To Till and to Tend

Some background: last year the head of the Kansas Department of Health and the Environment (KDHE), Rod Bremby, overturned plans to build two massive coal burning plants in Western Kansas (known as Holcomb), on the grounds of their impact on global warming. Sunflower Energy, which had proposed the plant, sued in state court, but the courts have supported Demby’s authority to take the action. At the same time, the state is politically quite conservative, and majorities in both houses of the Kansas legislature passed laws a) to strip Bremby of his authority to veto the plants, and b) to specifically approve building them. Three times such laws were passed; three times they were vetoed by Gov. Kathleen Sebelius; and three times the Republicans failed to muster enough votes to overturn the veto.

But the issue dominated business for the whole of 2008, as very little else could get done, least of all any kind of comprehensive energy policy. For instance, net metering, by which it is possible to give the excess energy one generates oneself, through solar cells or wind power, back to the utility, has not been approved in Kansas; approval of it last year was included as a “sweetener” in the Holcomb plant bill, and therefore was vetoed as well.

So now here it is 2009, and climate activists have been waiting to see how this issue will be developed this year. Now we know:

The fight over building two coal-burning electric power plants in southwestern Kansas starts again today with a public hearing on House Bill 2182 in the House Energy and Utilities Committee.

The bill makes no mention of the proposal to build two 700-megawatt coal-fired plants near Holcomb in southwestern Kansas.

But it limits the authority of Kansas Department of Health and Environment Secretary Roderick Bremby in a way that will require him to approve permits for the plants, according to opponents of the project.

If the KDHE secretary is stripped of his decision-making powers, then there would be no need to have a second bill specifically to support the plants. Of course, this bill is likely to be vetoed by Gov. Sebelius as well (and if she goes to HHS, by her Lt. Gov., Mark Parkinson).

There are two ironies in this whole thing. First, it’s quite clear that the “regulatory uncertainty” that Chamber of Commerce types complain about is actually coming, not from Topeka, but from Washington:

With concerns over climate change intensifying, electricity generation from coal, once reliably cheap, looks increasingly expensive in the face of the all-but-certain prospect of regulations that would impose significant costs on companies that emit large amounts of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.

The article also points out that, far from Kansas being unique in this, in fact

In the last two-and-a-half years, plans for 83 plants in the United States have either been voluntarily withdrawn or denied permits by state regulators.

The other irony is that Kansas is uniquely qualified to be a trailblazer in the area of alternative fuels, particularly wind – as you know if you’ve ever been here. Gov. Sebelius calls the state the “Saudi Arabia of wind power.” If only the state legislators and industry leaders would turn their field of vision from the past to the future, that is.

I am on the steering committee of Kansas Interfaith Power & Light, the local outpost of a national organization that engages diverse faith communities in the issue of environmental stewardship. We do this mostly on the retail level, by going from congregation to congregation to encourage them to green their facilities and to teach the religious imperative to care for the earth through the fight against climate change.

But we also realize that one Holcomb plant (two, actually) would do more damage to the environment than 1,000 churches caulking their windows could fix. That’s why we’ve turned our attention to the legislative process, to encourage our state officials to support conservation, energy efficiency, and green energy options rather than the continued reliance on the outmoded energy-generating technologies of the past.

After all, we are convinced, it’s the godly thing to do. 

Maybe it’s the cupids and heart cut-outs still adorning every storefront.  Maybe it’s the full realization that my darker-than-most-Ashkenazi-Jew skin is really not so dark right now.  Or, it could be the wonder that today I walked all the way to the subway in the morning and to the bakery this afternoon with powerful sun rays pouring down on me!  You see, I like to walk down the sunny side of the street, but during the winter, that’s no easy feat.  

Since December 21^st, the sun has been shining down on the northern hemisphere for a little bit longer every day.  The Winter Solstice, which is commonly noted as being the shortest day of the year, also marks the point at which the sun is lowest in the horizon. 

The changes are often subtle, but bit by bit, day by day, sunshine appears where it had been missing for months.  I thrive in these changes.  You see, my NYC apartment faces due south - aka has incredible sun exposure… except in the deepest of winter when the sun has trouble reaching over the short building across the street.  But a few weeks ago, on a Shabbat afternoon, while reading on my couch (with plenty of indirect light coming through), I was hit with this powerful, direct sunbeam.  That first day, the sun only peaked above the building for a short visit.  As the weeks have passed, I can now fall asleep in that light, and wake up some time later in it, too.

