To Till and to Tend

As Congress and the Administration work furiously- and mostly behind the scenes- towards regulating greenhouse gas emissions, a variety of non-climate environmental issues came up in a very big and very public way this week. Congress debated public lands protections, clean water, and endangered species laws, with some big wins and one major disappointment for green advocates. Here’s the wrap-up…

 A package Public Lands bill, including over 150 provisions on land use, failed to pass on Wednesday, despite strong support in both the House and Senate. The bill would have codified protection for millions of acres of land and created new national parks, monuments, and historic sites. While disappointed at this setback, we will continue to push for public lands protections and smart development of water and renewable energy resources on these lands.

In better news, the Senate did pass a clean version of the Omnibus spending bill that will allow the government to stay in business for the rest of the year. While conversation over the $400 billion bill was heated and many were disappointed with the outcome, several promising environmental provisions arose from the debate:

On the way out of office last December, the Bush Interior Department passed a series of ‘midnight regulations’ that many advocates argue cut the bottom out from under the Endangered Species Act, the cornerstone of species and habitat protection for our country. Luckily, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar has ordered a review of these regulations, and the Senate defeated attempts to reinstate the old regulations using the recent spending bill. We hope to move forward with a strong Endangered Species Act as a major tool for environmental protection.

A less noticed provision pushed by Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) reinstates rules requiring disclosure of chemicals in industrial and commercial products under the Toxics Release Inventory program. Senator Lautenberg has long been a champion for environmental health, working towards ‘right-to-know’ rules for potentially harmful chemicals. While some companies complain about the cost of implementing the rule, Lautenberg and others contend that it is necessary to give people the information they need to mobilize and advocate for air and water quality in their own communities.

On Thursday the House passed the Water Quality Investment Act of 2009, the first major piece of water legislation this year. The bill flew through the House despite spending concerns but has not yet been introduced in the Senate. The Act aims to increase funding for clean water infrastructure programs, allowing states to better provide safe and potable water to all their citizens by covering a shortfall in state water funding.

…and that’s just this week! Keep checking back for more, and for opportunities to take action on the issues that matter most to you!

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.

This weekend, as Jews around the world greeted each other in a Sukkah built to honor our relationship with our earth, the environmental community commemorated a different kind of annual event: the anniversary of the Clean Water Act, signed into law on October 18, 1972. Along with the Clean Air Act and Endangered Species Act of 1973, the Clean Water Act is considered a cornerstone of our national environmental policy. Under the Act, more than one billion pounds per year of toxic pollutants have been removed from our nation’s waters, moving us far along the path to make all rivers, lakes, and coastal waters in the United States ‘fishable and swimmable,’ the original goal of the Act.

This year however, debate over the Act reminds us that the fight for a healthy environment is never fully won, and that we must continually engage in the effort to preserve our natural resources for ourselves and our children. Progress on water issues is in danger following a series of federal court cases that restrict protection by narrowing the definition of waters that fall under the Act. In response to the 2006 Supreme Court decision on the definition of ‘navigable waters,’ 22 Senators and 177 House members are co-sponsoring the Clean Water Restoration Act (CWRA). The CWRA ensures that the Clean Water Act can be effectively enforced to protect all of the nation’s waters from pollution. Since clean water is the backbone of the healthy ecosystems that provide barriers against natural disasters and climate change, a strong Clean Water Act is more important today than ever before.

Clean water is essential to us all, both as users of the public water supply and as Jews.  The history of the Jewish people- dating back to the Great Flood and the Exodus from Egypt and continuing with the modern struggles of Israeli society to adequately hydrate its people and its fields – is the history of our relationship with water.  The Baal Shem Tov, the Jewish mystic and scholar, explained, “If we were to walk in the woods and a spring appeared just when we became thirsty, we would call it a miracle. And if on a second walk, if we became thirsty at just that point again, and again the spring appeared, we would remark on the coincidence. But if that spring were there always, we would take it for granted and cease to notice it. Yet is that not more miraculous still?”  If we stop to appreciate the miracle of water, we realize that we must also act to ensure that we keep our water clean and safe for us and for generations to come.

Many experts fear that the next great resource wars will be fought over water, as millions around the globe still lack access to safe, drinkable water.  While we cannot fix this problem with national legislation alone, we can start facing it by fighting for clean water here at home, and raising awareness about water issues. As we celebrate the harvest festival of Sukkot, take action by supporting the Clean Water Restoration Act and speaking out on the importance of water issues in your community, in our country, and in our 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 Monday. This, and all of Rachel’s entries, can also be found on the Religious Action Center blog.