This story was originally published by the Guardian and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.
Pope Francis enlisted the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr. to help bolster his call for urgent action on climate change on Wednesday in a welcoming ceremony at the White House that Barack Obama said would “shake our conscience from slumber.”
Speaking in front of crowd of nearly 15,000 guests that had begun packing into the South Lawn before dawn, the pope wasted no time in striking an unashamedly political tone during his first public event of a six-day visit to the U.S.
In a surprise move, the pope made what amounted to a direct reference to Obama’s new emission regulations, which are deeply controversial among Republicans. Before a crowd of VIPs and dignitaries that included lawmakers from both parties, the pope told the president it was “encouraging that you are proposing an initiative for reducing air pollution” at a “crucial moment in history.”
Pope Francis extended the metaphor of injustice to include the need to care for “our common home.”
In words that pile moral pressure on those who oppose carbon emission regulations, ... Read more
