Columbans urge meaningful climate action in face of administration's inaction

August 21, 2018
Washington, DC

The United States has a moral responsibility to significantly reduce its carbon emissions - the administration's recently announced replacement for the Clean Power Plan ignores this responsibility.  

When the current administration announced its intention to repeal the Clean Power Plan, Columbans urged that any replacement match or exceed the CPP's emissions reduction goal. The proposed replacement does the opposite.  

Columbans know firsthand the consequences of a weakened commitment to climate action. Emissions and their impact on vulnerable communities know no borders. Columbans feel the heat of intensifying desertification from California to Pakistan. We served communities destroyed by extreme storms in the Philippines and Fiji. Our moral obligation to eliminate carbon pollution is the same as our obligation to be our sisters and brothers' keeper (Gen 4:9). 

The proposed CPP replacement thwarts the United States' ability to reduce emissions by allowing states to decrease their emission reduction goals and permitting coal-fired power plants to operate longer. This plan is one more example that the administration does not appreciate the extent to which the insatiable energy demands of our economy are tearing apart the web of life.  

In the face of climate inaction from the administration, Columbans strongly encourage and will work with Congress and people of faith to stand up for meaningful climate commitments.

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For a PDF of this statement, please click here. 

For more information
Contact: Wesley Cocozello, Communications and Programs Coordinator
Office: 202-635-5814 | Email: wcocozello@columban.org 

About the Columban Center
The Columban Center for Advocacy and Outreach is the advocacy office for the Missionary Society of St. Columban. The Center serves as the line of communication between Columban missionaries serving in 16 countries around the world and policy makers in Washington, D.C. Our mission is to work towards a more just, peaceful, and environmentally sustainable world by engaging in the political process guided by our Catholic faith and the Gospel.