My excitement of the sun is not all that unique.  From the Egyptians god, Ra – to modern day sun-worshipers (see picture of Tel Aviv beach) – praising the sun has been around for millennia. But in a Jewish context?

Once every 28 years, Jews have the chance to take a step back from their daily routine and Jewishly bless the sun.  We call the event Birkat HaHammah – Blessing of the Sun. On April 8, Jews across the world will be celebrating the sun and its wonders.  There is a lot to appreciate – sunlight, food (which grows by photosynthesis) and energy (nearly every kind).  Though this year marks the 206^th cycle of the sun, it seems the sun is peaking in popularity: from the steady increase of farmer’s markets to the various forms of solar energy, it is an exciting time to bless the sun

Communities are just beginning to plan their Birkat HaHammah celebration.  As you do, please share your event on the wiki Local Events page.

        I have just returned from a month long study abroad in Costa Rica.  (Great tidbit: Costa Rica is the size of West Virginia but has 4% of the world’s biodiversity, the same amount as the entire United States). Besides being one of the most memorable experiences, I learned more than I have in the past two and a half years at college. 

      One of the classes was Debates in Conservation of Tropical Biodiversity. We read various controversial articles on such topics as ecosystem degradation, resource scarcity, over population, and loss of biodiversity. These articles were from prestigious sources and well known authors such as Lester Brown and Jeffery Sachs, as well as from skeptics like Bjorn Lomborg. One concept that struck my interest was ecologic economics – how do you put a price on biodiversity?

      Ecosystems provide $33 trillion/ year in services such as preventing soil erosion, carbon sequestration, providing materials and resources, maintaining water sources, and basically everything else that the entire global population relies on every single day. However, ecosystem services and their degradation are not factored into the cost of our goods and services in the standard economy. We presume that these ecosystem goods and services should be free because they are natural. As long as there is water in our faucet, and paper plates on our tables, most people will never understand the true value and price of these scarce resources. Maybe, if water was more expensive, we would take shorter showers. Maybe if paper wasn’t so cheap, people would use both sides.

      I found this great quote from the Organization of Tropical Studies in La Selva, Costa Rica, “Only when the last tree has died & the last river has been poisoned & the last fish has been caught will we realize that WE CANNOT EAT MONEY.”

Last week Senator Barbara Boxer released her principles for global warming legislation, a set of ideals she hopes will guide Congress as it crafts climate legislation this year. The principles are laudable (read what the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism had to say here), promoting programs that help the global poor adapt to the effects of climate change and invest in clean energy technology as we cut our carbon emissions.

Senator Boxer is not the only one to commit to going green this year; even the organizing committee for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics has promised a carbon neutral event. However, these commitments mean little without the pressure that forces our leaders to follow through on their promises. The Olympics are a massive undertaking with a huge carbon footprint as athletes, sponsors, media, and spectators travel from around the world to participate, and the committee has so far failed to create a plan to offset air travel emissions or otherwise truly green the Games. As the Olympic committee waivers in its dedication, a group of over 70 Canadian competitors are now demanding that the committee begin to move towards its stated goals immediately. As one of the most watched events worldwide, the Games are a great opportunity to set an example of environmentally-conscious action on a truly global stage. However, if the organizing committee fails to honor its promises, the Games could be an environmental disaster for the entire world to see.

In other news, Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm used her State of the State address this week to call for a dramatic decrease in reliance on coal and oil power in Michigan during the next decade. Governor Granholm urged increased investment in clean technology and weatherization to increase efficiency in homes and public buildings as the foundations for a new green economy for her state. Coming from an industrial state hit especially hard by the economic downturn, the steps taken by Michigan should serve as an example to other states and to our federal government as we face economic and environmental crises.

Acting on our principles is often harder, and less publicly appealing, than declaring them. However, President Obama is acting on his commitment to take swift action on environmental issues, promulgating a new series of regulations on efficiency standards for appliances and light bulbs. While complex administrative regulations that dictate how our toasters and microwaves work may not fit into simple sound bites that appeal to the press, these regulations and others like them cut our carbon emissions, spur technological innovation and save us all money. These are the small steps we must be taking as we move towards a clean energy future.

