As Pope Francis Arrives in the United States CEI Responds to his Agenda

CEI Founder Fred Smith offered these thoughts as Pope Francis arrives in Washington, DC.

“Like most Americans, I welcome Pope Francis this week. What I cannot welcome is the Pope’s opposition to technological and economic growth.  The Pope’s agenda is undoubtedly well intended but it lacks the intellectual virtue of prudence. His policies will further empower already powerful governments around the world to limit affordable energy, to ration the resource that provides humanity light, heat, cooling and mobility.  Only growth can alleviate the plight of the billions who now suffer from energy impoverishment.  Let us hope that Pope Francis will observe the gains that reach so many in our capitalist economy, that he will learn how wealth and knowledge used responsibly, are beneficial to both the ecology and the economy, for the poor perhaps even more than to the wealthy.  Let us further hope that Pope Francis will talk to critics as well as sympathizers with the agenda he has proposed.  Americans, like others, err but we are also capable of great virtue.  Let us hope he witnesses and learns, most of all, prudence.”

See more from Fred in his Forbes piece: The Pope, Poverty And Global Warming

Also, CEI’s Myron Ebell wrote this week in The Daily Caller,

“The pope’s stated concern for the poor sounds very nice, but his recent encyclical on climate change does a poor job in reflecting that. The encyclical states that “our Sister, Mother Earth” can only be saved from the ravages of global warming by adopting policies that would mean the dismantling of modern industrial civilization. That is no way to help the poor.”

See more from Myron Ebell here.