Republican presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio said Saturday that he had “no problem” with Pope Francis’ encyclical on climate change, but said he would only back policies that protect the nation’s economy.

“I have no problem with what the pope did,” the senator, who is Roman Catholic, said before speaking at Lincoln Day Dinner sponsored by the Miami-Dade County Republican Party. “He is a moral authority and as a moral authority is reminding us of our obligation to be good caretakers to the planet.”

Rubio’s comments were reported by The Miami Herald.

“I’m a political leader,” he told reporters. “And my job as a policymaker is to act in the common good. And I do believe it’s in the common good to protect our environment, but I also believe it’s in the common good to protect our economy.”

In a 190-page document released on Thursday, Pope Francis put forth his theological arguments for the need to reduce climate change and protect the environment. He entitled the encyclical “Laudato Si” (Praise Be).

The pope said that the continuing human damage to nature was “one small sign of the ethical, cultural and spiritual crisis of modernity.”

The solution, according to the pontiff, requires self-sacrifice and a “bold cultural revolution” worldwide.

http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/marco-rubio-pope-climate-change/2015/06/20/id/651510/