Landrieu right to ignore group's corrupted policy view

In Sen. Mary Landrieu’s world, it’s bad enough that her opponents hammer her for doing the wrong thing, and then it’s made worse when her allies on the left pile on – even when the criticism is undeserved and she’s right.

Recently, ads began to run against Landrieu criticizing her for her support of legislation that disallows the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating carbon dioxide emissions which the agency now is in the process of doing. Not only is her view that these decisions should be a matter of law passed by Congress intuitively appealing – the people’s elected representatives should decide here, not unaccountable bureaucrats who allow themselves to be influenced and captured by special interests and ideologies – but on this issue it also is constitutionally correct.

Yet this has drawn the ire of an interest group that calls itself Catholics United – although the only thing connecting it to Roman Catholicism seems to be its name given its far left agenda and support of politicians that often take contrary stances to the Church’s teachings. This is why it’s surprising that the group, throughout its history having supported pro-abortion politicians, should attack Landrieu, baptized Catholic yet faithfully pro-abortion.

Perhaps a more appropriate description of the religious beliefs of this group is faith in scientifically unverified environmentalism, which leads to a delicious irony in the ad’s message. It implies that Pope Benedict XVI would support their agenda that Landrieu they argue opposes. But in fact, early in his papacy he condemned exactly the attitude evinced by the group, where he counseled that prudence and basing conclusions on firm evidence rather than on ideology is a necessary part of forming a response to the issue.

While we might expect a pressure group that claims to base its views on religious belief to make public policy assertions based upon faith and not science, it performs a disservice to allow its faith in the existence of significant man-made global warming to substitute for science in drawing its conclusions and in the process to mischaracterize the religion on which it asserts its belief exists. Landrieu and Catholics can safely disregard the blandishments of this group which neither comport to Catholic faith nor to science.