EarthBeat Weekly: Can employees claim a religious right to a fossil fuel-free retirement plan?

Can employees claim a religious right to a fossil fuel-free retirement plan?   EarthBeat Weekly Your weekly newsletter about faith and climate change August 7, 2026   Demonstrators march across the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City Sept. 20, 2024, to call for an end to the era of fossil fuels. (OSV News/Reuters/Shannon Stapleton) How to save for retirement is a quandary that poses a multitude of pathways.  For many Americans, it starts with an employer-provided 401(k) plan. [As a nonprofit news publication, here at National Catholic Reporter it's a 4013(b).] Which funds and which strategies to utilize are all relevant questions, ones that faith communities for decades have sought to infuse with moral and ethical considerations. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, for instance, has long eschewed investments in companies tied to weapons, pornography, abortion and cloning. The Vatican has offered its own investment guidelines, too. Specific funds have been developed to reflect these priorities, for both institutions and individuals. Meanwhile, coalitions of faith-based investors have sought to engage companies directly, seeking through dialogue changes in business practices in line with their values around human rights, the common good and the health of ecosystems. That includes on climate change, where these coalitions have conversed with fossil fuel giants like ExxonMobil while in some cases elected to withdraw, or divest, their financial holdings from the coal, oil and gas sector altogether.  This week, I reported at EarthBeat on a new lawsuit, relying on the grounds of religious liberty, that aims to move the push for fossil fuel divestment to a new front: the individual employers' retirement plan options. The suit, filed Tuesday, alleges that the life sciences company Thermo Fisher Scientific violated Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which bars employers from discriminating against individuals because of their religion, when it denied an employee's request to provide a retirement plan option that omits investments in fossil fuels in line with his Christian beliefs.  The plaintiff, Andrew Hartley, is a statistical science director at Thermo Fisher Scientific and a member of the United Methodist Church. His complaint cites Christian teachings to steward and care for the earth — obligations, Hartley said, that extend to refraining from investing in or profiting from fossil fuels, the main driver of climate change. "Dr. Hartley believes that investing his retirement money in ecologically and socially destructive fossil fuel companies violates his religious beliefs, including his belief that it is deeply immoral to personally profit from and hold an ownership stake in the fossil fuel companies that are contributing to the climate crisis," the lawsuit states. The case presents a test of a new standard for religious accommodations set by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2023, when it unanimously sided with an evangelical Christian mail carrier who opposed delivery shifts on Sundays.  If Hartley's case is successful, his attorneys say it could create a pathway for millions of Americans to access employer retirement options in alignment with their religious or moral beliefs, including on climate change.  "We're hoping to make it so that that becomes a thing that more people see, and then they have an option to make a choice that is better aligned with their values," said Ben Segal, an attorney with ClientEarth, a California-based environmental legal organization representing Hartley in the lawsuit. Read more: Catholic groups urge EPA to halt actions that devalue human life, God's creation What else is new on EarthBeat:   Spokane bishop calls for prayers, outreach as wildfires ravage area by Gina Christian, OSV News A Washington state bishop is calling for prayer as wildfires have torched entire neighborhoods, leading to thousands of evacuations and hundreds of destroyed buildings. Read more here »   Catholics sees outpouring of grace after EF-3 tornado; Wisconsin storm miraculously took no lives by Patricia Kasten, OSV News The tornado, with winds of 146 mph, traveled on the ground for 20 minutes, cutting a swath of 12.5 miles, over three cities and one village. Menasha, population 18,000, was hardest hit. Read more here »   In Kenya, nuns lead in providing water, sanitation and hygiene for vulnerable children by Lourine Oluoch The Missionary Sisters of the Precious Blood work with children from around Nairobi, rescuing them from the streets, rehabilitating them, and reintegrating them back to school and into the community.  Read more here »   Pope Leo XIV's visit to South America in November to include cities in Peru by Courtney Mares, OSV News Chiclayo is expected to be one of the most closely watched stops since Leo served as bishop of the diocese from 2015 to 2023. Read more here »   Is Pope Leo a Democratic Socialist? by Thomas Reese, Religion News Service Modern popes tend to stay out of partisan politics, but when Leo speaks, he certainly sounds like a Democratic Socialist. Read more here » What's happening in other climate news: Puerto Rican cities hit with water rationing measures as record dry conditions persist —Dánica Coto for the Associated Press Wildfire smoke is now a bigger prenatal threat than human sources of air pollution —Liza Gross for Inside Climate News Data center foes win big in Tuesday’s primaries —Timothy Cama, Liz Crampton for E&E News Divided federal appeals court says Trump administration was wrong to terminate climate funds —Michael Phillis for the Associated Press Crews building Trump border wall in drought-hit New Mexico ordered to stop drilling wells —Coral Murphy Marcos for the Guardian Five Amazon countries arrest hundreds in major crackdown on environmental crime —Steven Grattan for the Associated Press Is the recycling symbol free speech? A judge just ruled it could be. —Joseph Winters for Grist How rescued orangutans are rebuilding a new wild population in Sumatra —Nanang Sujana and Sandy Watt for Mongabay Final Beat: Every day at NCR we are on the search for what's pulsating in the world of Catholic news.  