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Pope Francis urges revolution to save Earth from climate change ‘before it’s too late’

Encyclical • Pope lashes out at the wasteful society that is hurting the planet and its poorest people.

Pope Francis kisses a baby as he is driven through the crowd, in Mother Teresa Square, in Tirana, Sunday, Sept. 21, 2014. Pope Francis arrived Sunday in Albania on his first European trip, designed to highlight the Balkan nation's path from a brutal communist state where religion was banned to a model of Christian-Muslim coexistence for a world witnessing conflict in God's name. (AP Photo/Hector Pustina)

Vatican City • With a poet's lyricism, a former chemist's precision and a pontiff's moral thunder, Pope Francis recast humanity's relationship with nature in stark ethical terms, hoping to spur a warming, filthy world to clean up its act "before it's too late."

In issuing "Laudato Si," or "Praise Be," his much-anticipated encyclical on climate change, the pope took an extraordinary approach Thursday to an environmental issue often framed in the dry language of science. Francis' teaching document is a melodic yet radical indictment, depicting a materialistic and wasteful society that is hurting the planet and its poorest people.

He challenges the world to stop polluting, to recycle and carpool and to do without air conditioning — and makes it a moral imperative. The pontiff blames global warming on an unfair, fossil-fuel-based industrial model that harms the poor most — and he points to human activity as the main culprit.

"The exploitation of the planet has already exceeded acceptable limits," Francis writes, "and we still have not solved the problem of poverty."

The pope's "marching orders for advocacy," as the head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops calls it, comes as the world nears make-or-break time for international climate-change negotiations that start late this year in Paris.

"This is a seminal moment in world history because the pope now is the leading global voice on climate change," said prominent Rice University historian Douglas Brinkley, who has written on both the church and environmentalism. "The pope brings extraordinary clout connecting Christianity and humanism to the protection of natural resources."

Francis said he hoped his paper would lead both ordinary people in their daily lives and decision-makers at the Paris U.N. climate meetings to a wholesale change of mind and heart, urging all to listen to "both the cry of the Earth and the cry of the poor."

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who has made climate change his top priority since taking the reins of the world body 8½ years ago, thanked the pope "for taking such a strong stand on the need for urgent global action."

In some ways, the encyclical and its prayers serve as an invocation to the climate talks.

"As we prepare for global climate negotiations in Paris this December," President Barack Obama said, "it is my hope that all world leaders — and all God's children — will reflect on Pope Francis' call to come together to care for our common home."

Scientific data released Thursday backed up Francis' concerns. The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released figures showing that last month was the hottest May around the globe in 136 years of global records. NOAA calculated that the first five months of 2015 made up by far the hottest year on record, with real effects: Some 2,200 people have died in India's heat wave.

While the encyclical drew praise from church, science and government leaders, some politically conservative Catholics criticized its economic analysis, and some U.S. Republican politicians said religion had no place in climate policy. Some in the fossil fuel industry took the unusual tack of citing Francis' focus on the poor, arguing that his thinking would hurt and not help the disenfranchised.

"No, I'm sorry, it's a political issue," said Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources. "Most people have their minds made up on this issue, so any more rhetoric about the issue doesn't really add a heck of a lot more to it."

Scientists, who for more than 50 years have been talking about the dangers of global warming, say this could break the inertia that has characterized climate negotiations.

With their data and computer models, they appealed to logic; the pope sought to engage the soul.

"This is exactly what we need," said Texas Tech climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe, who, as an evangelical Christian, has talked about faith and global warming. "We need leaders who speak to values, connecting the dots between values and climate change."

John Schellnhuber, the German scientist credited with devising the internationally adopted goal of trying to prevent another degree Celsius (2 degrees Fahrenheit) goal from now, said the pope is harnessing two "strong powers in the world."

"If faith and reason work together hand in hand," Schellnhuber said, "we can overcome this crisis."

At the heart of Francis' theological argument is the concept of "integral ecology," which gives a more central role for the environment in longstanding Catholic social teaching by linking destruction of nature with injustices such as poverty, hunger, inequality and violations of human dignity.

Cardinal Donald Wuerl, the archbishop of Washington, said the encyclical wasn't a directive from Francis to people in politics or business that "you must do this."

"That doesn't appear in the document," Wuerl said. "He is saying, 'Here is the moral frame of reference. I would like that everyone would work together on this so we individually can get together and say what could we do.' "

The encyclical covers all sorts of environmental issues, including waste, extinctions, genetically modified organisms and the lack of clean water.

Addressing "every living person on this planet," Francis calls for a bold cultural revolution to correct what he said was a "structurally perverse" economic system in which the rich exploited the poor.

Closing his document with "a prayer for our Earth," the pope beseeches God: "Bring healing to our lives, that we may protect the world and not prey on it, that we may sow beauty, not pollution and destruction. Touch the hearts of those who look only for gain at the expense of the poor and the Earth."

His words brought Deke Arndt, a top U.S. federal climate scientist and Catholic, to tears.

"There are certain things that science will never be able to say so beautifully," he said. "I think it speaks across the spectrum of human experiences. ... It speaks to the soul and the inner part of us."

