To Till and to Tend

Today is January 20, 2009. There are many reasons for days to be marked historic – I only wish that all were for reasons as inspirational as today.

Today, we see the end of the Bush era. We close the curtains over a period where America ruled with an iron fist and sought the best for its political and economic leaders at the expense of the poor, the stranger, the environment and our collective future.

Today, we inaugurate the first Africa American along with a dream for a better future. President Obama built his campaign on the vision that America, through strong leadership and participation of the people, can become a better place. Today, the discourse becomes action.

Today, we are not mere observers. Though we are faced with seemingly insurmountable challenges – war, economic decline, poverty, hunger, disease and global climate change, we made this choice as a nation to join President Obama, take responsibility for the direction of our nation and our personal lives, and create change.

Today, we are forced to put doubt aside, as the unimaginable has already begun to take place. Today we become part of the change we hope to see in the world. Today we say, Yes, We Can.

Itry to live in each moment, embodying the adage “it is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.” As much as I enjoy the journey, ends and beginnings continue to hold greater significance.  We seize the opportunity of new beginnings, and the accompanying clean slate, to create ourselves anew.  On the other end, before we close a chapter of our lives, we have the opportunity to provide final memories for those we are leaving behind. 

President Bush has spent the last few weeks offering us actions with which to remember him by.  Mostly, he is finishing his journey on the same path on which he has journeyed the past eight years.  From infringements on women’s rights to quick sales of our natural resources, there is nothing unexpected or exciting.  But in his last weeks as president of the United States, he has added one more line to his CV –  set aside the world’s largest marine reserve for conservation.  Today, President Bush designated 195,280 square miles (an area larger than the states of Washington and Oregon combined) of islands, reefs, surface waters and sea floor as marine national monuments.  Such designation limits all forms of commercial activity such as fishing and oil exploration.  Bush’s admirable act at the end of his presidential tenure doesn’t clear his reputation as the worst president for the environment, but I hope it won’t go unnoticed, either.

With each dusk, comes a dawn.  President-elect Obama is at the cusp of a new beginning.  It is in these early stages that he has the opportunity to show us his best self.  Through his actions, he will tell us what issues he finds most critical.  His choices for energy and environment cabinet positions represented a strong commitment to environmental action (the environmental community is pleased).  But the real test begins after inauguration.

Since FDR, the first 100 days of office have come to represent the vision and potential of a new president.  It is critical that Obama addresses global climate change in his first 100 days, showing us and the rest of the world that the he will lead the United States and the world in addressing the greatest challenge of our time.

 

 

As we await Obama’s first days, we can encourage environmental action by letting his team know that we are watching and waiting. Join us in telling Obama “As a Jew and an American citizen, I urge you to stand fast in making climate change a top priority in the first 100 days of your Administration.”

Dozens of residents in the area surrounding the Kingston Fossil Plant in Tennessee celebrated the holidays away from home last week, after they received a giant lump of coal in their stockings on the days before Christmas. Literally. A mass of sludge called coal fly ash, a by-product of coal-fired electricity production, covered at least 15 houses with over one billion gallons of water and sludge containing dangerous levels of lead, chromium, nickel and arsenic. Though government authorities are downplaying the health risks of the spill, many are concerned about the similar piles of waste found near hundreds of coal plants- and hundreds of homes, schools, and business- around the nation.

The disaster in Tennessee is yet another reminder of the reality that there is no such thing as ‘clean coal,’ despite the coal industry’s clever attempts to convince us that their product is clean and friendly. Ironically, fly ash results in part from emissions restrictions laws; rather than cleaning up their act in response to court rulings limiting the pollutants they can release into the atmosphere, coal-fired power producers decided to force their pollutants into the earth. Clearly, this is not a sustainable solution.

The ‘spill’ in Tennessee was not the only action on the fossil fuel front this holiday season. On the same day as the fly ash mess, the EPA released new statistics showing that nearly 50 cities in 25 states failed to meet federal standards for fine-particle pollution this year. 15 new geographic areas were added since the list of ‘nonattainment areas’ was last published in 2004. While some cities and regions have had success in cleaning their air, over 100 million Americans still breathe dangerously dirty air as a result of the diesel-burning trucks, fossil fuel plants and wood-burning stoves that power our country with anachronistic technology.

The year-end news wasn’t all bad. In an encouraging turn of events, a D.C. district court recently ruled to continue the enforcement of the Clean Air Interstate Rule, which limits pollutants from coal-fired power plants under the Clean Air Act. The rule is an attempt to decrease nitrous oxides and sulfur dioxide emissions, which increase smog pollution and endanger public health. With recent court rulings on carbon dioxide emissions, there is a good chance that the next Administration and Congress will take meaningful action to clean up our coal industry.

These stories, read together, paint a clear picture; Rather than try to ‘green’ one of our oldest and grayest energy sources, our nation and our political and entrepreneurial leaders must focus on transitioning to truly clean, green sources like solar, wind, and geothermal energy. While regulations like the Clean Air Interstate Rule may be a small step in a positive direction, we will never achieve a sustainable society when we get the majority of our national electricity supply from coal. Here’s to hoping that by next holiday season we will have begun to truly Repower, Refuel, and Rebuild America.

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.

Over the past few weeks, I have had the pleasure of meeting over 500 high school students from across the country at the Religious Action Center’s Bernard and Audre Rapoport L’Taken social justice seminars. Each four-day intensive learning program brings students from across the country to D.C. to learn about social justice and Jewish values (read what some of the participants had to say about their experience). The program culminates with a visit to Capitol Hill, where students meet with their Senators, Representatives and their staff to discuss the issues that matter most to them. As my fellow RAC staff and I led the participants past the Capitol and Supreme Court to their meetings, I got several interesting questions about my experiences on the Hill: “Oh, you must be here all the time, what’s your favorite place to go eat?; Who is the most famous Senator/Member of Congress you have ever met?; Do you ever see the President??”

I answer honestly that visiting the Hill is only one of the many activities included in my job description. Even as full-time advocates, walking the halls of Congress and hobnobbing with the Hill crowd is not something I do on a daily basis. However, lately I’ve gotten to travel to the House and Senate more often, meeting with Hill staffers and members of the Obama transition team along with our partners at other faith groups. While these meetings are interesting and informative, it is often a challenge to translate our visits into the change we want (and need) to see on the issues that matter most to us.

During the holiday season we are often focused on spending time with friends and family, and intentionally disconnect from our ‘everyday’ lives. While this break is important and often necessary, we cannot forget our long-term goals and the steps we must take to achieve them. As the new administration and Congress prepare to take office in January, we have a unique opportunity to shape the agenda by making our voices heard on the climate and energy issues that matter so much to our community. We have an opportunity to act now, and must continue to raise our voices to keep the environment on the agenda, especially during these hard economic times. I encourage you to take break from your break this Chanukah and take action by urging the President-elect to make climate change a priority in the first 100 days of his administration, calling on Congress to pass a real, green stimulus, advocating for clean water, and more. It may be the best gift you can give to your loved ones this holiday season, and you don’t even have to travel to the Hill to do it.

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.