We talk with sources, review press releases and follow other media coverage. But we know we can't find each and every potential story.  That's where you come in.  Have an idea for a faith-and-environment story you think warrants coverage? For instance, is there a Catholic parish or group in your community involved in debates around a proposed data center? Drop me a line at broewe@ncronline.org with your news tips and story ideas.  Who knows, you may just read about it in a future EarthBeat Weekly newsletter. As always, thanks for reading EarthBeat.   Brian Roewe Environment Correspondent National Catholic Reporter broewe@ncronline.org     Featured Advertisers   Looking to Hire? Offering Retreats? Selling Books? 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Truth and Action Roundup 8.7.2026

View this email in your browser Welcome to the Truth and Action Roundup, your reliable weekly source for information, inspiration, and opportunities for action during the second Trump administration.  Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up here to continue receiving it. U.S. Rep. Max Miller, R-Ohio, is refusing to drop out of his House race despite reports of domestic abuse against his wife, Emily Moreno (daughter of Senator Bernie Moreno), and their small child. Sen. Bernie Moreno weighed in with concern for both his daughter and the people of Ohio and was met with mockery from his former son-in-law. This defiant response to such heinous allegations has not drawn broad public rebuke from Republican Party leaders. This development comes as U.S. Rep Chuck Edwards, R-N.C., ended his reelection bid after a House Ethics Committee found he sexually harassed female aides, and U.S. Rep Cory Mills, R-Fla., is also under investigation by the committee. In addition to this, Brandon Herrera a Republican candidate for U.S. House in a San Antonio-based district, recently recorded videos disparaging mothers in vulgar terms. This spate of misogynistic and predatory behavior towards women from Republicans comes after the campaigns of Democrats Graham Platner and Eric Swalwell, former congressman, ended after credible reports of sexual assault. The behavior we're seeing from candidates like Max Miller and the pervasiveness that has led to it have been sanctioned by white Christian nationalism, but the patriarchy that undergirds this logic is not new. Throughout the country, we've seen denominations fail to address the unequal treatment of women, which leads directly to violent abuse. We have also seen churches choose to protect the powerful men who target women time and time again. We must see the church itself address the patriarchy that plagues our pews, while demanding moral leadership from the people leading our country. –Rev. Moya Harris and Chad Stanton, Sojourners P.S. We are continuing to build an intentional community of people looking to live out their faith in our Sojourners Faith and Practice Forum on Mighty Networks. Please consider joining us. In the News 1. Elections in Michigan, Missouri and Kansas took place amid continued efforts to undermine confidence in the electoral process. • In New Jersey, The Trump administration’s efforts to access the voting rolls were turned away by the US district courts, while Democrats in Maryland are turning to redistrict in response to Republican gerrymandering. • On Tuesday in Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed won a highly contested Democratic U.S. Senate primary, Missouri voters blocked a Republican-led effort to raise the threshold for passing constitutional amendments, and Kansas voters rejected a proposal to directly elect state Supreme Court justices.  2. The policy of mass deportation by the Trump Administration is continuing to be seen throughout US communities. • Video footage of conditions inside the Adelanto ICE Processing Center appear to show worms in detainees’ drinking water. The Guardian also exclusively reported that ICE has force-fed detainees in facilities nationwide amid hunger strikes. • Children across the country lost independent legal representation after the Office of Refugee and Resettlement (ORR) withheld fees from legal service providers, who say the funding was cut to pressure them into turning over confidential information. Those services are now set to be replaced by a firm founded by a former Trump appointee. • The end of Temporary Protected Status for Haitians and Syrians has set off a scramble for options in communities across the country as communities are being targeted for enforcement. 3. Internationally, we continue to see the fallout from conflicts across the globe. • In Cuba, the United States has reportedly sent additional intelligence assets to the island amid rolling blackouts, while residents vow to resist U.S. intervention. • Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., has called into question the legalities of ongoing U.S. boat strikes in the Pacific and Caribbean, citing strikes that fall outside the military’s own targeting guidelines.  • On Iran, U.S. Central Command has solicited creative and unconventional ideas on the war, while concerns about depleted munitions shadow continued negotiations over a Strait of Hormuz deal. Take Action • We continue to demand that Congress intervene to end the blockade of Cuba as blackouts continue to affect the island. • The Maryknoll Office of Global Concerns is asking Congress to promote peace in Sudan. You can contact your members of Congress here. • Freedom Summer is holding revivals across the country in response to the ruling in Louisiana v. Callais. What We’re Reading “ICE is Moving More Quietly. Clergy Resistance Is Not.” | “In different states, the dynamics are different,” he said. “But clergy are desperate to act.” (By Bekah Stolhandske McNeel) “Preach The Gospel, But Not On A Plane.” | “There is no space for reciprocity, mutuality, rebuttal, or respect because it’s not a discussion. It is a proclamation to a captive audience.” (By Amar D. Peterman) Deep Breaths Black August: Freedom Must Be Practiced As we enter the first week of Black August and hold the urgency of voting rights before us, we are reminded that the struggle for the ballot is bound up with the dignity of God’s people. The vote is both a mechanism of government and moral testimony about who is seen, who is heard, and who is allowed to belong.   I am both angered and aggrieved by the long history of anti-Blackness that has shaped this nation and still shows up in the endless efforts to restrict access to the ballot. It also angers me to see the cruel ways these attacks reach into the lives of immigrants and refugees, women and queer folk, children and elders, disabled and neurodivergent people. The burden of exclusion is not carried evenly, and the work of justice must be attentive to those who bear the heaviest weight. Maria Stewart understood this truth with remarkable clarity. An American activist, writer and lecturer in the 19th century, she lived in a nation that spoke the language of liberty while denying its promises to Black people, and she refused to be silent. In one of her most enduring challenges to racial hierarchy, she proclaimed: “Many think, because your skins are tinged with a sable hue, that you are an inferior race of beings; but God does not consider you as such. ... he hath made all men free and equal. Then why should one worm say to another, ‘Keep you down there, while I sit up yonder; for I am better than thou?’” Her witness still speaks to us now: freedom cannot be merely proclaimed; it must be practiced. As we move through this first week of Black August and into the days ahead, may we remain prayerful and steadfast. May we protect the vote with courage and holy resolve, and may we not grow weary in the face of those who would silence the people and mock justice. Let us remember that to defend democracy is to defend the dignity of our neighbors. And may God still stir us to speak the truth and labor for justice, mercy, and peace. ––Rev. Moya Harris, Senior Director of Programs, Sojourners The Truth and Action Roundup is compiled by Sojourners staff: President: Rev. Adam Russell Taylor Senior Research Associate: J.K. Granberg-Michaelson Digital Content and Community Specialist: Kassandra Tapia Chief Program and Impact Officer: Bryan Epps Political Director: Chad V. Stanton Senior Program Director: Rev. Moya Harris Program Manager, Education and Engagement: Cortnie Brooks Donate Subscribe Copyright © 2026 Sojourners. All rights reserved. Email: sojourners@sojo.net | Tel.: 202.328.8842

WCC news: WCC urges pausing proposed merger of UN Women, United Nations Population Fund

n a letter to UN secretary-general António Guterres, World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay urged pausing the proposed merger of UN Women and the United Nations Population Fund under the UN80 reform initiative.  Photo: Ivars Kupcis/WCC 6 August 2026 “We recognise the legitimate purpose behind your UN80 initiative, and we do not write as opponents of reform,” writes Pillay. “Our concern is grounded in a conviction we hold as a matter of faith: that women bear the image of God as fully as men, and that the dignity of the vulnerable cannot be a line item in an efficiency exercise.” Pillay notes that many countries have formally stated that the analysis does not yet demonstrate how a composite model would preserve the integrity of either mandate. “Combining them risks weakening both,” he writes. Pillay further notes that, with more than a quarter of countries at heightened risk of rights regression, reopening mandate language now invites those opposed to gender equality to weaken protections that are already hard-won. “More than 500 civil society organisations report being treated as a communications audience rather than as partners in this decision, on a timeline too compressed for the consultation a change of this magnitude warrants,” Pillay writes. “Move the women most affected by these decisions, especially across the Global South and Africa, from consultation to formal participation in any review of the two entities’ collaboration, through a standing multi-stakeholder mechanism with a genuine seat at the table.” Pillay further urges a defined pilot period before any structural change. “Give the collaborative model 18–24 months to run, measured against published indicators, so that any future efficiency case rests on evidence rather than projection - the very standard several member states have already said this process has not yet met,” he writes. “Commission a transparent, independently reviewed costing of the composite model’s transition costs and of the safeguards meant to protect each mandate, before, not after, any decision is taken.” The letter points out that member states cannot make an informed judgement on the basis of what has not been shared with them. “We would welcome the opportunity, in the days ahead of any decision, to brief you or your office further, alongside our ecumenical and civil-society partners, on the perspective set out here,” Pillay concludes.  Read the full letter WCC calls for renewed commitment to multilateral cooperation (WCC news release, 23 January 2026) See more

