At its core, global climate change is not about economic theory or political platforms, nor about partisan advantage or interest group pressures. It is about the future of God's creation and the one human family. It is about protecting both 'the human environment' and the natural environment. (Global Climate Change: A Plea for Dialogue, Prudence and the Common Good, US Catholic Bishops, 2001)

"The tradition of Catholic social teaching offers a developing and distinctive perspective on environmental issues. We believe that the following themes drawn from this tradition are integral dimensions of ecological responsibility:

• a God-centered and sacramental view of the universe, which grounds human accountability for the fate of the earth;
  
  
• a consistent respect for human life, which extends to respect for all creation;
  
  
• a worldview affirming the ethical significance of global interdependence and the common good;
  
  
• an ethics of solidarity promoting cooperation and a just structure of sharing in the world community;
  
  
• an understanding of the universal purpose of created things, which requires equitable use of the earth's resources;
  
  
• an option for the poor, which gives passion to the quest for an equitable and sustainable world;
  
  
• a conception of authentic development, which offers a direction for progress that respects human dignity and the limits of material growth.

Although Catholic social teaching does not offer a complete environmental ethic, we are confident that this developing tradition can serve as the basis for Catholic engagement and dialogue with science, the environmental movement, and other communities of faith and good will."

From the USCCB's Environmental Justice Program: Caring for God's Creation