Pope Leo And Senator Whitehouse Call For Climate Action

The flooding in Kerr County, Texas, that killed more than 100 people has been much in the news this week. Texas Governor Greg Abbott is on record as saying, “Ever since I have been governor, we have had weather events that were completely unpredictable, and that is just part of nature.” Abbott pocketed $1.1 million in campaign cash from fossil fuel interests during the last election and has never said the words “climate change” at any time in his political career, so far as anyone knows.

In a joint Substack post by HEATED and ExxonKnew, those groups reveal that a month before the tragic flooding, the oil and gas industry was treating itself to an all-expenses-paid stay at the Omni hotel in San Antonio organized by the American Gas Association to talk about how to prepare pipeline infrastructure and the energy grid “for high demand seasons and severe weather events.” Those in attendance include members of the National Governors Association, the Department of Energy (DOE), and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

While the industry is planning how to protect its operations from extreme weather and a changing climate, it is telling people that climate scientists are a bunch of crooks and liars whose wild tales about climate change should be ignored. “Abbott … and other GOP leaders deny climate change, choosing to do political favors for the fossil fuel industry,” Houston Chronicle columnist Chris Tomlinson wrote in a recent op-ed. “Every appointed state official knows they could be fired for acknowledging global warming, which is why you never hear it discussed at the Public Utility Commission, the Railroad Commission or even the Texas Commission for Environmental Quality.”

Pope Leo Calls For Climate Action

This week, an extraordinary thing happened. Pope Leo XIV interrupted his traditional summer vacation to say a special mass for about 50 staffers of the Laudato Si center, named for the 2015 environmental encyclical Praised Be (Laudato Si in Latin), in which Pope Francis lambasted wealthy countries and multinational corporations for the way they exploited the Earth and its people for profit.

According to the Associated Press, Pope Leo approved the new Mass formula “for the care of creation,” directing it to be added to the list of 49 Masses that have been developed over centuries for a specific need or occasion. “Officials said it was crafted in response to requests stemming from Francis’ encyclical, which in its 10 years has inspired a whole church movement and foundation to educate, advocate and sensitize the world to the biblically mandated call to care for nature,” AP reported.

The new Pope has indicated he intends to continue the ecological legacy of Pope Francis, who while alive had railed against the “injustice, violations of international law and the rights of peoples, grave inequalities and the greed that fuels them are spawning deforestation, pollution and the loss of biodiversity.”

Pope Leo told those in attendance they were celebrating Mass in “what we might call a natural cathedral,” surrounded by plants, flowers, and nature. He said humanity’s mission is the same as Christ’s: to protect creation and bring peace and reconciliation in the world. “We hear the cry of the earth, we hear the cry of the poor, because this cry has reached the heart of God,” he said. “Our indignation is His, our work is His.”

Sheldon Whitehouse Excoriates Democrats

Sheldon Whitehouse is the junior Senator from Rhode Island and fierce opponent of the fossil fuel industry. This week, in a conversation with Climate Change Now, NBC News, AFP, and Bloomberg Green, he said, “The fossil fuel industry has run the biggest and most malevolent propaganda operation the country has ever seen. It is defending a 700-plus-billion-dollar [annual] subsidy…. I think the more people understand that, the more they’ll be irate [that] they’ve been lied to.” He had harsh words for his colleagues in the Democratic Party as well — “Democrats have not done a good job of calling that out.”

Since 2012 when he was first elected to the Senate, Whitehouse has delivered 300 “Time To Wake Up” speeches on the floor of the Senate. When Barack Obama was in his first term as president, the White House would not even use the words “climate” and “change” together in the same paragraph. Now he says he has learned to shift from talking about the “facts of climate science and the effects on human beings to calling out the fossil fuels’ massive climate denial operation.”

“Turns out, none of [the science] really matters while the operation is controlling things in Congress,” he said. “I could take facts from colleagues’ home states right to them, and it would make no difference because of this enormous, multi-billion dollar political club that can [punish] anyone who crosses them.” Some readers may recall the words of George Carlin who told us, “It’s a big club and you ain’t in it.” People laughed because Carlin was a comedian. They didn’t know what he was telling them was the truth.

Lawmakers need to recognize “how much [public] support there is for climate action,” Whitehouse said. “How do you have an issue that you win 74 to 12 and you don’t ride that horse as hard as you can?” He was referring to recent polling data that shows about three quarters of Americans who want the federal government to take stronger action on climate change. CCNow says that according to its 89 Percent Project, globally, between 80 and 89 percent of people are in favor of stronger action by governments on climate change. Whitehouse was referring specifically to Chuck Schumer, the minority leader of the Senate, who watches the daily insults from the failed administration and accepts them without so much as a peep of protest.

Whitehouse is optimistic that climate denial won’t prevail forever. “Once this comes home to roost in people’s homes, in their family finances, in really harmful ways, that [will be] motivating in a way that we haven’t seen before around this issue,” he said. “And if we’re effective at communicating what a massive fraud has been pulled on the American public by the fossil fuel industry denial groups, then I think that’s a powerful combination.”

Democrats Can’t Win For Losing

Democrats have in fact done a lousy job of taking a winning campaign strategy and running with it. The party cuts the legs out from under Democratic activists such as “Andrea” Ocasio Cortez, Bernie Sanders, and Cory Booker for fear they will alienate voters, and yet voters are saying loudly and clearly they want dedicated progressives to lead the party. Democrats are trashing Zohran Mamdani, who won a crushing victory over a party hack with a reputation for abusing women.

What is wrong with the leaders of the Democratic Party? It’s like they believe all the evil, vile things Republicans say about them and are apologizing for themselves. It can’t be because they are afraid of losing, because they have been losing, consistently, for more than 30 years. Protecting the planet is moral, just, and a winning political strategy. Please, Democrats, stop being afraid to speak up. The voters are begging you to show some courage. Now would be a good time to start.