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 356 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 580 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay from the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa. Media contact: +41 79 507 6363; www.oikoumene.org/press Our visiting address is: World Council of Churches Chemin du Pommier 42 Kyoto Building Le Grand-Saconnex CH-1218 Switzerland

WCC News: Around Colombian coal mine, “people get very ill from the dust”

On 5 June, churches and faith-based organizations from Colombia, the United Kingdom, and Ireland, together with investment and ecumenical partners, submitted a complaint under the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises on Responsible Business Conduct concerning HSBC Holdings plc and its financial relationship with Glencore, the company operating the Cerrejón coal mine in La Guajira, Colombia. This is the second of a three-part feature story that illustrates the grave health effects—particularly on children—of the Cerrejón mining operation.  Yuleidis Amayo inspects a chick in her backyard in La Granja, Barrancos, La Guajira, Colombia. The Wayúu indigenous people of La Guajira, Colombia, have faced decades of displacement, contamination and cultural destruction linked to the Cerrejón open-cast coal mine — one of the largest in the world. Communities report polluted water, failing harvests, and chronic respiratory disease, while remaining excluded from the legal recognition that would give them access to basic rights and state services. Photo: Sean Hawkey/WCC 06 August 2026 In the villages around the Cerrejón coal mine, there are perceptible booms that vibrate. "They carry out blasting operations at any time of the day or night," says Mildreth Guetta Uriana, a young Wayúu woman from an Indigenous reserve near the mine, weeping as she tells the story.  "The pollution reaches our village—and it impacts our health. We live with it every day, especially when it rains… the vapour rises and carries the smell of sulphur into our homes. People get very ill from the dust and that smell, including my little brother.” For Uriana, the crisis is embodied in her brother. "My little brother has had a respiratory problem since he was a child. Every day I see my mother cry for that boy, for his difficulty breathing—in his own land, in his own territory, where he was born." In just the first three months of 2024, La Guajira recorded 649 cases of acute malnutrition in children under five, according to the National Institute of Health. Of those, 84% were Indigenous children. In 2023 alone, 70 child malnutrition deaths were recorded in La Guajira—approximately 30% of Colombia's entire national total, despite the department making up a small fraction of the country's population. A further 2,223 Wayúu children were found to be living with acute malnutrition. The year before, 2022, closed with 85 child deaths from malnutrition in the department. By late 2024, the National Institute of Health confirmed La Guajira had recorded the highest number of child malnutrition deaths of any department in the country—31 confirmed deaths by November—while malnutrition-related illness cases had risen a further 7.19% on 2023's figures. Community leaders dispute even these figures, insisting the official statistics fail to capture the true scale of the crisis. Many deaths go unregistered because Indigenous children in rural communities often have no birth certificates.  María Magdalena Brito, Wayúu indigenous leader of El Pimientón, La Guajira in Colombia. Photo: Sean Hawkey/WCC María Magdalena Brito pauses mid-interview to speak of her own loss. "Right now we are living through the death of our mother. Today marks exactly nine months since she died. What took her? A pulmonary illness—caused by the contamination of Cerrejón."  The Colombian government has taken some steps to address the emergency. President Gustavo Petro announced in 2025 that child mortality from malnutrition had fallen by nearly half since 2022, with La Guajira specifically recording a 48% drop. But human rights groups say that the structural causes—lack of water, contaminated land, displacement—remain unaddressed, and that improvement is fragile.  Jocelyn Carolina describes the daily reality for children in her community: "The children have constant colds, constant respiratory problems. The animals are also affected."  