Columbans to Congress: “Support 100% clean energy economy”

Washington, DC - In honor of the 2019 World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation* on September 1st, which opens the Season of Creation, the Columban Center for Advocacy and Outreach (CCAO) urges Congress to support a rapid shift to a 100% clean energy economy in order to ensure a sustainable future. 

“This year, the theme of the Season of Creation will be ‘The Web of Life,' which was chosen as a gesture of solidarity with the Synod on the Amazon [in October],” said Fr. Tim Mulroy, Society Leader for the Missionary Society of St. Columban. “May the celebration of the Season of Creation provide us with an opportunity to develop a greater appreciation of God's love and care as expressed in the web of life and help us to continue growing in empathy with people and places that are vulnerable and exploited.” 

At the heart of our current global economy is an extractive model. Extractive industries, such as mining and drilling for fossil fuels and minerals, displace indigenous and other marginalized communities from their homes and contribute to ecological degradation, like climate change.  

The consequences of this are clear in the Amazon. The on-going devastation of the Amazon rainforest has made the need for an alternative economic system even more urgent. Many of the fires making headlines are attributed to human activity, such as forest clearing for large-scale agriculture.  

Shifting to a 100% clean energy economy would help protect the Amazon and the world from the worst impacts of climate change, spur clean energy development, create clean energy jobs, and protect public health.  

“The insatiable energy demands of our economy are tearing apart the web of life,” said Scott Wright, CCAO Director. “As people of faith, we recognize that God's creation is sacred, and thus we are called to care for it and for our most vulnerable neighbors.”

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For more information 
Contact: Wesley Cocozello, Communications Coordinator
Office: 202-635-5814 | Email: wcocozello@columban.org  

*About the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation 
The World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation was proclaimed by the Patriarch Dimitrios I for the Orthodox in 1989 and endorsed by Pope Francis in 2015. The occasion begins the Season of Creation, a time for Christians to unite in praying and acting together to care for our common home. The Season of Creation ends on October 4th, the Feast Day of St. Francis of Assisi, who is the patron saint of ecology. 

About the Columban Center 
The Columban Center for Advocacy and Outreach is a project of the Missionary Society of St. Columban. We believe that policies and decisions should be informed by the experiences of the people most impacted by those policies and decisions. We advocate for peace and justice, and are guided by the Gospels, Catholic Social Teaching, and the experience of Columban missionaries and the community they serve.