Citing the deforestation of the Amazon, the melting of Arctic glaciers and the deaths of coral reefs, Francis rebuked "obstructionist" climate doubters who "seem mostly to be concerned with masking the problems or concealing their symptoms." And he blamed politicians for listening more to oil industry interests than scripture, common sense or the cries of the poor.

"The Earth, our home," he writes, "is beginning to look more and more like an immense pile of filth."

He praised a "less is more" lifestyle, one that shuns air conditioners and gated communities in favor of carpools, recycling and being in close touch with the marginalized. He called for courageous, radical and farsighted policies to transition the world's energy supply from fossil fuels to renewable sources, saying mitigation schemes like the buying and selling of carbon credits won't solve the problem.

A leading skeptic in the U.S. Congress, Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., said he feared the encyclical will be used by "alarmists" to push policies that will lead to big tax increases. He said the poor will "carry the heaviest burden" of policies to phase out fossil fuels with renewable energy sources.

The pope will address Congress in September and is expected to talk about the environment, but House leadership isn't promising action addressing the pontiff's concerns.

"There's a lot of bills out there. I'm not sure where in the process these bills may be," said House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio.

A Catholic, Boehner said he respects the pope's right to speak out on the issue.

On the eve of the encyclical's release, Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush, a Catholic convert, said he didn't believe "we should politicize our faith. I think religion ought to be about making us better as people and less about things that end up getting into the political realm."

But Francis argues that there really is no distinction between humans, their faith and the environment: They are all part of a single integral ecology.

"Everything is related," he writes, "and we human beings are united as brothers and sisters on a wonderful pilgrimage, woven together by the love God has for each of his creatures and which also unites us in fond affection with brother sun, sister moon, brother river and mother Earth."

Pope Francis delivers his speech at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2014. Pope Francis has demanded Europe craft a unified and fair immigration policy, saying the thousands of refugees coming ashore need acceptance and assistance, not self-interested policies that risk lives and fuel social conflict. Francis made the comments Tuesday to the European Parliament during a brief visit meant to highlight his vision for Europe a quarter-century after St. John Paul II travelled to Strasbourg to address a continent still divided by the Iron Curtain. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Pope Francis, center, delivers his "Urbi et Orbi" (to the city and to the world) blessing from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Thursday, Dec. 25, 2014. Tens of thousands of Romans and tourists in St. Peter's Square listened as the pontiff delivered the Catholic church's traditional "Urbi et Orbi" (Latin for "to the city and to the world) Christmas message from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica. Francis said: "truly there are so many tears this Christmas." (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Pope Francis waves to Filipinos upon his arrival in Manila, Philippines, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2015. The Pope arrived in Manila for a pastoral visit which is expected to draw millions of faithful where about 81-percent of the population is Catholic. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

Pope Francis peers from his window before disembarking from the plane upon his arrival from Sri Lanka Thursday, Jan. 15, 2015 at suburban Pasay city, south of Manila, Philippines. Ecstatic crowds greeted the pontiff as he arrived Thursday in the Philippines, Asia's most populous Catholic nation, for the first papal visit in 20 years. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

Pope Francis, right, is welcomed by Philippine President Benigno Aquino III as he arrives for the welcoming ceremony Friday, Jan. 16, 2015 at the Presidential Palace grounds in Manila, Philippines. Pope Francis is on a five-day apostolic visit in this predominantly Catholic nation in Asia. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

Pope Francis waves to the faithful from his Popemobile as his motorcade leaves the Presidential Palace for the Manila Cathedral Friday, Jan. 16, 2015 in Manila, Philippines. Pope Francis called on Filipinos to reject the corruption that has plagued this Asian nation for decades and urged them to instead work to end the "scandalous" poverty and social injustices that afflicts its people, encouraging the government to continue the first significant crackdown on high-level corruption since the fall of the Marcos regime three decades ago. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

Pope Francis waves from his vehicle as his motorcade returns to his residence following his first mass at the Manila Cathedral Friday, Jan. 16, 2015 in Manila, Philippines. Pope Francis arrived Thursday for a five-day apostolic visit in this predominantly Catholic nation in Asia. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

Pope Francis laughs at the start of his homily during a mass with clergy and religious at the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception during his visit in Manila, Philippines, Friday, Jan. 16, 2015. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

Pope Francis kisses during ceremonies at a mass at Cathedral-Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Manila, Philippines on Friday, Jan. 16, 2015. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

Filipino priests use their smart phones to take pictures of Pope Francis on a monitor during a mass for clergy and religious at the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Manila, Philippines on Friday, Jan. 16, 2015. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

Filipino Catholics take photos, using their cellphones and tablets, of Pope Francis aboard his Popemobile as his motorcade passes by on the way to another "Meeting With Families" at the Mall of Asia Arena Friday, Jan. 16, 2015 in Manila, Philippines. Pope Francis arrived Thursday for a five-day apostolic visit in this predominantly Catholic nation in Asia. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

Pope Francis prays during a Mass at Rizal Park, in Manila, Philippines, Sunday, Jan. 18, 2015. Millions filled Manila's main park and surrounding areas for Pope Francis' final Mass in the Philippines on Sunday, braving a steady rain to hear the pontiff's message of hope and consolation for the Southeast Asian country's most downtrodden and destitute. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)