Converted Catholic Jeb Bush remains "a little skeptical" about giving credence to Pope Francis (expected to issue a papal encyclical urging action) on climate change. Jeb! told folks at a New Hampshire town hall meeting that he thinks the pope is an "extraordinary leader" & "really cool," but felt that "religion ought to be about making us better as a people and less about things that end up getting into the political realm."
Um.... Other than the fact that the GOP doesn't accept that over 90% of the global scientific community believes that climate change is caused, at least in some part, by human activity, I don't see how such a dire phenomenon is political. Meteorological - absolutely. But political? Interesting...
Wait! Maybe he's referring to fellow presidential hopefuls Marco Rubio & Ted Cruz, both of whom flat-out deny humans have any connection to California's drought or the deadly swarms of tornadoes that hit the South & MidWest. Yeah, then I guess it's political. But that's their problem, not Pope Francis'.
Two points about Pope Francis that cry out to be made. First, he's POPE. He's supposed to be God's steward of all creatures great & small, of all things wonderful - like the Grand Canyon & the Great Barrier Reef, the highest Himalayas & the Mariana Trench.
Second - before entering the priesthood, Jorge Bergoglio received training in & worked as a chemist. In his native Argentina, Pope Francis' lowly class status put a university education outside his reach, but that didn't diminish his passion for science.
American political leaders - heck, let's make that world political leaders - raise your hands if you have a previous career in the sciences. Thought not.
So, back to my point - when it comes to having an opinion on climate change (and when you're pope, that opinion is no bull), who better than Pope Francis?
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