Strong principles are great, but they are only a very early step in what promises to be a long and difficult fight over environment and energy issues in the months and years to come. As we move from awareness to intent to action, let us not forget both our lofty goals and the incremental steps needed to get there. To help, the Union for Reform Judaism recently announced its Greening Reform Judaism webpage, a comprehensive online resource for all things Jewish and green. Check it out and let us know what you think, as we move together from principles to action.

Rachel is an Eisendrath Legislative Assistant working on environment and energy issues at the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism in Washington, DC. She will be a regular guest blogger on To Till and To Tend this year, posting entries every other Thursday. This, and all of Rachel’s entries, can also be found on the Religious Action Center blog.

Trees are the symbol of the Garden of Eden, the Paradise of creation. Among all the deeds that God did to bring forth life in Eden, we are explicitly told that God planted a garden there and the trees that grew there. But these weren’t just any trees. God planted fruit trees.

In Deuteronomy 20, we are told that Israelites laying siege to a city may not cut down trees to aid in their siege. But this injunction is not about just any trees. It expressly forbids the cutting of fruit trees. While this verse is taken as the founding law that has spawned an extensive legal category forbidding wanton destruction, we may also learn one other fundamental principle from it.

We may not destroy one Paradise to win another. No matter how attractive or compelling the city that we wish to occupy appears, no matter how compelling or attractive a world we wish to create seems to us in our imagination, we cannot and must not destroy the paradise that is before us for a chimera that plays within our mind. For in truth, when finally won or purchased or created, this chimera will sooner or later bore us or disappoint us, and we will ache to be off on another adventure, another siege, another conquest, another destruction.

The constancy of the fruit trees tells us that we can only build a future paradise in the midst of our present paradise. Else it can’t be built at all.  

I wrote this piece last week, but it seemed appropriate to put it up today.  I will still add more tomorrow.

Tu B’Shvat, the 15^th of Shvat, the Holiday of the Trees, begins Sundown on Sunday, February 8.  It is remarkable that the rabbis, centuries ago, constructed a Jewish holiday centered on environmental sensitivities.  In Israel, the almond trees are beginning to blossom and around the world Jews seek ways to connect to the bounty of the land.  For some, that may mean eating as many different species of fruit as possible – tradition suggests 15, with preference going to Israel’s 7 species, almonds and carobs; for some it will be planting trees; for some it may be attending a Tu B’Shvat seder.

For me, it will be spending time with my brother in Park City, Utah (the world is too exciting to stay at home - I buy offsets).  I may host a Tu B’Shvat focused meal on the following Shabbat; I may begin to delve into the rich texts of Massekhet HaHammah; I may watch whatever movie is playing at the local arts theater and ski the next morning. 

I ask openly, what is a Jewish environmentalist to do on Tu B’Shvat? (The question is obviously extended to: what is an environmentalist to do on Earth Day?)

If, in fact the Jewish environmental movement has succeeded to support a network of individuals for whom every day is Tu B’Shvat, then does the obligation of tradition still hold?

I have some answers, but today I prefer to end with a question.  Though, I do promise to come back on Tuesday to share with you all how I ended up celebrating Tu B’Shvat, 5769. 

There are four New Years days: the first of Nisan is the New Year for reckoning the reigns of kings and the feasts; the first of Elul is the New Year for the tithe of the cattle; the first of Tishrei is the New Year for reckoning of the years and taking stock of human lives; the first of Shevat is the New Year for the fruit trees. That is according to the school of Shammai; the school of Hillel says on the 15th of Shevat.”- Mishnah Rosh Hashanah

The mystics of Safed developed a seder for Tu B’shvat; like other places in the Jewish tradition where the framework is there but the halakhic demands are not too developed, the Tu B’shvat seder has been reclaimed and repurposed in recent years as opportunity to put an awareness of the natural world around us into a religious context, and also to remind ourselves of the damage we can and do do to the world and the steps we can take to change it. After all, tikkun olam of course literally means “repair of the world.”

Many resources for Tu B’shvat seders are available on the internet: a good overview from Shomrei Adamah is found on the COEJL website here, and in fact there are numerous Tu B’shvat programs on the program bank section of the COEJL website - click here and scroll down to T.

