ITS SWIMSUIT SEASON

This summers trends bring plenty of options Features 1E

SUNDAY 5.24.15 ll COURIER-JOURNAL.COM ll METRO EDITION

ADDRESSING CLIMATE CHANGE Billboard

proposal
draws ire
Plan would allow companies
to cut trees blocking view
FRANKFORT, Ky. Proposed state regula-
tions would give billboard companies the au-
thority to cut trees that block the view of their
signs a power the companies have sought,
but failed to get, from the General Assembly
for years.
But environmental groups raised a wide
range of objections to the proposal Friday at a
hearing at the Kentucky Trans-
portation Cabinet.
Tom No billboard improves safe-
ty since their purpose is to di-
Loftus
vert your attention and read
State House
their message, said Paul Berg-
mann, executive director of
Scenic Kentucky. A billboard,
he said, creates many an un-
sightly condition and certainly
does not improve on the natural
aesthetic beauty of the Ken-
tucky countryside.
But Leigh Ann Thacker, lobbyist for the Out-
door Advertising Association of Kentucky, said
the proposed regulations have been written to
avoid environmental damage. There really is
no clear-cutting involved here, he said. Were
really only talking about trimming and cutting
around the board.
The two sides also clashed on other aspects
of the package of regulations, with environ-
mentalists expressing concerns they could
lead to the spread of new billboards and the in-

See BILLBOARD, Page 8A

MATT STONE/THE COURIER-JOURNAL

A HOLY
KYLE SLAGLE/GANNETT Trees partially cover a billboard along I-64 in
Louisville. The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet
plans to hold a public hearing on proposed sign
regulations. Environmental groups oppose them.

a %




ENDEAVOR?
Pope Francis prepares to weigh in on faith, environment !"  &!( '$ ! ) (&&" "&

W
hen the Rev. Gary Padgett plans to speak on the politically
   
James charged issue of climate change to a Catholic congregation, he "  " "
& 
Bruggers undertakes a delicate process. He said he avoids talking
Environment points, keeps language ambiguous and tries to show how care $
for what he describes as Gods creation is relevant to peoples lives and faith.
I am thinking how am I going to craft my message so that it can be heard,
said Padgett, the former Ascension parish priest who now heads the St.
James and St. Brigid parishes in the Highlands. IfSnow
they are polarized, its
Freezing Freezing Ice IceSnow
hard for them to raincome into
rain church and hear that.and rain
and rain
See POPE, Page 21A

