Acton Institute Powerblog Archives

Post Tagged 'environmentalism'

The Success of Avatar Is Nothing to Celebrate

The biggest box office success in cinema history, strictly in dollars taken in, is Avatar, the 2009 movie that made 3D a technology audiences would finally flock to. The movie made some $785 million in America, more than another $2 billion in the rest of the world, adding up to about $2.9 billion. Continue Reading...

A free-market ‘green revolution’

Mankind has an unquestionable obligation to protect the environment. As Pope Benedict XVI explained in the encyclical Caritas in Veritate, “the environment is God’s gift to everyone, and in our use of it we have a responsibility towards the poor, towards future generations, and towards humanity as a whole.” Continue Reading...

The browning of the Golden State

Native Californians used to tell newcomers to the state a little joke: “Of course, California has four seasons: earthquake, brushfire, mudslide, and drought.” Alas, that dark humor is too accurate to be funny anymore. Continue Reading...

Thank God for single-use plastic bags

Perhaps the only positive thing to come from the COVID-19 global pandemic has been the way it exposed a raft of never-needed regulations imposed by every level of government. Unfortunately, rather than repealing one such ordinance which could contribute to the spread of the coronavirus, the UK’s Conservative government has literally doubled down. Continue Reading...

As it turns out, Lake Erie does not have ‘rights’

Last week, a federal district court judge in Ohio declared that the city of Toledo’s move to establish a Lake Erie Bill of Rights, or LEBOR, was invalid.  Judge Jack Zouhary put it this way: Frustrated by the status quo, LEBOR supporters knocked on doors, engaged their fellow citizens, and used the democratic process to pursue a well-intentioned goal: the protection of Lake Erie. Continue Reading...

‘Is it OK to still have children?’

Is it morally permissible to have children? That question – which should have gone out with “What’s your sign?” or “Who shot J.R.?” in the 1980s – has come roaring back in a United States in which the birthrate continually hits new lows. Continue Reading...

Climate change: Regulations vs. results

Christians believe we should be good stewards of the earth, and for some the issue has taken on apocalyptic dimensions. Yet faith leaders, including the leaders of multiple worldwide Christian communions, have ignored the most effective method for reducing carbon emissions while praising counterproductive policies. Continue Reading...