The Pope appears to have accepted the science of climate change

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NEED TO KNOW:

Pope Francis has surprised the world in many ways with some of his proclamations and some of his actions. He is no Pope Benedict, that's for sure. Now Pope Francis is apparently recognizing that climate change not only exists, but is being driven mostly by people. It's a very science-based opinion that clashes with the opinions of some prominent religious conservatives around the world.

Pope Francis' surprising thoughts on climate change were made in an “encyclical,” a Papal document that the Pope intended to release on Thursday. It was leaked earlier, however, by an Italian magazine. It is the first such document dealing with climate change.

In the document, the Pope says, “plenty of scientific studies point out that the last decades of global warming have been mostly caused by the great concentration of greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, methane, nitrogen oxide and others) especially generated by human action." "The poor and the Earth are shouting."

The timing of the document's release is significant. It comes ahead of international discussions on climate change planned for later this year and ahead of the Pope's planned visit to the United States. It also comes just as the US presidential election gets underway. It's hard to imagine how Republican candidates that have yet to accept the science of climate change — and who are also Catholic — will react.

The American public, just now emerging from the dark days of the financial crisis, is beginning to turn its attention back to the environment. Almost 70 percent of American adults say global warming is either a “very serious” or “somewhat serious” problem. That's up from 63 percent in 2010, but still down from before the financial crisis.

Elsewhere in the world, too, concerns over global warming are heating up again in both public and political circles. A French minister actually suggested that the French stop eating Nutella, which is an Italian hazelnut chocolate spread popular in France. It's a near treasonous suggestion. Nutella, like so many other foods, uses palm oil. Corporations are cutting down the world's rainforests to plant palm oil trees, releasing vast stores of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Palm oil is essentially destroying the world. 

Pope France is now a new and very powerful voice in the fight against climate change. And here is what he has to say about the businesses perpetuating the problem.

"Enlighten the masters of power and money so that they should not fall prey to the sin of indifference, so that they should love the common good, support the weak, and care about this world that we inhabit," he says, according to the draft.

WANT TO KNOW:

You might be curious if there are any provisions in the Trans-Pacific Partnership — that massively huge trade deal that US President Barack Obama is attempting to push through — that would protect the environment.

We don't really know because the details of the deal have largely been kept secret. The only people its been shared with are the governments negotiating it and the corporations backing it. The whole thing is pretty shady. The only information we have about the deal arrives in the form of leaks.

The TPP, as it is called, is the largest trade treaty ever negotiated. It's intended to reduce barriers and establish a level playing field for goods and services in countries making up 40 percent of the global economy.

To ensure that the competition is fair, the treaty texts have apparently swelled with regulations to stop governments from giving local industries any advantages. They have also included regulations that would allow corporations to sue governments in international tribunals if environmental enforcement or other national laws affect their investments.

But what about workers? What about every day people? What kind of protections are being negotiated for them? Very few, critics say. TPP members will be required to have a minimum wage. But each government will be allowed to set that wage as low as they want.

Why the discrepancy?

“It’s no mystery,” one activist told GlobalPost. “Unlike business, ordinary workers are never consulted when these treaties are negotiated.”

STRANGE BUT TRUE:

According to a new report, Wal-Mart is avoiding paying billions of dollars in income tax by setting up subsidiaries in tax havens. That — coupled with the very low wages it already pays its workers — might explain how the stores are able to set such sexy low prices.

The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union found that 90 percent of Wal-Mart's overseas assets are owned by subsidiaries in Luxembourg and the Netherlands, two popular tax havens. The overseas operations have helped the company save more than $3.5 billion in income taxes. That's the kind of money that can pay for a lot of new roads and schools back home.

More than 30 such subsidiaries have been created since 2009, yet not a single one of them has been mentioned in US securities filings. Well, that's strange. You can read more about this subterfuge here. Wal-Mart, of course, is not the only corporation accused of using tax havens to not pay taxes. Apple and Google have both faced similar allegations. The governments making up the G20 are now attempting to crackdown on this behavior. Stay tuned.