August 22, 2025
Catholic Climate Covenant’s Executive Director Dan Misleh testified against the rescission of the Endangerment Finding before the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on the afternoon of August 21. The following is the transcript of the testimony that he gave.
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Thank you for the opportunity to testify today.
As the Executive Director and founder of Catholic Climate Covenant, a national organization dedicated to promoting Catholic Church teaching on creation care and applying that teaching to the existential threat of climate change, I raise my voice on behalf of hundreds of thousands of Catholics who oppose the reconsideration of the Endangerment Finding.
This finding is the basis of important air quality regulations that protect human health and the future of our planet. The dumping of excess carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into our atmosphere is, despite some who would deny it, a current and ongoing threat to our way of life and will subject future generations to untold suffering.
For the Catholic community, this is a moral issue. Our teaching has long taught that caring for our common home and all who inhabit it is not peripheral to our faith, but a central tenet of Catholic teaching. In addition, scientists have told us for well over a century that the pumping of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases will lead to a warming planet, which, in turn, generates deeper droughts and stronger storms. Croplands, animals, and people are suffering because we have already done too little to curb this pollution. And it is the poor who suffer the most from our neglect.
The role of governments is to protect and promote the common good, not just the wealthy and well-connected. They should generate laws and regulations to that end. The endangerment finding that governs EPA regulations on carbon dioxide and other pollutants is an essential part of promoting the common good. To rescind this finding and roll back these life-saving regulations is both ill-advised and a callous response to the suffering of people and the planet.
In our tradition, courageous leaders, including St. John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI, Pope Francis, and now Pope Leo, as well as our U.S. Catholic bishops, have urged global action to care for our environment and flagged climate change as an imminent and ongoing threat to Earth and its people. As leaders of this great nation, we urge you to act responsibly and maintain the endangerment finding and the regulations that it demands.
I end with a powerful warning from our beloved Pope Francis. When speaking of climate change, he said, “To the powerful, I can only repeat this question: ‘What would induce anyone, at this stage, to hold on to power, only to be remembered for their inability to take action when it was urgent and necessary to do so?’” (LD 60)
Thank you.
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For more information, contact Katie Zakrzewski, Communications Manager of Catholic Climate Covenant, at 501-618-0234 | katie@catholicclimatecovenant.org or visit https://catholicclimatecovenant.org/.
