To Till and to Tend

We created this blog almost a year ago.  In fact, my first post was about a holiday party.  (click here to read about the “precocious insight” of my (then) three-year old).  Unfortunately, today’s post is my last, as anticipated funding for my work at COEJL did not come through.  I will miss many things about the organization – writing for this blog is certainly among them.  Thank you to each of you for taking the time to read my posts and for helping to create an online community of Jews who care about the environment.  [And for those of you who may have missed a piece or two over the past year, you can find a full collection by simply clicking "Kefer" on the sidebar of our homepage]

While I will certainly miss the work I have done for COEJL, I leave with a sense of optimism.  It is fitting that I write on the heels of Chanukah.  For eight days, I played dreidel and lit the Menorah with my children.  I taught them of the “Great Miracle” that happened so many years ago.  I told them of the miracle of a small vial of oil that was meant to last for only one day, but burned for eight.  I told them of the triumph of a small band of Jews over the much more powerful Syrian army.  These lessons resonate today. 

Through energy conservation and renewables, we can make our limited resources last longer.  As Michael Potts, President of the Rocky Mountain Institute, reports, between 75 and 90 percent of the energy we consume is wasted due to bad design and poor choices.  The International consulting firm McKinsey & Co. recently found that basic, cost-effective improvements in the building sector alone could save up to $33 billion per year by 2030.  And this “great miracle” is not hard to come by.  In fact, as Van Jones, author of Green Collar Economy notes, a “caulk gun and a clip board” are the “high-tech tools” we need to start the transition to a low-carbon economy. 

Like you, I am often frustrated by the climate skeptics and political nay-sayers who question whether we can combat climate change.  Here, too, the story of Chanukah provides an important lesson.  The Jewish people fought against tremendous odds.  And today, we must fight again.  As Margaret Mead once said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

Last week, I told my children about the “Great Miracle that Happened There.”  Next year, I hope to teach them about the Great Miracle that is happening in our own country.

[Click here to send a letter to President-Elect Obama asking to help make this dream a reality]

[Click here to read a collection of my posts]

You know it’s December when the Christmas Carols begin.  In the car. At the mall. In the grocery store. The music is unavoidable.  At least the lyrics are generally upbeat and the message is uplifting.  But this December, the coal industry co-opted Christmas.  In an unparalleled green-washing ploy (worse, even than Chevron and Dixie), the coal industry (through a front group dubbed “America’s Power”) has sunk to a new low: an interactive video in which inane chunks of coal sing parodies of familiar Christmas songs.  As a Jew, I may not believe in Jesus as my Savior and King, but I certainly would not suggest that coal should hold that title in his stead.  And I certainly cannot condone the sacrilegious ad campaign of an industry that is the leading cause of climate change.

Viewers of the ad are invited to select a background and dress the coal bits in a variety of hats and scarves before selecting from a menu of songs, like “Clean Coal Night” and “Frosty the Coalman,” in which the chunks exclaim:

“Frosty the Coalman is getting cleaner everyday
He’s affordable and adorable and helps workers keep their pay
There must have some magic in Clean Coal technology
For when they looked for pollutants, there was nearly none to see.”

But the hats and scarves can’t disguise the truth: clean coal is a myth.

 First, there isn’t a clear definition.  In fact, to some, clean coal simply means that the coal was bathed before burning.  Generally, when I hear people refer to “clean coal,” I assume they mean that the power plant captures the carbon emissions and injects it deep into the earth’s surface.  An interesting concept, to be sure.  However, at this point, it’s as fanciful as Rudolph.  Sure, we can invest billions of dollars into exploring clean coal – as our leaders on both sides of the aisle suggest – but wouldn’t our money be better spent investing in alternatives to coal?  As Larry Schweiger, President and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation, said in the launch for a coal reality campaign, “It’s time to build a better energy future with existing clean sources like wind and solar that will create jobs, boost our economy and confront the climate crisis head-on.”  After all, no matter how clean it may eventually be to burn coal, we’re still blowing off the tops of mountains to get it. 

