At Vatican, EPA Chief to Talk ‘Moral Issue’ of Climate Change

Gina McCarthy, head of the Environmental Protection Agency, will make a short visit to the Vatican on Friday to discuss climate change.  According to the National Catholic Reporter, McCarthy, an Irish Catholic from Massachusetts, will meet with senior officials including Cardinal Peter Turkson, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.

“We’re hoping that this effort will not only generate sort of a broader understanding of the challenge of climate change, but a really good discussion of how the work of the church, the work of all faiths, can actually be … a way that recognizes and addresses climate change,” she told NCR.

The visit comes as part of a five-day trip that will also take her to Geneva, Rome, and Florence.  The President’s climate plan and the EPA’s role in addressing climate change will be the subject of her meetings throughout the trip.

“I think that the president and myself agree that climate change is indeed a moral issue,” she said.  “It is about protecting those most vulnerable, and EPA’s job, as focusing on public health and environmental protection, always tasked ourselves to look at those most vulnerable.”

At Vatican, EPA Chief to Talk ‘Moral Issue’ of Climate Change