News Reporter

Tuesday, 10 March 2026

What America 250 Needs

Friend,

I have been telling you that CatholicVote has big plans for America 250.

At last, I can share the exciting details.

As we prepare for the 250th anniversary of our country's founding, CatholicVote is collaborating with His Eminence Cardinal Raymond L. Burke on an extraordinary and historic campaign to renew our nation in Christ: Zeale for America 250.

America's Jubilee is rightly a time of national celebration and thanksgiving for the many blessings God has bestowed on the USA. But it is also a moment that calls us to repentance and renewal.

If our nation is to be renewed, it will not happen through politics alone. It will begin with prayer — prayer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, under the mantle of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Americas, to whom CatholicVote is consecrated.

Through Zeale for America 250, Catholics across the country are being invited to take part in a national movement of faith, patriotism, and prayer.

Join this nationwide movement today and be part of the spiritual renewal of our country.

The Virtue of Patriotism

Cardinal Burke leads an inspiring eight-part video series on this important virtue, exploring what authentic love of country means for Catholics today.
Cardinal Burke's Daily Prayer for America 250

Join thousands of Catholics nationwide in this moving prayer for the spiritual renewal of our country.
Celebrate Faith and Country at the Zeale for America 250 Rally—Saturday, June 13, 2026

Join Catholics from across the nation at the Zeale for America 250 Rally at the La Crosse Center in scenic La Crosse, Wisconsin.

In addition to Cardinal Raymond L. Burke, you will hear from six national speakers from the worlds of sports, media, culture, faith, and public life, including Michael J. Knowles.

This patriotic rally celebrating faith, freedom, and the future of our nation will include Eucharistic Adoration, opportunities for Confession, and prayer for the renewal of our nation.

We have also provided helpful travel information so you can plan your pilgrimage to join us in person. It will be a stirring gathering of prayer and patriotism that you won't want to miss.

And that's not all. Zeale for America 250 will also help Catholics across the country take part in this national movement of prayer and renewal by:

Enthroning the Sacred Heart of Jesus in your home
Forming a Zeale for America 250 prayer group in your parish or community
Participating in the U.S. bishops' consecration of the United States to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Praying a special 4th of July novena written by Cardinal Burke

Go forward bravely,

Kelsey Reinhardt
President & CEO, CatholicVote

Climate Coach: Ditch forever chemicals without getting cold and wet

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Climate Coach
Down-to-earth advice for life on our changing planet.

By Michael J. Coren

Welcome. This week, a super El Niño, and Texas seizes the solar crown. But first, here's what to wear now that the forever chemicals era of outdoor gear is ending.

Outdoor gear is changing as the world wakes up to the hazards of forever chemicals. (Miguel Medina/AFP/Getty Images)

When Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay set out to climb Everest in 1953, wool, down and cotton kept them alive in temperatures 30 degrees below zero. Synthetic fibers played only a supporting role as the pair ascended more than five miles above sea level, about the same altitude as modern jets.

By the 1980s, the roles had reversed: Synthetic materials are now the preferred way for people to stay warm and dry, from the streets of New York to the Antarctic ice sheet. Many are fashioned from PFAS, also known as "forever chemicals."

But what makes these materials so durable — carbon-fluorine bonds, among the strongest in organic chemistry — also makes them dangerous.

PFAS, or Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, don't break down easily and can build up in our bodies and in the environment over decades. They're in drinking water serving nearly half the nation and in the blood of 97 percent of Americans. Traces of PFAS can now be found from Antarctic ice to the bottom of the Mariana Trench.

This uncontrolled global experiment on the human body and the world's ecosystems is not going well. While less than 1 percent of the 12,000 or so PFAS compounds have been tested for toxicity, the (abbreviated) list of maladies linked to them, even at tiny concentrations, includes decreased fertility, pregnancy complications, weakened immune systems, kidney and testicular cancers, liver damage, obesity, and hormone interference, according to a review of the scientific literature by the Environmental Protection Agency.

California and New York have outlawed PFAS in clothing, and more states are following suit. PFAS-treated clothes will disappear from most American shelves by the end of 2026.

That doesn't mean you have to be cold and wet outdoors. Clothing companies have spent years refreshing their waterproof systems with PFAS-free alternatives. The first people to climb Everest didn't need PFAS to stay warm and dry. You don't either.

Write me with your questions at climatecoach@washpost.com. I read all your emails.

Click here to read the column

Field Sample

A record El Niño may be on the way.

These relatively rare super El Niño events happen roughly once every 10 to 15 years, when sea temperatures in a key region of the Pacific Ocean warm more than 2 degrees Celsius above average.

The amped-up version of the atmospheric phenomenon affects heat waves, flooding, drought and hurricanes, especially in the Western United States, which may face a broiling summer.

Read more about what a super El Niño would mean for you.

The Second Degree

Last week, I wrote about how to find the secret superfoods hiding in your grocery store. While they're healthful, there's no evidence that foods aggressively branded as superfoods deliver health benefits over a standard, balanced diet.

That resonated with some of you. One reader critical of food marketing cited the wisdom in Henry David Thoreau's "Walden," from 1854:

Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity! … Instead of three meals a day, if it be necessary eat but one; instead of a hundred dishes, five; and reduce other things in proportion.

Another reader saw the irony of mushroom supplements selling for $2 per dose: "I looked at the ingredients and realized that most of them grow in the woods around my house. I get particular joy creating my 'supplement' tea with things I pick up off the ground for free."

The reader wisely added: "Don't try this without foraging expertise. As we say 'every mushroom is edible — once.'"

On the Climate Front

From The Post:

Noem's spending limits have frozen millions in disaster aid, Democratic report charges

Trump's Iran conflict cuts the world off from a crucial energy source

Why daylight saving time is worse for your body than standard time

From elsewhere:

Texas seizes the solar crown from California (Inside Climate News)

Blue whales spotted in New England waters (Sustain What)

Illegal gold mining surges into 'all regions of Peru' (Associated Press)

Humanity is heating the planet faster than ever before, study finds (Guardian)

Sanja Modric of Gaithersburg, Maryland, has a new neighbor: a gorgeous, curious barred owl.

Barred owls, originally denizens of old forests and tree-filled swamps in the Eastern United States, spread to the Pacific Northwest and California in the 20th century, making their homes in wildlands and suburbs.

"Interestingly, I do not live in a posh neighborhood with mega-homes and acres of land around me," wrote Modric. "I actually live in a condo community."

Send me your photos and stories at climatecoach@washpost.com

Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here to get The Climate Coach in your inbox every Tuesday.

See you next Tuesday,

Michael Coren, Climate Coach

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