To Till and to Tend

This Week’s Crop

Yesterday was the beginning of the Jewish month of Av. This period, known as The Nine Days, is one of more intense mourning for the destruction of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem or the “Beit HaMikdash.” “As Av enters, we diminish our joy.” This statement from the Mishna manifests in many laws and customs observed during this time. Many abstain from playing music, buying clothes, taking pleasure trips, giving gifts and even performing normal hygiene practices and marital relations. It is a time for us to step back from material pleasures and mourn the loss of the place where our ancestors worshiped, witnessed and connected to God.  In this time of mourning the loss of the Temple, we are also mourning the loss of life, nature, and livelihoods due to the oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Recently, an interfaith contingent of religious leaders from around the country met in New Orleans to personally witness the destruction and to offer prayers and to better understand  what is needed for our communities to help those in need. (Huffington Post)

This coming Friday, July 16th at 12 PM (EST) two of the leaders who attended the event, Rabbis David Saperstein of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism and Julie Schonfeld of the Conservative Movement’s Rabbinical Assembly, will be sharing their experience and helping us better understand the ongoing impacts of the oil disaster and what we can do as Jews to help. Please join us in this timely and important call. Here are some well written thoughts on the nine days ahead from other Jewish leaders.

Think: Read the Sermon for Shabbat Pinchas: A Present Tragedy by Rabbi Alexandra Wright, Senior Rabbi at the Liberal Jewish Synagogue in St. John’s Wood, London, England. (RAC Article)

Learn: 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.” (Zeek Online)

Donate: The Union for Reform Judaism and the Jewish Funds for Justice are collecting funds to support grass roots organizations working to recover and restore communities and ecosystems in the Gulf. Donate online or by check (instructions on the Union’s Disaster Relief page).

Updates from the Hill

Is a small cap a good cap? A climate bill being developed by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) would impose carbon caps on electric utilities but would achieve far fewer emission reductions than more comprehensive proposals under consideration in the Senate. The bill would cut emissions by 2020 from regulated sources by 17 percent from 2005 levels and 42 percent by 2030. Utilities that emit more than 25,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent per year would be under the cap starting in 2012, and large manufacturers could opt-in to the program. The concept of a cap on carbon is imperative. However, COEJL would favor a broader societal carbon cap approach. The Bingaman draft is just one of several climate measures circulating in the Senate as Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) prepares to assemble an energy and climate bill for floor debate this month.  (NY Times)

The coming four weeks will have the Senate quite busy with an ambitious legislative agenda. With one of the main priorities being energy legislation, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid plans to meet with committee chairmen this week to prepare for a floor debate, with many options for how the chamber body will proceed with the limiting of greenhouse gas emissions. (NY Times)

Utilities are facing major decisions on energy sources due to EPA regulations and market forces. According to a new report authored by Navigant Consulting for Ceres, a Boston-based coalition of institutional investors and environmental groups, “The business landscape for electric utilities is shifting quickly,” due to the need to cut greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 80 percent by 2050 and policies in many states are making it costly to build more fossil fuel-based electric generation facilities. Most utilities are beginning to look to natural gas and alternative energy options for electric generation. Though gas burns cleaner and more efficiently than other fossil fuels, extraction of natural gas presents other serious environmental considerations. Coal, according to this report, also faces an array of challenges. New EPA regulations may force older coal-fired power plants off line. The Navigant report cites a March 2010 study by Bernstein Research, stating the EPA regulations will likely force the retirement of about one-quarter of U.S. coal-burning generation by 2015. (NY Times)

The Slick

BP puts a new cap on the well. After days of preparation and numerous problems, BP’s effort to replace the leaking cap that has been collecting oil for the last few weeks with a new sealing cap appears to be successful. On Monday evening, a new cap was installed, raising hopes that BP will finally be able to either seal off the well entirely, ending the leak, or at least contain all of the oil flow over the next few weeks by sending it upward to several surface collection vessels.  (Newsweek)

The House Natural Resources Committee voted 27-21 to pass legislation that will provide permanent and full funding for land conservation including the Consolidated Land, Energy, and Aquatic Resources Act of 2009 (CLEAR Act, HR 3534), would ensure that the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), the federal government’s principal means of buying land, would receive its full $900 million annually. Amendments offered to weaken and strike the LWCF amendment were defeated. (Newswire)

Just after the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the federal government’s appeal, Ken Salazar  issued a new moratorium on Monday. The new moratorium will last through Nov. 30 and unlike the previous moratorium, which applied to waters of more than 500 feet, the new one applies to any floating facility with drilling activities. (NPR.org)

Community News:

Hear National Rabbis Report Back from the Gulf. Please join us Friday, July 16th at 12 PM EST (9AM PST) for a call with Rabbi David Saperstein of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism and Julie Schonfeld of the Conservative Movement’s Rabbinical Assembly about their recent trip to the Gulf of Mexico region. They will share their experience and help us better understand the ongoing impacts of the oil disaster and what we can do as Jews to help.

Please RSVP to dmarks@coejl.org
Please call in as follows:
Dial Conference Telephone Number: (507) 726-4200
Use Participant Passcode: 160219#

An Interfaith Petition for the Gulf. The Religious Action Center has created an interfaith petition written to President Obama to express the profound concern about the ongoing oil spill disaster in the Gulf. The letter calls on President Obama to focus on several points of action. Go here to read and sign your name to the letter.  (RAC Letter )

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

Donate to COEJL
The Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life’s mission is to deepen the Jewish community’s commitment to stewardship and protecting the Earth through outreach, activism and learning. The Jewish Energy Covenant Campaign is focused on conserving energy, increasing sustainability, and advocating that officials implement policies to increase energy efficiency and security. Check out our new blog, To Till and to Tend and Facebook® page, “COEJL Talks”. We’re out there advocating an urgent response by Jews on energy every day. As we are now in Day 85 of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster, we can’t afford to wait to be efficiently energized. Donate to COEJL today. Together we’ll succeed.

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