A coalition of Christian leaders in Chicago has called on state and federal lawmakers to rapidly replace lead water pipes in Illinois, a state that ranks atop the nation in the toxic infrastructure that poses a danger to public health.

In a week, Ronald Hicks will be installed as the 14th archbishop of New York. Catholics in NYC involved in environmental ministries are encouraged by Hicks' work as bishop of Joliet, IL on creation care, and hopeful he'll help root it even deeper into one of the country's largest dioceses.

The Trump administration's move to withdraw from the 1992 bedrock UN climate change treaty amounts to the US "abandoning its moral responsibility as a leading global power and as the world's largest historical contributor to greenhouse gas emissions," said the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns.

NEW: Inside the Trump administration’s man-made hunger crisis in the world’s third largest refugee camp. After the U.S. failed to fund the World Food Program in Kenya, we went to the Kakuma refugee camp. This is what we found:

NEW: When the Trump administration took away her family’s food this summer, Rose Natabo had to choose which of her three sons to care for — who ate and who didn’t. By Brett Murphy & @annamaria.bsky.social, photography by Brian Otieno

A small group of Catholics in the Washington D.C. Archdiocese celebrated last month planting their 1,000th tree through Laudato Trees, an initiative inspired by Pope Francis' 2015 social encyclical on ecology "Laudato Si', on Care for Our Common Home."

Countries at the U.N. climate talks did little to counteract papal criticism that "failing" political will is undermining global efforts to stave off dangerous levels of global warming, say Catholic officials who attended the COP30 summit in Belém, Brazil, at the edge of the Amazon rainforest.

BREAKING: COP30 Blue Zone venue is being evacuated after a firealarm was triggered. Smoke visible.

Archaic procedures and technocratic framing have failed to address the climate crisis for 30 years. Frustration over the lack of progress boiled over into a short occupation of the COP30 negotiation zone on day two of the climate talks in Brazil.

Global carbon emissions from fossil fuels are projected to rise to an all-time high this year, according to a report. At this rate, it will take the world four years to pass the threshold experts agree would constitute catastrophic warming, the authors said.

NEW: The head of Caritas Internationalis, the Catholic Church's global aid network, said the massive scaleback in foreign assistance by the U.S., along with lesser cuts by European nations, signals "the golden age of aid being over." "We will see millions of people die as a result of these cuts."

Last week, two waves of trucks supplied by Catholic Relief Services with tents and other shelter equipment rolled into Gaza. Following the latest ceasefire, the Catholic development agency has begun to ramp up its work to assist millions of Palestinians recover and rebuild after two years of war.

Corals are disappearing, pushing Earth to its first major ‘tipping point’ A new report says Earth has reached a dire milestone with the widespread death of warm-water coral reefs. But it's not too late to save what remains. grist.org/oceans/coral... #Coral #Ocean #Environment #Climate #Science

NEW: Ahead of the COP30 climate summit, the Holy See has pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the Vatican City-State at least 28% by 2035. Key to those plans is a 1,000-acre solar farm outside Rome that is set to fully power the Vatican and make it the world’s first carbon-neutral state.

California governor rejects bill to phase out "forever" chemicals used in cookware, children's products

As Trump champions fossil fuels, the world is betting on renewable energy. Despite a U.S. retreat, solar and wind are overtaking fossil fuels globally, according to two new reports. grist.org/internationa... #Solar #Wind #Climate #Renewables #Energy

Climate tipping points are being crossed, scientists warn ahead of COP30 reut.rs/4nTrk1G

My @rns.org column: #PopeLeo embraces Francis’ concerns on #globalwarming and the #environment religionnews.com/2025/10/07/p...

On Wednesday, the Pontiff delivered his first address on climate change at a conference taking place at the Papal Palace of Castel Gandolfo calling for a “true ecological conversion… that transforms both personal and communal lifestyles.” By @brianroewe.bsky.social

BREAKING: Pope Leo XIV bluntly called out inequality and indifference to the plight of the poor in the first major teaching document of his pontificate.

Two words continually rang out at a Vatican conference marking the 10-year anniversary of Pope Francis' socio-environmental encyclical "Laudato Si', on Care for Our Common Home." Hope and heart. Attendees saw both as pathways to draw more Catholics to the church's teachings on the environment.

In 2021, Jane Goodall on a Vatican-sponsored webinar said she draws hope for better environmental conservation from young people, science and Pope Francis. "One of my reasons for hope is Pope Francis, because in that position ... his stand on the environment really has made a big difference."

Opening a global church summit to mark the 10-year anniversary of Pope Francis' papal letter Laudato Si', Pope Leo XIV affirmed his predecessor's ecological vision while calling on Catholics to ensure creation care does not become a fading trend or fall into tribalism. Story @ncronline.bsky.social

Catholic and other faith-based organizations, including the U.S. bishops, submitted nearly 10,000 comments opposing the Trump administration's attempt to revoke the "endangerment finding" that underpins federal regulations on polluting emissions that drive climate change and harm human health.