It turns out, clean coal caroling is too low – even for the coal industry.  After being subject to scorn by environmental groups, bloggers and Rachel Maddow on MSNBC, America’s Power pulled the carolers from its website and took down its Facebook page – but not before “Asthma Al” and “Black Lung Billy” joined the Group.

…And next year, if dirty power still hopes to alter Christmas music to hock its wares, perhaps it should turn to NRDC Blogger Rob Perks for a collection with more accurate lyrics. 

[Click here to view "This is Reality," a commercial that tells the truth about coal today]

[Though the coal industry pulled its ad, you can still view "Frosty the Coal Man" here]
[When you're done viewing, click here to tell America's Power to clean up its act]

After more than two decades as a vegetarian, I scarcely think about meat. We have a kosher home and I do most of the cooking. My husband (to his great regret) is a “vegetarian by marriage.” But last week, he kindly offered to cook dinner. To my dismay, my four-year old loved Daddy’s grilled chicken breasts. Gone was the child we typically cajole to eat two bites of his veggie burger or tofu curry. 

He paused from eating only long enough to query, “Mommy, where does chicken come from?”

“Where do you think chicken comes from, dear?”

My son paused for at least 20 seconds before retorting, “…Pigs?”

I had clearly failed as a Jewish mother: my kosher, near-vegetarian child was eating something he thought was a pig. And he’d asked for seconds.

I recovered from this double affront and launched into a thoughtful discussion about why mommy doesn’t eat meat. I chose my words with care. I hope my son eventually chooses to become a vegetarian. But I also don’t want him to condemn his father. I had little to fear. At the close of my careful monologue, my son declared, “I’m a T-Rex. You’re a stegosaurus.” And he took another bite.

Last Thursday, millions of Americans celebrated Thanksgiving—no doubt consuming a significant share of the roughly 270 million turkeys raised in the United States this year. And while turkey is far less energy-intensive than other forms of meat, it is, nonetheless, still responsible for significant carbon emissions. A British analysis found that a “typical” holiday meal for a group of eight produces the equivalent of 20 kg of carbon dioxide emissions—with the life cycle of the turkey alone credited for 60 percent. [Reader: take some comfort in the fact that British imports of cranberry sauce from the U.S. account for roughly .5 kg.] Combined, British revelers consume the carbon equivalent of 6,000 car trips around the world or 300 return car journeys to the moon in a single holiday. I hesitate to do the math for the U.S.

Of course, turkey is not the worst offender. Nonetheless, the UN reports that meat production (of all kinds) accounts for nearly one-fifth of global greenhouse gas emissions. In fact, raising cattle is worse for the environment than driving cars. And global meat consumption is poised to double by mid-century.

Unfortunately, according to Scientific American, keeping kosher doesn’t necessarily help. While Jews don’t traditionally eat pork (despite the perceptions of my four-year old), we don’t necessarily replace these calories with “low-carbon” veggies. And, replacing pork and shellfish with beef will only increase emissions.

This year, I was spared the angst of witnessing my son’s rapture for turkey. We shared Thanksgiving with our dear friends in Boston—who don’t keep kosher. And so, it was wild rice and brussel sprouts for Kefer and kin.

[For low-carbon vegetarian alternatives, visit Gentle Thanksgiving.]

[If you do choose to eat meat this holiday season, visit www.kolfoods.com to learn why you needn’t choose between keeping your values and keeping kosher.]

[Click here to determine the carbon emissions of your meals.]

It’s hard to ignore the growing financial crisis.  It dominates the headlines and our dinner table conversations.  It’s also dominating the political space – to the detriment of action on climate change.

Even before our economic situation reached its current low, US leaders declared action on climate change would drive the US economy over a cliff.  And last month, the Guardian reported that the European Union may “renege on climate change commitments” because of the financial crisis.  To “save money,” European officials have hinted they may not require polluters to purchase emission permits.  Yet climate legislation is the key to generating money needed to help refuel a struggling economy.  The Lieberman-Warner bill that the Senate considered last spring promised to generate $300 billion for research and development in renewable energy and $800 billion to help defray the costs of climate change legislation on the poor.  And while many celebrated President Elect Obama’s declaration last week that climate change was his “number two” priority (after, of course, the economy), this again ignores the fact that the two problems are one and the same: addressing climate change is the key to getting us out of the economic crisis.  Or, as Thomas Friedman queries in his October 21 Op-Ed, “Bailout (and Buildup)“: “Is the economic crisis going to be the end of green? … Or, could green be the way to end the economic crisis?“

