Our Common Home: the Pope’s Encyclical, Climate Science, and Our Clean Energy Future

The world needs an ecological conversion.

That’s the core message of Pope Francis’ powerful encyclical letter Laudato Sí (Praised Be). The human species has managed to run up a sizeable ecological deficit on all our earthly accounts—soil, water, and climate. From the way we feed ourselves, power our buildings, and transport our bodies, the evidence is clear: we need to transition away from fossil fuels and start building a clean energy economy.

We need to work across disciplines — scientists, faith leaders, and business leaders — to create a holistic way of approaching climate change. Pope Francis’s words speak to a growing hunger for religious leaders to model ecological leadership, and signals a generative role that the church can play in the larger society. There is also a growing public desire for the business community to support clean energy, which benefits both people and planet.

Join us as we convene a lively panel discussion on this topic featuring a theologian, a climate scientist, and a local Charlotte business leader who is one of the country’s leading clean energy proponents. We invite your participation as we rethink how to achieve a flourishing economy while preserving this earth, our common home.