid pace of change and degradation; these are evident in large-scale natural disasters as well as social and even financial crises, for the world’s problems cannot be analyzed or explained in isolation.”
The pope called for policies that will conserve our natural resources and protect the poor, since they are the most affected by water shortages, extreme heat and loss of biodiversity due to the warming climate.
OFA volunteer Edna Fenceroy said she was most impressed by Pope Francis’ emphasis on protecting the poor.
“We’re supposed to reach out and help each other,” Fenceroy said.
