June 2, 2014 - Maryknoll applauds the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for today’s announcement to regulate carbon emissions from existing power plants. As a Catholic mission organization based in the United States, we understand that that we come from a country of great wealth, and are called to ensure the human dignity of the most vulnerable members of the human family.
The U.S. is the largest emitter of greenhouse gases and the single largest source of emissions comes from power plants. As a nation, we have a moral responsibility to reduce our carbon pollution in order to ensure the health and well-being of Creation and all God’s people around the world. Yet our brothers and sisters where Maryknoll serves in Africa, Latin America, and Asia are already suffering the impacts of climate change – resulting from a worldwide increase in greenhouse gases from fossil fuel consumption.
Maryknoll priests, sisters, and lay missioners are witnessing the devastating hurricanes, desertification, and melting ice caps resulting from a changing climate. These impacts on God’s Earth are felt disproportionately on the economically poor communities in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
As international climate negotiations continue this week in Bonn, we welcome this action by the EPA as a sign of U.S. commitment to addressing climate change.