Van Jones, author of the Green Collar Economy, clearly believes going green is the way to saving green.  In his words:  “If we were to weatherize and solarize America, we could power our way through this recession, we could cut carbon, we could increase the value of people’s homes and we could show that green solutions don’t cost more. They actually save people money.”  Though these initiatives may require an up-front investment, we’ll be able to pay the government back through energy savings.  And the up-front investment will create jobs. A lot of jobs.  Such spending will create more jobs per dollar invested than tax cuts, military spending, or oil and natural gas.  In fact, green investments could generate four times as many jobs as similar investments in the oil industry. 

So, if Congress really wants to stimulate the economy, it should start the green revolution by investing money in renewable energy and building retrofits.  A post-election poll sponsored by the National Wildlife Federation suggests the American public is finally recognizing these connections, with a majority of US voters agreeing that clean energy initiatives can help the economy.  There’s no doubt that our economy is floundering.  But, as Pete Altman at NRDC writes, the green revolution may be “just the stimulus we need.”

Today is a very big day.  Like me, I suspect each of you has been anticipating today’s election for months.  For the past two weeks, I have awoken with the same eager anticipation I experienced as a child on the eve before a trip to Disneyland.  Each morning I wake up with the jittery, giddy feeling that something really big is about to happen.  And something big is about to happen: because no matter who wins today’s election, we can bet that our country’s historic indifference about climate change is about to end. 

Voting is at the heart of Jewish tradition.  More than 2000 years ago, Rabbi Yitzchak taught that a ruler cannot be appointed without consulting the community. (Talmud, B’rachot 55a).  As Al Gore explained in his inspirational webcast last week, voting gives each of us the power to help shape the future of our nation.  I hope each of you takes advantage of this opportunity.  But this power – and obligation – to guide our leaders does not end with the simple act of casting our ballots.  Unlike a trip to Disneyland, we can’t simply pack up and scrapbook our memories when the polls close tonight. To the contrary, as Liore and I have previously written, our fight for a sustainable future is “a marathon, not a sprint.”  And the election does not mark the finish line.

Rather, the real work begins after the final ballot is counted.  That’s when we need to work with the new President to ask him to follow through with his campaign promises and help secure a more sustainable future.  That’s why I recently joined hundreds of other leaders from a broad spectrum of American society to sign a “Letter to the Next President,” calling on our leaders to “take bold and rapid action to address the daunting challenge of global climate change.”  And that’s why Betsy Taylor, founder of the 1-Sky Coalition will be leading a national organizing call at 12:00 EST tomorrow (Wednesday November 5) to talk about how grassroots action in the first 100 days will be essential to move beyond gridlock. [Call in: 1-218-486-8700, passcode 020509]

In his Prayer for Voting, Rabbi David Seidenberg recognizes that our vote has implications long beyond election day.  Seidenberg asks G-d to empower “all the people of this country” (and presumably our elected leaders) for:

[T]he strength and the will
to pursue righteousness and to seek peace as a unified force
in order to cause to flourish, throughout the world, good life and peace

For those of you who have already voted this morning, congratulations – you have taken an important first step in shaping the climate policy for our nation.  For those of you who haven’t, stop reading – and Go Vote! And tomorrow, don’t forget to remind our new leaders why you voted for them.

[Click here to print Rabbi Seidenberg's Prayer for Voting, a moving prayer for the voting booth]

[Click here to read and sign the Letter to the Next President demanding decisive action to address climate change]

[Click here to find your polling place]

For the past week, I’ve been eating most of my meals in our Sukkah (pictured at left).  While its fabric walls and open roof offer little protection from the elements, I can think of few dwellings that are quite as inviting as a Sukkah.  And I can think of few Sukkot that are quite as inviting as my own. 

