The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops released a new statement this month that examines important questions about farm owners, farm workers and government agricultural policy in light of the Church's social teaching.
Religious leaders are always in danger of being 'captured' by someone with a cause. Why? Because anyone who can get a member of the clergy – or, better yet, an entire organization made up of clergy – behind their cause will immediately give their work moral legitimacy.
Business leaders from around the world are not all the Ebeneezer Scrooges or Montgomery Burns-like caricatures portrayed in popular culture - or affirmed by the nation's pulpits.
One can only pray that "ethical investing" guidelines are shaped by authentically Catholic moral wisdom, rather than the political correctness that masquerades as moral reflection in much of Europe today.
The real problem is too much federal oversight and regulation, rather than the opposite. The private sector has no incentive to invest in upgrading the expensive power infrastructure when the specter of greater government regulation is always looming.