The frame of it is that there are four cups of wine/grape juice, as on Pesah - each cup corresponding to one of the “four worlds” of kabbalistic thought. Fruits and nuts that correspond to the “world” being spoken of are eaten, and readings and songs and crafts are included to fill the thing out and give it a festive air.  But it’s also an opportunity to reflect on our commitment to environmental action, beginning with an honest and current accounting of where we are today. 

The first “world” is assiyah - the “physical, everyday world that we live in, the world of earth.” The environmental message of this could be the profligate use of the earth’s natural resources - oil, coal and others - and the reliance on landfills to get rid of so much of the waste that we generate with our rather profligate lifestyles and the way we have arranged our society and our economy.

The second world is yetzirah, “the world of water.” Water, of course, is about the most necessary thing for human survival, yet we waste it terribly - particularly in rich countries. I think of Phoenix, with its desert climate but its myriad resource-intensive golf courses. I think of how it is illegal to reuse rainwater in Colorado without a permit. I think of the shrinking water resources around the world and how some experts are saying that water is one of the resources (along with oil, of course) that may cause wars in the next century. I think about how development and climate change are affecting the coral reefs along our shores, and how the damage may be irreversible if we don’t make serious changes now.

The third world is briyah, “the world of air.” Another of the things most necessary for human survival. This year I’m thinking about the increase in asthma rates, both in America and worldwide

Currently, experts are struggling to understand why the number of asthma sufferers is rising by an average of 50 percent every decade worldwide. In the United States alone, according to the WHO, the number of asthmatics has leapt by over 60 percent since the early 1980s.

and its environmental causes

In recent years, scientists have shown that air pollution from cars, factories and power plants is a major cause of asthma attacks. And more than 159 million Americans — over half the nation’s population — live in areas with bad air. A research study published in 2002 estimated that 30 percent of childhood asthma is due to environmental exposures, costing the nation $2 billion per year. And studies also suggest that air pollution may contribute to the development of asthma in previously healthy people.

and how the way we behave, the way we heat our homes and power our cars and all the actions we take, how these affects our lives, the lives of our children, and the lives of people all over the world who’s fates we never even consider.

And the fourth world is atzilut, the world of fire. Not represented by any food, this world is symbolic of perfection, of the spirit, of God. This is an opportunity to think of the godliness we experience through nature - of the natural world as an expression of holiness, of God’s creativity. I’m not that outdoorsy a person, but I have been blessed many times to feel such a great sense of holiness in a beautiful natural setting.

As the liturgy says, “milo kol ha’aretz k’vodo” - “the whole world is filled with God’s glory.” It’s up to us to help keep it that way. If our Tu B’shvat practice can in any way reinforce our ability and our willingness to do that, then it is a valuable practice indeed.

A slew of stories emerging from Washington and around the world are giving renewed hope to many environmentalists who have been fighting a steep uphill battle in recent years. A combination of bills in Congress, Presidential directives, and global actions indicate that the tide may finally be turning in the fight against climate change and other environmental disasters. First on the minds of most Americans, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (more commonly known as the ‘economic stimulus package’), includes billions of dollars for investment in renewable energy technologies to drive the green economy of the future. The most recent version of the recovery package includes funding for green jobs training programs, weatherization for low-income communities, and investment in ‘smart grid’ technology to encourage efficiency and conservation in homes, schools, and public buildings. The economic downturn presents a unique opportunity to make the long-term investment needed to clean up our nation’s economy and environment, and the latest version of the bill appears takes this charge seriously.

President Obama continued to lobby for the stimulus on Monday, pushing for clean energy provisions backed by strong environmental regulation as part of his strategy. To this end, the President recently issued two strong directives to his administrators at the Department of Transportation and Environmental Protection Agency to update and strengthen standards on fuel economy and tailpipe emissions for automobiles. As American automakers face increasing unemployment and drastic drops in demand, building more efficient vehicles is the way to bring these corporations into the 21^st century and ensure the security of both American jobs and our environment. The directives demonstrate the Administration’s dedication to confronting climate and energy issues in a meaningful way.