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FROM PAGE ONE lll THE COURIER-JOURNAL
POPE
Continued from Page 1A
Catholic pastors like
Padgett, other leaders and
parishioners in Louisville
and around the world who
are concerned about cli-
mate change will soon be
getting some guidance.
Pope Francis is planning
to inject a major dose of
ethics and morality into
the problem of a warming
planet, and how humanity
should respond to scien-
tists warnings of costly,
deadly climate disruption
in the decades and centu-
ries ahead.
This summer hes plan-
ning to release a papal en-
cyclical, a letter to the
3,000 Catholic bishops,
that officials expect will
offer guidance on how
Catholic theology views
the relationship between
humans and Gods cre-
ation.
Experts said it is the
most significant type of
communication any pope
can make. It would also be
the first encyclical to ad-
dress the environment
and climate change an
issue of particular con-
cern in Kentucky and In-
diana with their coal-de-
pendent economies.
The impact may be felt
far beyond the Catholic
Church and its 1.2 billion
followers, the largest
Christian denomination in
the world, because of the
popes huge audience,
popularity and gravitas.
It has the potential to
be a real game changer,
said Norman Wirzba, pro-
fessor of theology, ecolo-
gy and rural life at Duke
University. It will draw
attention from people not
just in the church, but
people from outside the
church. They will want to
know what the pope has to
say.
Critics respond
Other popes have
raised the alarm about the
environment and even cli-
mate change.
Pope John Paul II in
1990, for example, warned
in a speech about a crisis
depletion of the ozone lay-
er and the greenhouse ef-
fect, blaming industrial
growth, massive urban
concentrations and vastly
increased energy needs.
But an encyclical car-
ries much more weight.
And while Francis letter
has not leaked out yet,
Vatican officials have
been outspoken about
their concern for how hu-
mans are damaging the
planet, identifying fossil
fuels such as coal that
emit climate pollution as
an urgent concern.
Its all prompted a
backlash from some
camps, including some
conservative religious
circles and the libertar-
ian, free-market Chicago-
based Heartland Insti-
tute, which denies main-
stream climate science.
The Holy Father is be-
ing misled by experts at
the United Nations who
have proven unworthy of
his trust, said Heartland
Institute President Jo-
seph Bast in a recent
statement. Though Pope
Francis heart is surely in
the right place, he would
do his flock and the world
a disservice by putting his
moral authority behind
the United Nations unsci-
entific agenda on the cli-
mate.
The popes advisers,
however, see an urgent
To a large extent its man that
slaps natures face continually. ...
If you slap her on the face, she
does so in turn. I think we have
exploited nature too much.
Vatican City at Sunset
WHATS YOUR STORY?
Is your church, synagogue or faith community concerned
about climate change? If so, please let reporter James Brug-
gers know why, and what you are doing about it, for potential
follow-up stories. If not, please tell us why. Write Bruggers at
jbruggers@courier-journal.com.
threat.
The scientific com-
munity is telling us there
isnt much time, said the
Rev. Michael F. Czerny, a
Jesuit priest and counsel-
or to Cardinal Peter Turk-
son, who is the leader of
the peace and justice arm
of the Vatican that has
been developing the docu-
ment.
Czerny was in Louis-
ville recently for the Fes-
tival of Faiths. If we have
been slow, we have to
catch up, or at least not
miss the train entirely,
he said in an interview.
Czerny noted the land-
mark 1992 United Nations
Earth Summit and a re-
sulting treaty with its ob-
jective of stabilizing
greenhouse gases.
Its recommendations
have largely been ig-
nored, Czerny added.
Address to Congress
Greenhouse gas levels
continue to climb, with
scientists increasingly
warning that global
warming and its rising
seas and supercharged
weather are no longer a
distant threat.
The National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Admini-
stration earlier this
month found that the glob-
al monthly average con-
centration of heat-trap-
ping carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere exceeded 400
parts per million, a level
likely unprecedented for
millions of years.
Czerny said he does not
know exactly what the
popes communication
will say.
But he noted the pope
in January said he wanted
the letter to be useful to
diplomats who are work-
ing on a new climate
change treaty that seeks
to blunt dangerous cli-
mate change, leading up
to a United Nations sum-
mit in Paris later this year.
In that same news confer-
ence, the pope said people
have exploited nature
too much.
The pope also is sched-
uled this fall to speak be-
fore a joint meeting of
Congress a first for any
pope.
Congress has been un-
able to agree on any
sweeping climate protec-
tion legislation. A Demo-
POPE FRANCIS, Jan. 17 news conference as translated by ZENIT
Within the faith, he
said the popes words will
cause some Catholics and
parishes to look at their
own contributions to glob-
al warming, and consider
ways to reduce their car-
bon footprints.
cratically controlled Thats already been
House of Representatives happening, he added.
passed a cap-and-trade There has been an in-
bill in 2009, but that bill creased desire among
was defeated in the Sen- parishes, and I hope with-
ate. in society, to develop
The popes words could clean alternatives and
reach Congress on differ- sustainable energy.
ent terms, Wirzba said. He also expects to see
With faith and moral- conferences where
ity, Wirzba said, imme- priests and others may
diately there is common gather to discuss how to
ground, when you talk respond to the popes con-
about children and grand- cerns, and study guides
children. developed for Catholics.
Rob Steurer, spokes- The popes letter will
man for Sen. Mitch also factor into the work
McConnell, the Republi- of the U.S. Conference of
can from Louisville and Catholic Bishops, said
Senate majority leader, Kurtz, the president of
declined to comment for that group, the official or-
this story. ganization of the Catholic
Were not going to be hierarchy in the United
able to weigh in on some- States.
thing we havent seen This is going to have a
yet, Steurer said. mighty effect when we
take positions on specific
Integral ecology pieces of legislation in
In the Archdiocese of Congress, he added.
Louisville, Archbishop Jo-
seph E. Kurtz said the en- Evangelicals
cyclical will likely prompt suspicious
discussion, action and an The biggest asset the
institutional response. pope brings to the table is
The archdiocese serves a very large base of pop-
200,000 Catholics in 111 ularity, said University of
parishes in 24 counties in Louisville political sci-
Central Kentucky. ence assistant professor
I suspect our Holy Fa- David Buckley, whose ex-
ther is going to try to pin- pertise includes religion,
point what is distinctive science and politics.
about Catholic theology The pope has the poten-
and what Catholic theol- tial to bridge a gap be-
ogy can bring to the envi- tween white evangelicals
ronment, Kurtz said. and the religiously unaf-
Kurtz said he antici- filiated, one of the most
pates it will explore some- conservative sectors of
thing called integral the electorate and one of
ecology, which was the most liberal sectors of
discussed earlier this the electorate, Buckley
year in a speech by Cardi- said.
nal Turkson titled Inte- Polling also shows that
gral ecology and the hori- Catholics in the United
zon of hope: Concern for States are likely to be re-
the poor and for creation ceptive of a papal state-
in the ministry of Pope ment on climate change,
Francis. he added.
In the speech in Ire- But a key question,
land, Turkson said inte- Buckley said, is whether
gral ecology provides religious concern for the
the basis for authentic environment gets trans-
and sustainable ap- lated into political action,
proaches to human devel- and thats where real dif-
opment. ferences can emerge, es-
Kurtz said it involves pecially with white evan-
human ecology and natu- gelicals who are skeptical
ral ecology, bringing of government power.
them together as one. The Evangelicals are go-
pope has also talked a lot ing to be very suspicious,
about the problem of a said the Rev. Albert Moh-
throw-away culture, ler, president of the South-
Kurtz added, where we ern Baptist Theological
disrespect people and we Seminary in Louisville.
disrespect things, and we He said he agrees with
tend to turn in on our- a Christian imperative to
selves. care for creation and be
 
