On Environmental Justice

By Neal Davidson
June 29, 2012

I am working this summer as an intern for NETWORK. I have been assigned to do environmental research, and I’ll be doing a weekly blog throughout the summer on my findings. My overall goals are: to define climate change, to define the way that change is affecting people in poverty in the United States, to explore how its effects relate to Catholic social teaching, and to research ways to address the problem.

In the past, advocacy for legislation regulating America’s effect on the world environment has primarily come from environmental interest groups. I would like to clarify the misconception that climate change only adversely affects rainforests and many animal species; our nation too often focuses exclusively on this aspect of climate change and not on the damage being done to humans. The change in the climate has a disproportionate effect on people at the economic margins. Moreover, the increasing frequency of natural disasters is forcing the displacement of large populations across borders and people are struggling to find homes. Citizens of certain island nations will see their country completely submerged within our lifetimes. We have a moral imperative to counter the threats posed by the increasing intensity of droughts and other natural disasters.

We are called to be stewards of the earth and protect human dignity, and by disregarding our obligation to protect the gifts we have been blessed with, we endanger our lives and our morality. In my blog posts, I hope to provide convincing information from a variety of sources, combined with real and creative solutions to the dilemmas caused by our rapidly changing earth. If you have specific questions, please feel free to email me at[email protected].

Blog Post #1 – Global Warming: The Vicious Cycle

Blog Post #2 – Environmental Justice: A Vital Part of Catholic Social Teaching

Blog Post #3 – The Basics of Renewable Energy

Blog Post #4 – Some New and Inspiring Solutions

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