Out of the bedroom and into the ecosystem

Since a reader has complained that I criticize the church for too much bedroom politics but then focus on it myself, let's turn to the environment. In a move that raises at least my eyebrows, the head of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace is encouraging the continued development of nuclear energy for civil use--on the anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster! In fact, Cardinal Renato Martino saw a silver lining in the catastrophe, according to Zenit (www.zenit.org, 4/27 dispatch): It allowed "innumerable initiatives of solidarity flourish, directed in a special way to children," which I guess refers to relief efforts, but I think we can all agree that we don't need nuclear accidents that devastate entire areas for decades to work on solidarity.

Now perhaps Martino is trying to gently intervene in the Iran dispute, but you'd think a more responsible outlook would be to encourage the expansion of renewable energy sources rather than another reckless expansion of nuclear power that will produce further tons of eternally radioactive waste.