Climate is not the only environmental issue receiving attention during the first 100 days. Obama’s Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, has ordered a halt to the implementation of any regulations put in place in the final days of the Bush Administration- so-called ‘midnight regulations’- which include changes to the Endangered Species Act that were strongly opposed by many in the environmental community. Maintaining the strength of the conservation and environmental protection laws that we already have in place is a critical piece of our environmental agenda, and reexamining changes to the ESA and other environmental laws is yet another political tool to reverse our course of environmental degradation.

President Obama has clearly declared that the U.S. is done ‘dragging its feet’ on climate and a whole host of other issues, but the action this week was not limited to Washington. A recent piece by Lester Brown of the Earth Policy Institute discusses policies underway in China and other Asian nations to fight climate change by ending logging practices. Deforestation is a huge contributor to climate change, and the fact that developing nations are acting on this front, even absent leadership from the developed world, is beyond encouraging.

Despite this progress, the climate crisis is upon us and here to stay. Our greenhouse gas emissions are already causing droughts, floods, and dangerous damage to species habitats, and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. With so many environmental challenges currently facing our planet, we are all responsible to follow the news and push for greater awareness and action (such as passing a green economic recovery package). While the new Administration brings new opportunities, it is up to all of us to begin to build a green, sustainable world.  

Rachel is an Eisendrath Legislative Assistant working on environment and energy issues at the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism in Washington, DC. She will be a regular guest blogger on To Till and To Tend this year, posting entries every other Thursday. This, and all of Rachel’s entries, can also be found on the Religious Action Center blog.

        President Obama’s inaugural address last week touched on many themes.  One of the most noteworthy of these was the idea that the government could only be part of the response to our economic troubles; that citizens would have to participate in the hard work of national economic recovery.  After eight years in which we were blissfully encouraged to reject personal sacrifice—of paying for two wars with tax cuts, of responding to 9/11 with shopping sprees, of reacting to the end of the internet bubble with the creation and perpetuation of a vastly more destructive housing bubble, it was indeed refreshing to hear a politician actually asking something of the American people.  But what does this have to do with the environment?

Plenty, in my humble opinion.  Last year, when gas prices spiked to over $4.00/gallon, we began to see the emergence of a national consensus on the need to rethink the way we consume energy in the US.  People in mainstream America, and in Detroit, started talking seriously about creating more fuel-efficient cars and investing in research and development to cultivate new energy sources.  Though this sentiment was born out of the economic reality of high gas prices, economics were not the sole reason being expressed for why we ought to purchase hybrids or build more wind turbines.  Instead, everyday Americans spoke about greater conservation and alternative energy creations as ends in their own right.  There was a palpable momentum the likes of which I had never experienced; a momentum which, if maintained, led to the feeling that there was a legitimate possibility of enacting real change.

            The problem, though, is that gas prices have dropped precipitously since then, and people during a recession are inclined to vote with their pocketbooks rather than with their consciences.  If the market is left to its own devices (a proposition whose dangerousness has been laid bare over the past four months of economic disaster), people will not be willing to pay more for electric cars or energy-efficient home insulation but will instead continue to purchase cheaper gasoline-fueled cars and home heating oil.  http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/28/opinion/28friedman.html  And if this continues to occur, the fledgling market for new technology cars and alternative energy investment generally will collapse.  We will be left vulnerable and exposed whenever the next energy shock occurs because we will have failed to develop the energy infrastructure needed to mitigate our reliance on foreign oil.  And we will continue to cause irreparable harm to our planet in the process.

            So what should we do?  I believe it goes back to President Obama’s inaugural address.  We need to be willing to act against our immediate self-interest to provide the incentive necessary to continue the alternative energy momentum and avoid slipping back into complacency.  There is one clear-cut way to do this—a gas tax.  Yes, I know, raising taxes is anathema in America during tough economic times.  But instituting a tax, along the lines articulated here http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/27/opinion/27sat1.html?scp=2&sq=gas%20tax&st=cse, will achieve what we all know is in our economic, environmental, and foreign policy long-term interests.  Though in the short-term raising gas prices will be hard on certain sectors of the economy, these sectors—like Big Tobacco before them—over time will find ways to compensate and should continue to thrive.  And we will finally stop vacillating in the economic wind about our commitment to a greener, safer, and more secure energy policy.