The Next Pope Will Help Decide the Planet’s Fate
The Vatican has a chance to lead on climate change by electing another vocal environmentalist.
Pope Francis was the greenest pope of at least the fossil-fuel era.
Photographer: Andreas Solaro/AFP/Getty Images
A symbolic turning point for US climate policy, and by extension the world, happened when President Ronald Reagan removed the solar panels that his predecessor, Jimmy Carter, had installed at the White House, signaling a return to business as usual — i.e., burning more fossil fuels and hastening a growing climate crisis.
After the death of Pope Francis, the Roman Catholic Church’s choice of successor could be a similar sliding-doors moment. When much of the world, including its biggest economy, is retreating from climate activism and embracing a cynical climate “realism,” the Vatican has a chance to stand out by electing another vocal environmentalist to lead nearly 1.4 billion Catholics.