by Don Corrigan
Christian environmentalist groups are becoming increasingly vocal about their alarm over the current administration’s policies on ecology, the environment, and conservation.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is implementing a plan to terminate $7 billion in federal grants allocated to help an estimated 900,000 low- and middle-income households install rooftop solar panels.
These grants, known as the “Solar for All” program, were awarded and set to be distributed to 60 state agencies, tribes, and nonprofit organizations across the country. Proponents of the solar program say it had the potential to significantly lower monthly energy costs for families through rooftop and community solar.
In response to the draconian EPA cuts, the Evangelical Environmental Network’s president and CEO, the Rev. Jessica Moerman, said the decision to end the “Solar for All” program was a step backwards on green power and affordable clean energy in America.
“When energy bills soar, many struggling families turn to their local church for help,” said Moerman. “Canceling the Solar for All program will take away an opportunity for 900,000 low-income households to find financial relief and greater self-sufficiency through home-grown solar energy.
“As evangelicals, we’re called to care for the ‘least of those’ among us and to be good stewards of God’s creation and our resources, Moerman added.
“Breaking this promise is not only short-sighted – it will keep nearly a million American families trapped in an impossible choice each month of whether to pay for food, buy medicine, or keep the lights on,” she said.
The Evangelical Environmental Network’s support for solar power mirrors the position of many Protestant faiths and members of the Catholic community. However, Catholics and Evangelicals have many members who oppose renewables, and who doubt that climate change is real.
In fact, most Evangelicals are skeptics. Only 32% of white Evangelical Protestants in the U.S. believe that global warming is being caused by human activity, according to a 2022 survey by the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI). Another 32% of white evangelicals are unsure that climate change is happening at all.
The majority of Catholics now believe that climate change is real and that renewable energy should replace fossil fuels and be encouraged. These Catholics may have been influenced by the late Pope Francis who was dubbed the “Climate Pope.”
In May, when Pope Leo XIV succeeded Francis, he followed Francis’ footsteps on climate issues. Pope Leo continued the program by his predecessor to have Vatican City in Rome completely powered by solar.
A solar panel array north of Rome will put the Vatican among a handful of countries in Europe that now supply all their power needs by renewable energy.
“We all know the effects of climate change, and it is necessary to truly care for the whole world, for all of creation,” Leo told Italian state TV this June.
Some American Catholics have rebelled against Francis and Leo on issues ranging from immigration, climate change, and use of renewable energy. Some of these opponents have taken positions in the Trump Administration and his EPA.
But the recent popes’ views are in alignment with most Catholics as a 2023 poll by the Center for Applied Research at Georgetown University bears out. The poll showed 72% of Catholics agreed that “environmental justice is a legitimate issue that deserves attention.”
Environmental Echo 