Brian Roewe

Originally set for Oct. 4, the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, the Laudato Si' Action Platform is now scheduled to begin its enrollment period on Nov. 14, with materials for the program available on its website.

With the largest-ever federal climate initiatives on the line in two multitrillion-dollar legislative packages, Rep. Deborah Ross said faith groups could play a key role in pushing both bills across the finish line.

"Tree-hugging Republican" Bob Rafferty of Iowa Business for Clean Energy believes faith can inspire business owners to make their operations greener, even if they don't completely buy into a national climate agenda.

The bills represent a "Kairos moment" that could set up the country's response to climate change for decades, said Avery Davis Lamb of Creation Justice Ministries. "And let me be clear it's not just a political window of opportunity — it's a moral window of opportunity," he said.

In the face of social and environmental crises, the world would do well to follow the lead of its young people, Pope Francis said in a Sept. 1 video message to mark the start of the Season of Creation.

The summer of 2021 has seen temperatures soaring in the U.S. — especially in cities, where asphalt and concrete combine to create an "urban heat island" effect that cranks up the heat even more and exposes inequities.

Flooding was among the environmental challenges identified during a workshop on Pope Francis' encyclical "Laudato Si', on Care for Our Common Home." The workshop was the start of a series of sessions to discuss climate change's local impact and solutions that benefit all people.

A foreboding future but the potential for a better one if immediate action is taken, with a key role for faith communities. Those were among the religious responses to Monday's major climate change report.

Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency, told a Catholic gathering that continued investment in fossil fuels will lead to financial losses as countries move to adopt clean energy.

The Global Catholic Climate Movement, consisting of more than 800 Catholic organizations and thousands of individual members, has changed its name to the Laudato Si' Movement to better represent how the encyclical has animated much of their work since its inception.

For three days in online spaces, thousands of Catholics looked to prime the U.S. church for a stronger response to climate change and Pope Francis' call to become a central component in the global response to the world's ecological challenges.

Speakers urged a bolder embrace of Laudato Si' in the U.S. at the start of a conference seeking to bolster the response of the nation's Catholics to climate change and the pope's landmark ecological encyclical.

Solar geoengineering refers to cooling the planet by reflecting the sun's rays back into space. Advocates say research into such technology is imperative. Opponents argue it poses unnecessary risks and diverts attention from addressing root causes of climate change.

If it's summer, it probably means gas prices are on the rise along with the temperatures. And how consumers respond can have consequences for government action on climate change.

The "Laudato Si' and the U.S. Catholic Church" conference, being held virtually July 13-15, aims to raise ambition and action within the U.S. church in responding to Pope Francis' encyclical on the environment.

The NCR Publishing Company has separated its multimillion-dollar investment portfolio from financial holdings in the fossil fuel sector. New board guidelines also encourage investments in renewable energy.

In the face of global environmental threats, Jesuit colleges must provide education aimed at creating a more sustainable world, Nancy Tuchman of Loyola Chicago's School of Environmental Sustainability told a recent conference.

The June 15 virtual gathering marked the 25th anniversary of a program of the American Association for the Advancement of Science that has sought to foster engagement among scientists and people of faith.

Bishops urge leaders to support a sustainable recovery from the pandemic, ensure fair access to vaccines and move quickly to halt biodiversity loss and meet Paris Agreement goals.

The "100 Leaders for 100% Clean Energy" event was the start of an escalated push by environmental groups to press Congress to support Biden's ambitious infrastructure plan and a clean electricity standard.