Global patterns in mining impacts The health crisis around Cerrejón bears remarkable similarities to other coal mine neighbours across the world. Coal mining and processing expose communities to air and water pollution through dust particles, heavy metals, and volatile organic compounds—and these are linked to respiratory diseases and cardiovascular health problems. The respiratory impact around coal mines is consistent. In Appalachian communities in the United States, lung cancer and other respiratory diseases in coal mining counties are disproportionately higher than regional and national averages. In 2014, West Virginia University researchers demonstrated—for the first time—a direct causal link, rather than just a correlation, between toxic dust from surface coal mines and the growth of lung cancer cells in people living nearby. A systematic review of European studies found increased risk of lung, colon, colorectal, and thyroid cancers in communities living near coal mines. There is also evidence on the impact on the unborn. The rate of children born with birth defects is 42% higher in areas near mountaintop removal coal mining in the United States. Neurotoxic metals including arsenic, lead, and mercury—all associated with coal mining contamination of water and soil—are linked to abnormal foetal growth, adverse birth outcomes, and cognitive and behavioural problems in later childhood. Communities near coal mines in Mozambique, Burkina Faso, and Tanzania have reported increases in newborn malformations and miscarriages, which they attributed to chemicals in their water supply. José Luis Amayo Urrarillo, community leader of the Wayúu indigenous people of La Guajira, Colombia in Barrancos, La Guajira, Colombia. Photo: Sean Hawkey/WCC There is also a heavy toll on mental health, with research finding increased rates of depression in coal mining communities, compounded by the destruction of landscape, noise, and dust, and the long-term stress of watching children fall ill. These mental health burdens are expected to last for decades—even long after the mines have closed. Heavy metals and carcinogens in contaminated water can linger for decades after mining ends. Communities near Cerrejón are asking what the land will look like, and what their situation will be after 2034, when the mine's licence expires. The global evidence suggests they are right to be worried; health impacts don’t stop when the last train leaves. The workers' side José Luis Amayo Urrarillo, who worked 25 years at Cerrejón in a security role, is withering about the protection workers and communities were given. "They gave us useless filters—filters that let the most dangerous particles through. What was the point? What is the point of money without life? These diseases are going to mutate. And if you go for a medical examination, all the doctors say what the companies want them to say.” Urrarillo, whose community was promised employment quotas, training, and scholarships when environmental permits were signed, speaks with bitter clarity about what those promises were worth. "We signed the environmental permit agreement—three days of negotiations in Buenavista, demanding job quotas, training, scholarships. They didn't comply."  As well as the impacts on local communities, poor working conditions at the mine have often been highlighted, including exploitation through cheaper labour, unhealthy working conditions, and 12-hour shifts. Pro-union workers have reportedly been intimidated or replaced with cheaper casual labour. In 2008, Sintracarbón union leader Adolfo González Montes was tortured and murdered at home. A 91-day strike in 2020 reflected how far conditions had deteriorated. Employment at the mine, other community members say, is allocated not by qualification but by political connection. "The jobs at Cerrejón depend on who you know," says one community leader. "If you're not their friend, you have no right to work there. I told them: 'Give us an opportunity - even five jobs.' But it wasn't possible. Because unless we hand over the territory, they won't help us with anything.” Vast spoil heaps tower over the landscape around the Cerrejón coal mine in La Guajira, Colombia. The waste material excavated to expose the coal seams has reshaped the terrain across tens of thousands of hectares, smothering vegetation, contaminating groundwater and generating clouds of fine toxic dust that carry across surrounding Wayúu communities — communities that have never consented to, nor benefited from, the mine's operations. Photo: Sean Hawkey/WCC The churches’ complaint in relation to HSBC bank is one example of the implementation of the WCC Hope for Children initiative, catalyzed by children and youth who urged the WCC to make climate justice one of the pillars of the Churches’ Commitments to Children programme. The World Council of Churches is inviting churches, ecumenical partners, and faith-based organizations worldwide to support an open letter backing an OECD complaint submitted by Methodist churches in Colombia, Great Britain, Ireland, and partners concerning HSBC’s financial relationship with Glencore and the Cerrejón coal mine in Colombia. Churches, ecumenical partners, and other organizations wishing to endorse the initiative are invited to sign the Open letter here. Indigenous people in Colombia pay—with their lives—for coal (WCC feature story, 22 July 2026) WCC invites churches, communities to support call for responsible finance, climate justice (WCC news release, 10 June 2026) Faith-based groups submit OECD complaint concerning HSBC financing linked to Cerrejón coal mine in Colombia (WCC news release, 05 June 2026) Learn more about the Churches’ Commitments to Children and Climate-Responsible Banking Sources for statistics See more

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 356 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 580 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay from the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa.  Media contact: +41 79 507 6363; www.oikoumene.org/press Our visiting address is: World Council of Churches Chemin du Pommier 42 Kyoto Building Le Grand-Saconnex CH-1218 Switzerland