The value of Pope Francis’ visit to the US

Pope Francis is in the U.S. for a swing through three American cities — including Washington, DC, where he’ll stand in the well of the House of Representatives to address a joint session of Congress. There’s lots of prognostication and speculation on what he’ll say; some, for example, expect him to call for criminal justice reform when he visits a prison in Philadelphia, while others think he might reprise critiques of the Obama administration’s military and foreign policies.

One thing seems all but certain though: when he’s here, the Pope will echo themes from his groundbreaking encyclical Laudato Si, and argue that world leaders have a moral obligation to act on climate change. He’ll point out that natural systems are degrading at alarming rates, that climate change is an urgent crisis, and that poor people around the world who’ve done the least polluting to contribute to the problem will be hit hardest by its impacts.

{mosads}He’ll note all of that, but Pope Francis will be speaking in one of the only rooms on Earth where flaws in our campaign finance and lobbying laws have allowed some of the most powerful people in the world to deny the overwhelming global and scientific consensus. Sitting in the audience will be Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), who earlier this year argued global warming wasn’t happening, because “here’s a snowball, and it’s cold out.” That man is in charge of climate policy in the U.S. Senate. He’ll be joined by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), who went on TV in November to denounce a scientific report he openly admitted to not reading, prompting his interviewer to retort: “Congressman, it’s science. It’s 800 scientists. It’s not some random guy making a prediction.” His job? You guessed it — running climate and science policy in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Which means that on Capitol Hill, it might be a bit of a tough crowd for the Pope when he talks about climate change. And that’s caused some who care about it to kind of toss their hands in the air. Jeb Bush and Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) are Catholic, they say, and if the leader of their own faith institution can’t shake off the denial and intransigence, who can? We’re stuck in the mud because half of the legislative branch in one of the largest polluters on Earth won’t even acknowledge the problem — what will the Pope’s message really do to change that? They point out that Pope Francis isn’t breaking through to anyone new — that instead, his climate advocacy is just making conservatives like him less.

Perhaps. Certainly, Boehner isn’t going to come around tomorrow, issue a statement acknowledging the urgency of climate change, and then introduce a carbon tax bill in the House. And perhaps the Pope’s numbers take a bit of a hit among American Republicans, who might think he’s too much of an activist. But make no mistake, the Pope’s visit and encyclical are having an impact here in the U.S. For starters, 11 Republicans made news last week by trying to soften their party’s stance on climate change, introducing a resolution in the House acknowledging the existence of the problem. It’s worth noting that 7 of them, including the bill’s sponsor, are Catholic. Today, Notre Dame, a Catholic university, cited the Pope in announcing it would cut carbon emissions in half by 2030, and stop using coal entirely. Plus, the Pope’s encyclical has ramped up pressure on Catholic institutions around the world, many of whom are facing calls from activists to pull their money out of fossil fuel companies and instead invest in clean energy.  And that’s not to even mention the anecdotal bevy of friends, and families of friends, many of whom have not gotten arrested outside the White House protesting Keystone, who will travel to see the Pope speak and may be inspired enough by his words to walk a march, or cast a ballot on climate change they may not have otherwise.

The point is this: if we’re looking for the Pope to solve the problem single-handedly, we’re not in good shape — he can’t compel the U.S. or Chinese governments to do anything. And if we’re looking for His Holiness to convince a dyed-in-the-cloth Trump voter that climate change isn’t a UN black-helicopter plot to take away their guns, we’re probably out of luck there too.

But let’s recognize that the world’s most popular person speaking out about climate change has enormous value, even in a place with such dysfunctional politics as the U.S. Pope Francis will mobilize a broad swath of Catholics and non-Catholics alike and our movement to deal with this problem will continue to grow in strength. He’ll help along a trend we’ve been seeing for years — the strengthening of majorities across all demographics in the U.S. who demand action on climate change. And he’ll inspire institutions and people within his spheres of influence to do and say things they wouldn’t have otherwise. Stack that on top of the outspokenness from the Dalai Lama, Islamic and Jewish leaders, the Orthodox Church, and more, and it’s hard not to hope and believe this will move things along, even if the larger task remains unfinished.

Ganapathy is U.S. communications manager of 350.org, an international environmental organization.