Lobbying for Earth: is easy, essential, and effectiveI've been shlepping canvas bags to the supermarket for over a decade. My house doesn't have a single "old-fashioned" lightbulb. I drive a hyrbid. Yet, the Earth is still warming. In fact, twelve of the last thirteen years were the warmest in recorded history. And last year, scientists from 130 countries declared with 100% certainty that climate change was occurring – and with 90% certainty that human beings are causing it.

Truth be told, the 50 lightbulbs in my house are not going to singlehandedly prevent US carbon dioxide emissions from exceeding 450 parts per million by mid-century. Yet, thanks to a little-known provision in the U.S. energy bill (HR 6), which was signed into law this December, incandescent lightbulbs will be but a dim memory by 2012. And the collective impact of 50 lightbulbs in one-hundred million households across the United States just might keep national emissions in check.

Unfortunately, too many of our political leaders lack the courage to acknowledge the need for aggressive action. No one wants to be held responsible for voting for legislation that may increase electric prices in their District or make it more expensive for their constituents to continue fueling their SUVs.

Our Senators don't know we're willing to accept these comparatively minor inconveniences, and they will never know unless we tell them.

That's my job as COEJL's Climate and Energy Program Coordinator. Each week, I visit members of Congress and tell them the Jewish community supports – even demands – strong national legislation to cap U.S. emissions. I tell them this desire is grounded in ancient texts, which establish our sacred duty to "repair the world." And I tell them our profound concern for U.S. energy security strengthens our resolve. But this message is more meaningful when it comes from you. Here are a few steps to begin with:

• A simple call to your member of Congress is an important first step. Ask to speak to the legislative assistant who works on climate and energy policy. Tell him or her that you are a constituent – and that you support a firm cap on U.S. emissions. Better yet, ask to schedule a visit (either with the Member himself or his legislative aid) – either in Washington, D.C. or at home in your District.

• Write and send an Op Ed or a Letter to the Editor to your local paper.

• Sign up to receive monthly updates about COEJL's education, action, and advocacy campaigns.

• To learn more about how to advocate for effective climate legislation, visit the COEJL website, we're I've prepared simple talking points on the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act.
  

I don't doubt the importance of individual action. If we all justify our own bad environmental decisions because of our individual inconsequence, the climate crisis will be insurmountable. Yet, climate change is much larger than you or I, and it can only truly be tackled with larger changes – changes that are mandated by national legislation.

This past December, the Environment and Public Works committee voted to do just that. On December 5, America's Climate Security Act (S 2191) was voted out of committee and it will be considered by the full Senate this June. Call your Senator today and urge her to vote for the bill when it comes up for a vote. As Al Gore recently declared, "It's one thing to change a lightbulb. It's another to change the law."

To learn more about my thoughts on national climate and energy legislation, visit the COEJL blog at www.coejlblog.blog.com

If you’re not already very familiar with the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life, please check out their amazing website now. It’s chock full of fantastic resources for making your synagogue and Jewish community more aware of environmental consequences, and ways to decrease your community’s environmental footprint.

But the big news over at COEJL is that they’ve started a new program called "Conservation Conversations: Invite Your Elected Official to Synagogue" to engage your elected officials in a dialogue about climate change policy and conservation. The program is being launched in partnership with the Relgious Action Center, and the RAC’s website is hosting a bunch of the materials that are relevant. They’ve got resources to help you find the best advocacy opportunities in your area, as well as tools to help you prepare for a political visitor. They even help you figure out how to use momentum from such an event to get things going further at your synagogue, minyan, or kehillah.
We supposed to be a light to the nations: Get it?
This is what I love about the RAC. They see an issue and they just attack it full on, disseminating information, helping with programming, morale, funding and other resources. Regardless of your level of observancy, you should check out the RAC’s homepage every once and a while just to see what kind of work they’re doing. Trust me when I say you’ll always be impressed.

Anyway, I hope you’ll check out the COEJL programming and take some time to get your representative or Senator to stop by your place of worship. And while those details are being worked out, go get yourself an energy efficient lightbulb to reduce greenhouse emissions. It’s easy, saves you money, and helps save the world. I’m pretty sure God would approve. For more info on COEJL’s How Many Jews Does It Take To Change A Lightbulb campaign, click here.

They'll stone you when you're trying to be so goodOn Chesil Beach, Ian McEwan's new short book about one couple's wedding night, is getting plenty of attention these days: For one thing, this admiring review in The Economist. For another thing, McEwan was recently threatened with a fine of £2,000 if he didn't return a handful of pebbles to Chesil Beach, "a 22-mile natural wonder where storms grade the stones by size," on the Dorset coastline. McEwan had admitted the theft during a radio interview and was promptly excoriated by conservationists with nothing better to do. He has returned the stones.

Meanwhile, some people recognize that it's McEwan who's the national treasure. Matthew d'Ancona has a great profile of McEwan in the current (London) Spectator:

Continue reading...

Apparently, the Big Green Jewish Website, which is a joint venture of The Noah Project and The Board of Deputies of British Jews. Basically the site, which has just been launched, is full of programs, resources, lists of events, and activities for kids that promote ethical environmental living. They even have a quiz you can take to see how well you’re doing, and with some easy suggestions for ways you can pollute less and create less waste. I know how easy it is to get overwhelmed when you start thinking about global warming, sustainable development and all kinds of social justice. The cool thing about the Big Green Jewish website is that it suggests all kinds of small steps. Have You Hugged a Tree Today?: Up Close and Personal with Mother Nature

I actually like Big Green Jewish Website a lot better than Hazon’s site, which is a little hard to navigate and seems mostly focused on raising money. Hazon does have a pretty cool blog about social justice and Jewish food issues, though.

Maybe it’s just now getting on my radar, but it seems like these groups are cropping up all over the place now. Suddenly, like in the past year, the Jewish community has started getting into high gear for the environmental movement. Obviously that’s great, but it’s also kind of sad that we celebrate the birthday of trees every year, but we’re just now talking seriously about how Jews can reduce the amount of waste they produce.

And hey, what do you know about environmental concerns within Israel? Because boy, they’ve got all kinds of problems in a very small space. Polluted lakes and rivers? Yep. Waste management problems? Definitely. Israel is even having tree problems. You know all those certificates you bought from the JNF to have a tree planted in honor of your third grade teacher? JNF didn’t do the best job of planning the forests they planted, and now they’re having to do all kinds of aforestation to fix things. Also, those swamps we drained? That was kind of a bad idea. We should probably have left them alone. If you’re interested in this subject, I highly recommend this book by Alon Tal. And if you’re in Israel sometime soon, definitely check out the Arava organization, which works on all kinds of sustainable development issues in Israel. They even have a hands-on kibbutz program that I’ve heard is fantastic.

And lest you be concerned that it’s only us fruity funky lefty Jews who are involved in the Green movement, check out this group out of Washington DC, trying to bring environmentalism to the Orthodox community. This article even talks about conservation activism in the ultra-Orthodox world. Finally!