To Till and to Tend

During these Three Weeks preceding Tisha B’Av, we consider the collective evil that dwelled within the whole of the Jewish people at the time of the Temples, and the wreckage it engendered. Putting ourselves in the shoes of our ancestors, we ponder our responsibility to stop it from happening again. Relating this important part of our history to modern times calls us to consider the morality of our own actions today, specifically our use of energy and how our dollars end up in the hands of those that oppress the marginalized and seek the destruction of the Jewish people and state.

We know that short-sightedness and ignorance about energy consumption in an oil-centric economy have contributed to the destruction in the Gulf region, the local economy and the environment, while at the same time fueling the fires of rogue states and the terrorist organizations they support. Yet, we still rely on oil to provide more than one third of our energy, with the U.S. consuming more than 30% of the total global oil supply. The connection between oil tyranny and the Gulf oil disaster lies within us as consumers of that oil. What then can we do personally and communally as Jews to stop environmental and human tragedies from recurring?

As we contemplate such questions over these Three Weeks and each day, we must keep the interests of future generations and our security in mind. We must seek alternative methods of producing energy, be more energy efficient in our daily lives, and take actions today that will allow us to achieve energy security while preventing further destruction of our environment. The Jewish Energy Covenant Campaign provides us a way to personally make a difference and leave a healthy energy legacy for generations to come. We urge readers to join us in committing to energy efficiency today by signing the Jewish Energy Covenant Campaign Pledge: www.coejl.org/covenant.

The Wildlife Report
One of the greatest tragedies of this extraordinary oil disaster is the vast effects it has had and will have on the wildlife in the Gulf region. Hundreds of birds, turtles, dolphins, whales and countless fish have been affected.  Here is a sampling from several of the reports the surveillance teams have sent back to National Wildlife Federation and updated on July 6th, 2010.

Fish and Wildlife Service Missed the Boat
In 2007, the Fish and Wildlife Service, the federal agency with the primary directive to protect endangered species, signed off on the Minerals Management Service’s conclusion that deepwater oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico posed no significant risk to wildlife because the chances that deepwater drilling would result in a spill that would pollute critical habitat was “low.” Deborah Fuller, the endangered species program coordinator for the Fish and Wildlife Service’s office in Lafayette, La., led the team that reviewed the minerals service’s biological assessment. “We all know an oil spill is catastrophic, but what is the likelihood it will happen?” Ms. Fuller asked. She added, “Obviously, we are going to relook at all these numbers for upcoming consultations.” The assessment considered only the risks to wildlife based on spills of 1,000 to 15,000 barrels, as opposed to the 3.5 to 4 million barrels to date and counting in today’s oil disaster.

27,000 Gulf Oil Wells Out-of-Sight, Out-of-Mind
Not only did the Fish and Wildlife Service and Minerals Management Service get in wrong, they also ignored the facts. More than 27,000 abandoned oil and gas wells sit quietly corked up in the hard rock beneath the Gulf of Mexico, an environmental time bomb that has been ignored for decades. No one — not industry, not government — is checking to see if they are leaking, an Associated Press investigation shows. Yet, similar wells on land and sea are known to need routine repairs so often that the terms “replugging” and “reabandonment” have been coined to describe the work.

EPA Rule Would Cut Power Plant Pollution
The EPA is finally putting pressure on Congress to act on energy/global climate legislation by proposing pollution-reducing rules that would affect power plants in 31 states and the District of Columbia. Responding to a 2008 decision by the US Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., the EPA proposed sharp cuts in emissions from some 900 coal, natural gas, and oil-burning power plants. By 2014, combined with other EPA and state level actions, the rule would reduce sulfur dioxide emissions by 71 percent over 2005 levels and nitrogen oxide emission levels would drop by 52 percent to bring the federal government into compliance with the court ruling that overturned the Bush administration’s national Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR). This could force Congress to act now before the rules go into effect and before mid-term elections to avoid political ramifications.

EPA and Coast Guard Set the Rules
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the US Coast Guard issued a directive to BP on how it should manage recovered oil and any other waste from cleanup operations. BP will be held accountable for approved waste management plans and its efforts will be overseen by the EPA.  Waste sampling will continue to be conducted to ensure that waste is being properly handled and in compliance with EPA standards.

Oil Coming Ashore? The Answer is Blowing In The Wind
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has modeled historical wind and ocean currents to project the likelihood that surface oil from the spill will impact US coastline.   The report states, “Whether or not oil comes ashore will depend upon wind and ocean currents at the time. In addition to these and other natural factors, booms and other countermeasures could be used to mitigate the actual coastal contact.”  The model shows where oil may be likely to travel, thereby giving coastal states and communities information about potential threats of shoreline impacts. According to the report’s modeling, the oil is more likely to move east than west and the coastlines most like to be impacted extend from the Mississippi River Delta to the western panhandle of Florida where there has been and will likely continue to be oil impacts.

More Updates on the Gulf Oil Disaster from the White House
www.whitehouse.gov/blog/issues/Deepwater-BP-Oil-Spill

In the Jewish Week: Jewish Organizations Countering Oil Dependency

Sybil Sanchez wrote a counter Op-Ed piece in the Jewish Week in response to their Editor’s column from June 25, “A Way Out Of Our Oil Dependency” in which Gal Luft, executive director of the Washington-based Institute for the Analysis of Global Security says, “The Jewish world’s involvement has been “quite disappointing” because it has done little to advance the issue beyond slogans and ads.” Sybil Sanchez expressed the position of COEJL and other Jewish organizations on our collective environmental mission and disputed any lack of momentum or interest from the Jewish community on the subject.

Upcoming Events

Shalom Center Tisha B’Av Vigil

In his article in Zeek online Jewish journal entitled Eicha for the Oil Spill: A Tisha B’Av for the Earth, Rabbi Arthur Waskow asks, “What can we do to prevent the disaster in the Gulf from ever being repeated-from becoming a model of disaster for all Earth?” And, “suggest(s) drawing on ancient midrash and our own good sense to see Tisha B’Av this summer as a framework for grief, vision, and especially for action on behalf of the sacred Temple of our day – the great round Earth.”

The Shalom Center is organizing an interfaith gathering for lament, hope, and environmental action in Washington D.C. on July 20th more details, click here.

Community News

Calling Energy Activists and Communities!!
Let us know what you’re doing so we can feature you! Community Relations Councils and partner organizations now have an opportunity to feature their environmental and energy work through COEJL’s Jewish Energy Covenant Campaign. We would love to share what you are doing with the broader Jewish community through our weekly. Send an email to David Marks, COEJL Program Director at: dmarks@coejl.org with news about your community. Check out the new COEJL Talks fan page on Facebook®. We look forward to keeping working with you to build our shared network of energy activists.

This Week’s Feature Community: St. Louis Jewish Community Relations Council Jewish Environmental Initiative

This week we are featuring the St. Louis Jewish Community Relations Council, participants in the Jewish Energy Covenant campaign, and their Jewish Environmental Initiative (JEI). They have a number of green programs in place including a teen group who speaks to area congregations and other Jewish groups about how to “go green” They also recently started a column called “Planet Jewish” in the online Jewish e-zine, “Jewish in St. Louis,” to publicize ways the entire Jewish community can live a more eco-friendly life. Check it out here.

For more information about what the St. Louis Jewish Community Relations Council is doing about green issues and energy, contact Gail Wechsler, Director of Domestic Issues/Social Justice at: 314-442-3894 and gwechsler@jcrcstl.org