Its walls are etched with images that represent the members of our family and the words “Mishpachat Kefer” – the Kefer Family – are burned into its wooden frame.  The structure itself sits atop our roof – and each evening we enjoy a view of the neighborhood and the silence of the nighttime sky.  Assembling the Sukkah this year was a community event.  My husband and I completed the physical construction; two neighbors provided bamboo for the roof; a third neighbor babysat our youngest son while we gathered materials; and my in-laws watched our eldest.  And nearly every night, friends and family have joined us inside for meals, each bringing an item to help decorate.  These memories are preserved in laminated photographs that hang from the roof.  And repeat guests are entertained by tracking down photos of themselves from years’ past. 

I love the holiday of Sukkot because of its simplicity.  As Rabbi Scheinerman writes, the Sukkah “offers no luxuries and not even a modicum of protection.”  Its basic structure teaches us the value of “simplifying … If we spend less time with our appliances and conveniences (and the time required to maintain them) we have more time for people, study, and contemplation.”  In short, Sukkot forces us to reassess our regular routine and learn how to have “more fun” with “less stuff.”  For seven days we live closer to nature and watch the sky instead of the television.  For seven days, we host friends and spend time with family.  For seven days, Sukkot helps Jews discover the “new” American dream – the importance of having “more of what matters in life,” rather than simply “having more.” 

And, as it turns out, this is actually what Americans really want.  A 2005 poll released by the Center for a New American Dream revealed that a majority of Americans say that spending more time with family and friends would make them much more satisfied with their lives. Conversely, less than 3 in 10 say that having a bigger house or apartment or nicer things would make them much more satisfied.  And of course, living simply is not only good for you – its better for the planet.  [Click here to learn more about the Center for a New American Dream – and its innovative campaigns to simplify your life].

October is a hectic time to be a Jew.  But the quick succession of holidays provides a valuable lesson as well.  We greet the new year on Rosh Hashana.  We ask for forgiveness and health on Yom Kippur.  And on Sukkot, we are taught the values that should guide us in the year to come: the importance of spending time with friends and family, closeness to nature, and the value of simple living.

My father was not a particularly religious man.  Yet, growing up, my family was the first to arrive at synagogue on Kol Nidre, the evening before Yom Kippur.  The plaintive cry of the Kol Nidre prayer (performed here by Yo Yo Ma) spoke to my father as it speaks to Jews around the world; its heart-wrenching melody reminds each of us of human imperfection.  On this, the evening of the holiest day of the year, Jews join together and declare that any vows or promises they make in the coming year are “absolved, released, annulled, made void, and of none effect.”  It’s a powerful tool – a proactive apology that forgives broken promises before they are ever made.  This device has particular significance in an election year.

Certainly, what candidate wouldn’t be delighted to learn of an ancient formula explicitly designed to erase all promises that are made in order to curry favor or support?  Whoever our next president is, he will have made promises to the American people about addressing climate change, promoting energy independence and jump-starting our economy with green jobs. As citizens we must take these commitments seriously, holding our elected leaders to their promises on energy and climate, and not allowing other competing issues to detract from the importance of this initiative.  To ensure that our leading candidates hold true to their promises to address climate change in the next Administration, I recently joined hundreds of influential scientists, environmental activists and public policy in signing a “Letter to the Next President” as part of the Presidential Climate Action Project.  I encourage you to read the letter and add your signature.

Campaign promises are a serious matter – and the Kol Nidre prayer does not offer an easy out.  To the contrary, Kol Nidre only applies to vows made between G-d and man; it does not absolve promises made between two people.  “For transgressions between man and man, Yom Kippur brings no atonement, until the injured party is appeased.”  (Mishna Yoma, Chapter viii)  Such appeasal require an express apology.  An apology I, for one, will not be inclined to accept.

This Saturday, Jews around the world will read Moses’ challenge in Deuteronomy: “I place before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity. … Choose life that you and your descendants shall live.”  (Deut. 30:15-20) These words are both our Biblical mandate to respond to the climate crisis – and instructions for the nature of that response.

