Religious thoughts on renewable energy and environmental policies

"There's no doubt in my mind or anybody else's mind that there are very serious environmental questions that the human race needs to address. There's also the question of poverty that [Pope Francis] speaks about so eloquently, but to put these things together in a way that makes sense and brings luster to the church's social thought, it needs more than I've seen so far". So spoke out Robert Royal, founder and president of the Washington, D.C.-based Faith & Reason Institute, about Pope Francis forthcoming encyclical on ecology. When industrial economy needs to run, with no many scruple, especially in the far east countries, philosophers and religious leaders could provide councils. And they are precious.

Distant from capitalism and free market in its roots, catholic social doctrine is increasingly aware of pollution linked problems; since priests and missionaries are reporting in Rome bad news about environmental African conditions, both in villages and fields. On the other hand protestants are known for having a less structured social doctrine, that maybe more effectively worked as free and volunteer charity. Any religion has its thoughts on environment, starting from who read in the Genesis a command to dominate the planet to whom believes nature to have some sacred. Difficult to balance faith and reason, that actually should coincide perfectly. Lack of reason is evident both in denying environmental problems and in exaggerating them.

Paradoxically what the science could explain with evidence more than theories, has now become a question of faith and believes. The sum of environmental disease, global warming, is still regarded by some as a theory and nothing more. The attention on global warming and related policy has now reached its zenith. Anglican Reverend Peter Foster, Bishop of Chester since 1996, has taken part in the Board of trustees of the Global Warming Policy Foundation; asking for less emotional and more objective oriented approach to global warming policies. Production of movies showing a mediterranean countryside in England, because of GW in 2020, did not help gaining soberness in the debate.