By Barbara Sheehan • Posted July 12, 2024

Since June 2023, I have joined with the Laudato Si’ Circle of our parish, Our Mother of Consolation in Chestnut Hill, advocating for a bill in the Pennsylvania legislature, HB 652, which aims to increase permitting standards for environmental justice.

Working for environmental justice seemed the most appropriate political action for our group, which follows the teachings of Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical “Laudato Si’” (on care for creation). In “Laudato Si’” and its follow-up apostolic exhortation, “Laudate Deum,” the Pope urges us to address our political and church leaders about the need to prioritize creation care.

However, recently I was having doubts about whether we could carry the torch for this bill alone. It seemed like an uphill battle and I wondered if our time would be better spent on other projects.

But on the morning of May 6, fate intervened. An email from the environmental organization Clean Water Action announced a statewide lobbying day in Harrisburg for environmental justice!

We were invited to join others around the state to lobby legislators to support HB 652 and two other bills that address environmental justice:  HB 2238, limiting the use of PFAS chemicals (perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances); and SB 767, a low-income household water assistance program.

So in the early morning of June 4, six members of our parish ministry boarded a bus with a group of about 35 Philadelphia-area advocates and headed to the state capitol in Harrisburg.

I gave out “Laudato Si” stickers to those in our little group to acknowledge a Catholic presence for environmental justice. Two staff members from the Sisters of St. Joseph Center for Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation, as well as a Sister of St. Joseph, wore their bright aqua T-shirts with the congregation’s logo.

The group on our bus included many young adults  associated with Clean Water Action, and representatives from Southwest Philadelphia community groups where water, air, and ground pollution are critical issues. According to CWA organizer Maurice Sampson, it was the most diverse group they ever had for a lobbying day.

He had prepared a list of 19 state representatives and senators for Philadelphia-area members to meet. He had scheduled appointments with each and assigned five or more advocates for each appointment.

Unfortunately, my first three appointments yielded little more than a walk through the halls of the capitol building and some photo ops in the offices of my local state representatives, Rep. Christopher Rabb and Rep. Tarik Kahn, who co-sponsored HB 652; and Rep. Donna  Bullock, with whom the bill originated.

We joined a press conference on the front steps of the capitol, where Rep. Greg Scott, with several other legislators,  talked about HB 2238, a bill to prohibit the manufacturing and sale of PFAS, the “forever chemicals” that have deleterious health effects on people and animals.

Although our main focus for lobbying was the environmental justice permitting bill, I was proud to support this important legislation that will limit the PFAS chemicals in our water and in many products such as toys, cookware, and dental floss.

During the day we also heard from state Reps. Greg Vitali, chair of the Environmental Resources Committee; Joseph Hohenstein, who once worked with Clean Water Action; Reps. Kahn and Abigail Solisbury; and Rep. Rabb, who encouraged us as environmental justice advocates in Pennsylvania.

I also joined a group that met with two staff members from state Sen. Anthony Williams’ office. He represents a section of Southwest Philadelphia, and our group of about 15 included many of his constituents who were fed up with living with exposure to many pollutants.

I was most moved by a woman who makes home health visits in the area. She said she speaks with mothers who are worried about the safety of their kids in the streets, education, and housing concerns, as well as health issues with their kids, such as the prevalence of childhood asthma.

“They don’t even know what is causing their kids to be sick; they are mostly worried about how to get them the medications they need,” she said. “But we know. And this (exposure to toxins in the air and water) is one thing we should take off their plates.”

That struck me, because that is something we as Catholics can do. We can take one thing off the plates of those who suffer the most from environmental degradation.

Everyone in our little group found the experience of participating in the lobby day to be energizing. We were educated about the issues, and found common ground with folks we had just met from our area and around the state. We represented ourselves as Catholics who were acting out the mission of “Laudato Si’.”

You can help advocate for environmental justice by supporting the three bills mentioned: HB 652, HB 2238, and SB 767. Sign a petition with Clean Water Action: https://cleanwater.salsalabs.org/pa-ej-bills-2024/index.html

To request a speaker on environmental justice for your parish climate ministry, contact laudatosiomc@gmail.com.

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Barbara Sheehan is a member of the Laudato Si’ Circle, a ministry of Our Mother of Consolation Parish in Philadelphia’s Chestnut Hill section, and affiliated with EcoPhilly.