People will die because of climate change.  Last year, the IPCC predicted declining rainfall could reduce agricultural yields in parts of Africa by 50% by 2020.  One third of the world is already considered “water scarce” – and the World Resources Institute projects that this number will double by 2040.  Indeed, the crisis in Darfur can be largely attributed to conflicts over scarce water resources – resources made scarcer because of climate change.  As Jews, we must “choose life” to avert these dangers.

But how?

The answer is in the same remarks.  A commentary in a well-known translation of the text notes that “life” actually refers to “livelihood.”  Thus, Moses exhorts the Jewish people to find employment so that they can sustain life.  But what if that employment itself both saved life – by averting the climate crisis – and sustained life by providing a livelihood?  Green jobs do exactly that.  By training American workers to retrofit buildings to make them more energy efficient, expand out transit system, and support an emerging system of wind, solar and advanced biofuels, we can build a green economy and lift millions of Americans out of poverty.

Last month, the Center for American Progress (in partnership with the University of Massachusetts-Amherst) released a report entitled “Green Recovery: A Program to Create Good Jobs and Start Building a Low-Carbon Economy,” finding that the United States could create two million jobs in only two years by investing in a rapid green economic recovery program.  This green stimulus plan would create nearly four times more jobs than spending the same amount of money within the oil industry and 300,000 more jobs than a similar amount of spending directed toward household consumption. Last week, in testimony before the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, Bracken Hendricks of CAP testified that August unemployment was at a five-year high, new housing construction continues to slow, and housing values have plummeted by nearly a third from the same time last year.  Clearly, the time couldn’t be better for investment in green technology. 

More than 3,000 years ago, Moses implored the Jewish people to “choose life.”  Today, we must make the same request of our government: help the American people choose a green, sustainable livelihood – so that we and our descendants may live.

[This weekend – on the very day when Jews around the world read Moses' command to "choose life," 1Sky, Green for All, the We Campaign, and tens of thousands of Americans are mobilizing for Green Jobs Now. People of all backgrounds will organize Green Jobs Now events, with a special focus on low-income communities and communities of color.  Click here to find an event in your community and to download an organizers toolkit. For more information, contact Josh Lynch (josh@greenforall.org/ 510-663-6500 x314) or Adi Nochur (adi@1sky.org/ 301-270-4550 x22)].

I just returned from an extraordinary visit to Central America.  I will long remember the region’s natural beauty, its cobblestone streets, and friendly inhabitants.  But I will also remember something that is much less idyllic – the litter.  In particular, I will remember three very striking moments on my trip.

The first occurred aboard a “chicken bus” in El Salvador.  I recoiled as a young woman threw an empty bag out the open window.  I watched as the toddler on her lap placed a near empty juice bottle to her lips.  She ran her tiny finger along the rim, trying to gather the last drops of her drink.  I waited in anticipation for two hours to see whether the child would toss the bottle out the window as her mother had done.  For two hours she clung to the bottle, periodically shaking it about to see if she could make more juice appear.  As we approached our destination, the girl’s mother grabbed the bottle – and tossed it into the street.  I thought briefly of the words of the Senegalese philosopher Baba Dioum: “In the end, we will save only what we love, we will love only what we understand, we will understand only what we are taught.”  And I longed for an opportunity to teach this young child about the beauty of her country.

Days later, I would remember this child as I walked alongside Candido Melgar, a humble and kind Honduran.  We hired him as a guide one afternoon to explore Celaque National Park.  Candido was the perfect guide: knowledgeable, patient – and $20 for the day.  Moments after we entered the park, Candido pulled a plastic bag from his pocket.  For hours, he walked along, highlighting the flora and fauna – and bending to pick up discarded water bottles and candy wrappers.  Seven hours later when we descended the mountain, three bags of trash were tied precariously to his small pack.  “I’ve noticed Americans do not litter,” Candido remarked.  “I wish we could teach Hondurans to do the same.”  Candido bemoaned the environmental ethic of his countrymen – and thought wistfully of a national park that could somehow be protected from the people it was meant to serve. 

