Climate Change is a Global Concern . . . what does this mean for the United States?

The Third National Climate Assessment, Climate Change Impacts in the United States was released in 2014. Authored by more than 240 scientific experts from around the country, the report is a comprehensive synthesis of observed and projected changes in U.S. climate and climate impacts. 

Information is summarized for the national
and regional scale as well as for a range of topics, such as:

The report affirms:

"Global climate is changing and this is apparent

across the United States

in a wide range of observations." 

 Explore how climate change
 is affecting the Southwest region HERE.

ENCYCLICAL LETTER LAUDATO SI’ OF THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS ON CARE FOR OUR COMMON HOME

Here is the link to the Encyclical posted at the Vatican website:

LAUDATO SI’    

"Praise be to You"

On Care for
Our Common Home 

The Catholic Climate Covenant has posted a selection of quotes from the Encyclical arranged by topic at this link

Fossil Fuel Divestment and Faith-Based Institutions

The following is from the Catholic Climate Covenant's July 23rd Newsletter:    

On June 23, 2014, the University of Dayton became the first Catholic college or university to divest its endowment ($670 million) from fossil fuels in order to address climate change in fidelity to its Catholic mission. Following this historic announcement, several stories and resources have been subsequently published:

•    University of Dayton President Daniel J. Curran, Ph.D., wrote an op/ed titled Catholic University's Divestment Decision A Call to Action on Climate and Human Rights. There, President Curran explains how Dayton’s fossil fuel divestment reflects the University's longstanding and unwavering commitment to environmental sustainability, human rights and our Catholic mission. As of now, the University of Dayton is the only Catholic institution in the United States that has voted to divest from fossil fuels holdings.

•    Amanda Hanley, Co-founder and co-director of the Hanley Family Foundation, wrote an op/ed titledDivestment at Catholic Universities a Climate Gamechanger? There, she reflects on the Univeresity of Dayton's divestment decision and concludes that the bottom line Catholic universities must wrestle with is this: are their investments observing or undermining the Catholic mission? 

•    GreenFaith held a free webinar titled Fossil Free Investing featuring Gordon Morrison from FTSE and Clare Murray from BlackRock. This webinar follows GreenFaith’s April webinar Catholic Perspectives on Divestment & Reinvestment.  As part of its Divest & Reinvest Now! Campaign, Greenfaith published Divestment Central: A Listing of Known Religious Divestment Efforts.