Letter to the Editor: The Pope on Climate Change

To the Editor,

After the Pope’s recent visit to the United States, very important issues regarding climate change became clear. While I’m pleased that the Pope stressed the need to take serious action on climate change, there is still more work to be done. President Obama’s implementation of the Clean Power Plan is a start, but lifting the Crude Oil Export Ban would backtrack any progress made.

Lifting the ban would result in more drilling and an increase in global warming emissions, with estimates of at least 22 million metric tons per year.

Despite obvious problems like intense droughts, wildfires, and extreme weather events, a House Sub-Committee recently voted to lift the decades’ old ban on crude oil exports. Driven by the oil industry (that has made lifting the ban a top priority), the full house is scheduled to vote on this issue soon, and a Senate subcommittee will take up the issues in the coming weeks as well.

For the sake of our planet and future generations, I hope the U.S. Congress was listening to the Pope’s message about climate change and votes to keep the ban on crude oil exports.

Sincerely,

Morgan DiGiorgio
Fallston, MD