Happy Birthday Katrina
This past Sunday, August 29th, Katrina turned five. But don’t jump on the phone to order a cake and some ice cream just yet. Normally this might sound like a birthday for a young girl and cause for celebration – where’s my party hat? But in actuality we are marking the fifth anniversary of a major storm that decimated the entire Gulf region.
Rather, let’s take the time to reflect about what happened five years ago, the lives that were impacted, and what we can do to help those affected and our planet going forward. This anniversary may be the perfect time to support climate and environmental measures that will ultimately prevent such a disaster from happening again. Especially now as we watch citizens of another country deal with the devastation of climate-related disaster in Pakistan.
With the inaction of Congress moving climate legislation forward thus far, the ball rests firmly in the hands of the EPA and its regulations of greenhouse gasses – and it also rests with, well, us. If the US public has a say in the matter, there may be some hope and momentum building to support comprehensive climate policy. The majority of people polled in the US expressed support for stronger EPA regulations, not weaker. So I guess you could say that if Congress won’t do it – we must. The coming weeks of Rosh Hashanah and the High Holy Days and Shabbat Noach provide a means for the Jewish people to speak as a common voice on this issue. COEJL, along with a network of Jewish environmental organizations is in the process of creating a resource guide to help engage, energize and educate our diverse communities on climate issues and relate them to the story of Noah and the flood. Stay tuned for an announcement and a link to the website. For a resource sheet that will get you started on the coming High Holy Days and Shabbat Noach, visit the COEJL home page at: www.coejl.org. For more information about Katrina’s anniversary, visit the Religious Action Center.
Shana Tova from COEJL! We’ll talk again in the new year.
Poll shows support for EPA regulations of greenhouse gasses. Polster Joel Benenson is circulating poll data that may be helpful in defending against coming attacks on the EPA regarding its authority to regulate greenhouses gases. Benenson writes in his memo: “Our recent polling for the NRDC Action Fund shows that a large majority of voters want the government to regulate greenhouse gases and that they are solidly opposed to Congress interfering with this task.” Sixty percent polled supported it whereas only thirty-four percent opposed it, and fifty-one percent of voters say they have a favorable view of the EPA. Furthermore, sixty eight percent polled say they want the government to do more to hold corporations accountable. The poll was conducted among 1,401 registered voters from August 10-15 with plus/minus ratio of error of 2.6%. (Politico)
This is important news which reflects the opposite view of what we see in at least one contentious Senatorial race. Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who last year tried to ban the EPA from regulating greenhouse gases (legislation which COEJL opposed) lost the primary race (Associated Press) for the Alaskan Senate seat to Joe Miller, a former Fairbanks judge and a Tea Party favorite who is known for denying the reality of climate change (NY Times). Both are publicly opposed to the pending EPA regulations.
Oil Spill – Day 136: BP remains in spotlight as deep water drilling continues. A report delivered to the House Energy and Commerce committee shows that BP is spending large sums of money on advertising. Although the total figure spent during that period is not public, it is known that, in the 18 weeks since the fatal explosion and subsequent spill, the oil giant has spent at least $1 million a week on public relations in the areas most hit by the spill. (The Telegraph)
As BP continues seeking to conduct damage control, news reports (Boston Globe) say that BP may have “misinterpreted” data that predicted the impending blowout. In other Gulf drilling news, nearly 200 miles from shore, the ‘Perdido’ platform is the world’s deepest offshore floating oil platform and can pump oil from dozens of wells nearly two miles under the sea while simultaneously drilling new ones. It is part of a wave of new ultra-deep platforms — all far more sophisticated than the rig that was used to drill the ill-fated BP well that blew up in April. Attention remains focused on the safety of such platforms as, the New York Times reports from a former industry executive, “Our ability to manage risks hasn’t caught up with our ability to explore and produce in deep water.” Also according to the Times, “Under a $1 billion initiative announced in July, four oil majors — Chevron, Conoco-Phillips, Exxon and Shell — said they would design and build equipment that could be used to contain and cap well blowouts at depths of up to 10,000 feet. However, they say the new devices will not be tested and ready for 18 months, and the plan is not likely to work in places outside the gulf, like Alaska, where conditions differ.”
COEJL brings rabbinic leaders from Judaism’s broad spectrum together to create environmental resources for High Holy Days. On August 9th, COEJL convened a national conversation involving rabbis from five Jewish religious streams – Conservative, Orthodox, Reconstructionist, Reform, and Renewal – to discuss Jewish environmental resources and sermon materials for the High Holy Days and parshat Noach. Out of this call came a collection of resources for distribution as part of our broader Jewish Energy Covenant Campaign (www.coejl.org/covenant). The full resource sheet is available at: http://www.coejl.org/TISHREI_5771.pdf. In the same light, Rabbi Fred Scherlinder Dobb delivered an uplifting Dvar Torah at a recent COEJL Governance Committee meeting on August 11th, where he says, ”…the whole Jewish world (kol ha’olam kulo, the whole world, actually) needs what COEJL has to offer. And we [rabbinic leaders] are uniquely positioned to bring it not only to the decision-makers within the organized Jewish community, but also to the many influential Jews outside of the ‘four cubits’ of the agency world.” Click here for the full text.
AJC Radio Message: A Sane Energy Policy Urgently Needed, by Executive Director David Harris
August 24, 2010 – New York –AJC Executive Director David Harris calls again for a sane U.S. energy policy in his weekly national radio commentary, airing on 400 CBS stations and heard by more than 35 million. READ & LISTEN
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Green Israel Summit 4: Green Renewal Shabbat!
(Green Zionism)
When: Shabbat Noach, Oct. 8 — 10, 2010
Where: Eden Village Camp, just north of New York City
Who: Young Jewish environmentalists, ages 18-40 *
As we read about the Biblical flood and the renewal of the earth on Shabbat Noach, we will learn how to renew ourselves and the environment. Celebrate Shabbat Noach with stories, lectures and discussions in a welcoming, pluralistic setting. Explore the Jewish back-to-the-land movement and what Zionism means today. Learn about energy conservation, population growth, suburban sprawl, Negev preservation, and environmentalism during a time of war. Meet other young Jewish environmentalists from across North America. Green Israel Summit (GIS) 4 is run by the Green Zionist Alliance and co-sponsored by COEJL, the American Zionist Movement and Hazon.
Hazon Bike Ride
Hazon is hosting the 10th Annual New York Jewish Environmental Bike Ride on Labor Day Weekend, September 3-6, 2010. The NY Ride Jewish Environmental Bike Ride is more than a ride on a bike – it is a four-day event that includes a Shabbat retreat at Workmen’s Circle’s Camp Kinder Ring, a trip to Camp Eden Village, the new Jewish environmental summer camp is also included. More importantly, the event raises money for cutting-edge Jewish environmental projects in the United States and Israel. Learn more here. (Hazon)
Arava Institute for Environmental Studies “With Earth and Each Other: A Virtual Rally for a Better Middle East,”
On November 14th, the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies based at Kibbutz Ketura (www.arava.org) is hosting “With Earth and Each Other: A Virtual Rally for a Better Middle East,” with top speakers and performers, celebrating AIES’s groundbreaking work and its larger commitment to both ecological and communal coexistence. Visit www.withearthandeachother.org for more information