The third memory was perhaps the most disheartening. My husband and I were hiking along the beach in Livingston, Guatemala. Ultimately, we would arrive at a series of cascading pools – the “Siete Altares.”  The destination was spectacular.  But the journey was startling: The beach was completely covered in litter.  I thought briefly of Candido and his commitment to cleaning the national park in his backyard.  Yet, the scattered debris in Parque Celaque was no match for the Guatemalan shoreline, which was covered with abandoned fishing nets, bottles, and toiletries.  I thought briefly of collecting some of the debris – but quickly realized it was no use.  In fact, occasional clusters of trashbags were decomposing in several spots along the shore – evidence of well-intentioned visitors before me who lacked either the energy or resources to see their efforts to completion.

So, where does that leave me?  Two weeks in Central America.  Three countries and three stories that will long linger in my memories.  In truth, litter is the least of the problems our world faces.  Certainly, a plastic bottle along the shoreline is less concerning than rising temperatures that will cause our oceans to destroy adjacent cities.  Yet, I don’t think we can tackle these bigger problems unless we address the litter. 

Any student of sociology has learned of the broken windows theory  — broken windows left unrepaired lead to more vandalism and crime; uncorrected, graffiti begets graffiti.  And unadressed, litter begets litter.  Conversely, if we clean our beloved places, we teach our children the importance of caring for the world around them.  If the shoreline is clean, perhaps people will demand laws to protect the fish and water that live there. 

So, by my new theory, Woodsy the Owl is a “gateway” public service announcement.  As Candido acknowledged, Americans have taken tremendous strides to address litter.  Is this a meaningless victory – or is the first step to addressing larger problems? And if I’m right, what can we do to teach those in developing countries to “give a hoot”?

I have an exercise bike in my basement.  It has sat idle for months – years even.  It’s not that I don’t exercise – I go to the gym regularly. However, I find it difficult to motivate to ride a stationary bike in the solitude of my own home.  But take me to a gym – and I’m in the front row of my spinning class.  These “peer pressure” exercise classes appeal to my competitive nature, I suppose.  I work out better when surrounded by others who are also working out.  This same philosophy, I’m afraid, extends to more than just exercise.

My husband first noticed my “competitive environmentalism” when we bought our hybrid a few years ago.  For months, he refused to drive if I was in the passenger seat – because I would badger him incessantly about his mileage stats.  Whenever his fuel economy “plunged” from 45 to 44 miles per gallon, I’d tell him to slow down.  If we drove fewer than 550 miles on a full tank, I’d make him recount everywhere we drove that week to figure out where the missing gas had gone. 

A few months ago, a colleague referred me to a passage, which convinced me that I’m not alone.  In an article titled, “My Mileage is Better than Your Mileage,” Bill McKibben writes:

… [Do] I pay inordinate attention to the gas gauge? Absolutely. And is it because I’m obsessed with global warming? Not really. True, that’s why I bought the car in the first place…. But if you thought about global warming all the time, you’d be nuts. When I’m behind the wheel, I’m an American—competitive, score-keeping, out to win.

And this competitive streak does not stop with hybrid cars and fuel economy.  In fact, a recent study in the Journal of Consumer Research reports that only 37% of hotel guests choose to forego a fresh towel when their hotel bathroom simply urges them to “help save the environment,” while 49% of guests make the “green choice” when confronted with a customized sign indicating how many previous guests had done the same.  Another article in the New York Times reports that people dramatically reduced their electricity use when their electric bill listed the average consumption in the neighborhood – and included a frowning face on households with an above-average bill. 

Jewish tradition offers some insight for these behaviors.  As Ira Stone explains in A Responsible Life, human beings live in a constant struggle between the “evil inclination” (in Hebrew, yetzer hara) and the impulse to do good (yetzer hatov).  Humans are inherently competitive. We must strive, however, to transform the evil inclination to do good.  As Jeffrey Spitzer writes, “[w]hen properly controlled by the yetzer hatov, the yetzer hara leads to many socially desirable results.”

Herein lies the future of the American environmental movement: we must look at pride and vanity, competition and shame – and redirect these values to reduce our impact on the Earth.   Can peer pressure really be the answer to climate change?

I’d love your thoughts about ways public scrutiny can inspire green behavior.

[for more on the power of public opinion, read "On Dolly Parton and Climate Change" and "Visualizing a Changing Climate: How to Know when You've Used 'Enuff'"]