I wrote about the em dash

"Disappointed but not surprised," said Sr. Patty Johnson in response to nations' failure earlier this month to reach a treaty to reduce pollution from plastics and minimize its related harms to human health and ecosystems from plastics. EarthBeat story for @ncronline.bsky.social

Nations worked for 11 days to try to complete a landmark treaty. But they were deadlocked over whether the treaty should reduce exponential growth of plastic production and put global, legally binding controls on toxic chemicals used to make plastics. https://to.pbs.org/3HBzCv9

In its proposal to repeal the EPA regulation of greenhouse gas emissions, the Trump administration included language designed to prevent any effort by states to act on climate. But legal experts expect states won’t give up without a fight.

In agency after agency, the U.S. government is losing its capacity to measure how American society is functioning, making it much harder to gauge the nature and scale of the problems we are facing and the effectiveness of policies. (Published April)

Volkswagen lured hundreds of seasonal and informal workers to the Amazon in the 1970s and 80s, with the promise of a better life. But once there, the workers said, they were trapped — geographically isolated, ensnared by debt, sickened by malaria and forced to toil under threat of violence.

This EPA research office safeguarded Americans’ health. Trump just eliminated it. The Office of Research and Development produced the science underpinning regulations on everything from PFAS to pesticides to lead. grist.org/politics/thi... #EPA #Climate #Health #Wellness #Lead #PFAS

Why is the EPA administrator saying CO2 is "essential for life?" @eroston.bsky.social and I put together a glossary of the administration's climate language and the strategies behind the words

BREAKING: In a landmark climate decision, the UN's top court says a "clean, healthy and sustainable environment" is a human right.

The United Nations’ highest judicial body ruled that nations must prevent environmental harm and limit greenhouse gas emissions. The nonbinding decision pressures countries to fulfill climate pledges and opens doors for global climate cases.

BREAKING: At least 161 people are still missing after catastrophic floods in Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott says.

Catholic churches and schools pursuing solar power for moral & economic reasons were dealt a major blow in Trump's tax-cut and domestic policy law. The legislation ends early clean energy tax credits, which faith-based organizations for the first time could access to make projects more affordable.

Just flipped on TV and caught @johnmoralestv.bsky.social on @cnn.com talking about Texas floods. Blunt about impact of climate change, need to cut GHG emissions, NOAA cuts, etc. Masterful job, a model of climate communication at a time when people are (maybe) listening.

It was Bobby Jenks who was on the mound, closing out Game 1 of the 2005 World Series, when cameras panning the crowd caught Fr. Robert Prevost -- now Pope Leo XIV -- in the stands. RIP.

A new study looks at lives saved by USAID in the past and what the future without the agency will look like. https://n.pr/4nl2x6K

Legally mandated U.S. national climate assessments seem to have disappeared from the federal websites built to display them, making it harder to learn what to expect from a warming world. See which ones the Trump administration pulled.

NEW: In a first-ever joint appeal, the continental bishops' conferences for Asia, Africa and Latin America - representing 821 million Catholics - called for the end of fossil fuels and nations to fulfill Paris Agreement commitments. The message is directed to the upcoming COP30 U.N. climate summit.

Congratulations to our News Editor Carol Zimmermann on receiving this year’s St. Francis de Sales Award! #CMC2025

In the wake of Pope Francis' death, officials with the Vatican's Laudato Si' Action Platform are steadfast the ambitious project will continue as a blueprint for the church's 1.4 billion Catholics + 1000s of institutions to transform Francis' words in his 2015 encyclical into environmental actions.

Ten years ago today, Pope Francis released to the world his encyclical on the environment, "Laudato Si', on Care for Our Common Home." With his death, what happens next with his powerful papal letter -- one aimed at animating decisive action -- is now in the hands of others, including Pope Leo XIV.

Two multifaith coalitions this week are heralding the moral responsibility to protect the high seas at the third U.N. Ocean Conference, in France. "We must restore a relationship with the ocean that is guided by respect, responsibility, and sustainability." EarthBeat article @ncronline.bsky.social

This is Mertarvik, Alaska, population 300. It’s a new town. Its residents, the vast majority of whom are Yup’ik, began moving in around 2019. The move was by necessity: The nearby village where many residents previously lived, Newtok, is sinking, its riverbanks eroding. THREAD 🧵

Nick Clegg says asking artists for use permission would ‘kill’ the AI industry

The EPA is drafting a proposed regulation that would end all federal limits on planet-warming pollution generated by coal and gas-fired power plants.

In March 2023, severe storms flooded northwestern Peru, including parts of the Diocese of Chiclayo where Robert Prevost was bishop. Though soon heading to Rome in a new position, Prevost -- now known as Pope Leo XIV -- first donned his rubber boots and ministered to the people in the floodwaters.

Saturday will mark 10 years since Pope Francis issued his landmark encyclical on the environment, Laudato Si'. The past decade has seen efforts worldwide to live its calls to preserve creation. Among the most ambitious are in a less expected spot: the mountains and coalfields of eastern Kentucky.