KY SUNDAY, MAY 24, 2015 lll 21A
Called to respond
In Louisville, the non-
profit group Kentucky In-
terfaith Power and Light
has a Cool Congregations
program that explores the
way faith communities
can become better stew-
ards of the planet, and has
conducted energy audits,
including one for the St.
James and St. Brigid par-
ishes that parish leaders
say will help guide future
energy efficiency mea-
sures. St. Brigid now has
electricity-sipping LED
lighting, for example.
We are making a
statement that care for
our creation, for our envi-
ronment, is important in
our decision making,
Padgett said.
And St. William
Church, part of the Louis-
ville Archdiocese, has had
solar panels since 2009.
The United Church of
GETTY IMAGES/INGRAM PUBLISHING Christ and the Unitarian
Universalists are divest-
ing in fossil fuels, and the
Presbyterian Church
stewards of the Earth. But USA is considering that.
he said he is leery of con- First Unitarian Church
versations about climate in Louisville also has in-
change as anti-human, stalled solar panels and
that human beings are a regularly features the en-
blight on the planet. Hu- vironment in its mission,
man beings are not a said its pastor, the Rev.
blight on the planet. Dawn Cooley.
It will be interesting Every day, we see evi-
to see the balance the dence that it is already
pope strikes. causing suffering for peo-
Many younger evan- ple around the world, she
gelicals are increasingly said. We are called as
concerned about the cli- people of faith and con-
mate, he acknowledged. science to work to heal
But he said he is con- and sustain our planet, for
cerned about the costs of ourselves, for our chil-
what are put forward as dren, for future genera-
climate solutions. Thats tions.
a situation where I dont A key underpinning of
believe theres a clear an- the Louisville-based Pres-
swer, he said. byterian Church USA is to
The good news, he said, advocate for the poor and
is that there are a lot most vulnerable, said the
more conversations about Rev. Rebecca Barnes, co-
the responsibilities of ordinator of that denomi-
stewardship. nations environmental
A lot of faith communi- ministries. And the poor
ties in the United States are likely to be hardest hit
were generally slow to by climate change.
embrace environmental She cited rapid glacier
concerns when they first melt that threatens water
took prominence in the supplies to millions in Pe-
1960s, said Wirzba, who ru and said she welcomes
previously taught at Ken- the papal engagement.
tuckys Georgetown Col- It will give a new
lege. chance for everyone to
Many called it new speak about their faith
age worship, or pagan- life and how it forms their
ism, and there was a lot of daily decisions about how
hesitance on the part of they will live in the
Christians, he said. world, she said.
But increasingly peo-
ple of faith are seeing Reach reporter James Brug-
care for the environment gers at (502) 582-4645 or on
as a matter of moral obli- Twitter @jbruggers.
gation, he said.
   

 

 


 


 


 
  
  


 

 

 








 

  
  

  
  

  



     
     
    

  
  

  
  

  
  


  
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