April is Earth Month: A Time to Renew Our Awareness

STEWARDS OF OUR EARTH

All of God’s Creation

Social Justice Committee, Holy Cross Parish, Mt. Airy, April 12, 2026

“Each April, Earth Month builds on the legacy of Earth Day, first held on April 22, 1970, when an estimated 20 million Americans gathered in response to growing concerns about widespread environmental damage and limited laws in place to protect clean air, clean water, public health and pollution. This surge in public awareness led to major federal action, including the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1970 and the passage of the Clean Water Act in 1972, which established a national framework to regulate pollution and protect the country’s rivers, lakes, and streams….  

Earth Month reminds us that protecting our planet and our water is everyone’s responsibility. It calls us to act, raises awareness, and encourages everyone to make choices that safeguard our planet and water for generations to come.” (LaTrice Harrison, Clean Water Action, 4/1/26)

One major response to this call is the recent action by the Vatican and the University of Notre Dame to launch “a new global sustainability initiative to apply Catholic principles to addressing climate change and other ecological threats facing the planet.

The Global Alliance for Laudato Si' was officially formed during a March 9-10 meeting of almost 100 scientists, researchers and environmental activists…. The alliance aims to create an international network of academic leaders and institutions to collaborate on research, curriculum and other actions that promote stewardship of the Earth reflecting the ideas of integral ecology and ecological conversion expressed by Francis in his encyclical Laudato Si', on Care for Our Common Home.

The burgeoning network plans to create six interdisciplinary working groups looking at three primary areas: access to water, energy and food security; more just and sustainable economic systems; developing tools and practices needed to spur collective action on environmental crises.” 

(Catherine M. Odell, National Catholic Reporter, 4/2/26)

“Since the first Earth Day 1970, public action has helped create environmental laws and

institutions. These efforts have led to cleaner air and water, better health, and economic

benefits in many parts of the world.” (SSJ Center for Justice, April 2026)

One action we can take in Pennsylvania concerns “the development and operation of AI data centers and how they could impact local resources, infrastructure, the electric grid, and our environment…. Water is used in operations to cool processor chips. While water consumption varies based on the size of the facility and differences in cooling technology, the average daily usage is around 300-500K. Larger data centers, however, can consume up to 5 million gallons per day….

HB 2246 and HB 2151 are two bills that offer Pennsylvanians a chance to put safeguards in place that will protect our communities and environment from the rapid surge of AI data centers that are being proposed. Contact your legislators TODAY to support HB 2246 and HB 2151.” (Steve Hvozdovich, Clean Water Action, 3/11/26)

Comments on this column may be directed to the Social Justice Committee at socialjustice@holycrossphl.org. Click here for column archive.