JUST ENGAGE

67% of Americans who say they care about the environment do so because it’s “God’s creation.”

Almost 50% of Sierra Club members go to a house of worship at least once a month.

Whoa.

I hope that it’s no surprise to any readers that there is a strong faith-based environmental movement. The National Religious Partnership for the Environment – made up of Jews (COEJL), Catholics, Protestants (NCC Eco-Justice) and Evangelicals (Evangelical Environmental Network) – has been around for over 15 years. Interfaith Power and Light (IPL) is an environmental initiative with over 25 state chapters. To these organizations and many of their affiliated houses of worship, connection between Earth stewardship and faith is clear.

Sierra Club has recently noticed this powerful movement and published a report: Faith in Action: Communities of Faith Bring Hope for the Planet, which includes the stats mentioned above. Beyond an introduction which delves into the power of faith-based action, it shares stories of 52 communities of faith – one for each state, Washington, DC and Puerto Rico – where faith propelled them to critical ecological and sustainable action. As the report notes, the environmental movement was secular, shying away from “values” and dare I say it, “creation.” Never before has a study like this been done. But the environmental (and political) significance is enormous!

Though there is a clear danger in grafting “God” with “politics,” (I hope I don’t need to explain) even Sierra Club can’t ignore its wonders. 86% of the world’s population affiliates with a religion. The report notes that all the religious environmental initiatives “coalesce around a few key broadly shaped principles: stewardship, justice and concern for ‘the poor,’ and concern for one’s neighbor and future generations.” Agreement on these principles may not bring world peace. Frankly, slight variations of interpretation continue to yield devastating wars.

If we can harness the energy of religious faiths to the issues of earth stewardship, then we might just have a chance.

Special to WJW

It has been 1,039 days since Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast. When Katrina and Rita struck, Jewish groups joined the millions of Americans who sent money, goods and a tremendous outpouring of prayer and goodwill to the people of New Orleans and the other impacted areas.

The United Jewish Communities emergency relief fund raised more than $28 million for assistance to Jews and non-Jews alike. Yet now, having just returned from New Orleans, 1,039 days later, I can tell you this, it is not enough.

Two weeks ago, the Jewish Council for Public Affairs took a group of Jewish and African American community leaders from around the nation down to New Orleans to see firsthand the state of "recovery" in Louisiana. Directors and board members from Jewish Community Relations Councils partnered with African American leaders including college presidents, elected officials, civil rights leaders and Episcopal and Baptist ministers.

Partners from Dayton, San Jose, Portland, San Antonio and New Orleans, as well as members of the JCPA staff, saw firsthand the devastation that Katrina wreaked on New Orleans, but also the racism, deep poverty and environmental degradation that existed even prior to the storm. We took a disaster tour of the affected areas, noting which had been able to rebuild and in which people were still living in tent cities or in FEMA trailers.

The Jewish and African American representatives met with faith leaders and elected officials, food bankers and environmental activists, journalists and community organizers, professors and storm victims, piecing together the puzzle of how 1,039 days after the storm, there is still so much suffering and inequality.

They put their hands and their hearts into a rebuilding project in a working class parish where 100 percent of the homes were uninhabitable after the storm, and many residents are still living in trailers as they try to salvage their waterlogged homes.

We at the JCPA brought together this trip to New Orleans as a way to encourage leaders from across the country to engage their communities in the rebuilding of the Gulf Coast region and as a way to strengthen the historical alliance between Jewish Americans and African Americans.

This summer marks the 44th anniversary of the murders of Andrew Goodman, James Chaney and Michael Schwerner as they sought to register black voters in Philadelphia, Miss. It is 45 years since Rabbi Joachim Prinz, then president of the American Jewish Congress, spoke at the famed March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, and 58 years since the creation of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, whose founding members included then NJCRAC (the National Jewish Community Relations Advisory Council, now known as JCPA) board chair Arnold Aronson. Our two communities have a long history of striving together toward justice.

The psalmist wrote:

"Let the floodwaters not sweep me away; let the deep not swallow me; let the mouth of the Pit not close over me. Answer me, O Lord, according to your great steadfastness; in accordance with your abundant mercy turn to me; do not hide your face from your servant, for I am in distress; answer me quickly."

New Orleans and communities of the Gulf Coast are still in distress, and quickly has long since passed. It is up to us -- Jewish Americans, African Americans and all Americans -- to remember the many thousands who are still homeless, still hungry, still lacking health care and the basic necessities of life.

It is them, each created in the image of the Almighty, that we must remember as we work together to make our nation a better and more just place for all its inhabitants. One thousand and thirty-nine days later, we must not forget.

As an undergrad, my professors explained that climate change would never be solved. Politicians, after all, will only seek solutions for problems that they can tackle in four-year cycles. And people will only seek solutions for problems they can see. But carbon emissions are invisible and global warming would not affect us for generations. Or so we thought.

But now, the effects of climate change are felt on a daily basis. Global temperatures have increased by more than 1 degree Fahrenheit in the past 100 years. This spring, an ice sheet the size of Manhattan crashed into the Arctic sea. The recent listing of the polar bear as a threatened species explicitly acknowledged the role of climate change in their decline. The genocide in Darfur is widely attributed to resource scarcity caused by climate change. In short, climate change is no longer a problem we can shut our eyes to.

Unfortunately, to many people, climate change remains invisible. As reported in Reuters, Tesco, the world's third-largest food retailer, recently announced a plan to end that. It will begin placing carbon labels on 20 products to help consumers see the greenhouse gas emissions per serving of certain items including potatoes, orange juice, cleansers and light bulbs. John Tierney, likewise imagines that consumers would change their behavior if consumers could only visualize their emissions. In a recent article in the New York Times, Tierney, highlights a number of gadgets that would help consumers visualize their emissions. One gadget, called "the Wattson" changes colors based on electricity consumption. Tierney imagines a world where people would wear electronic jewelry to report their carbon use. These flashing mood rings and pendants would immediately allow onlookers to assess the carbon habits of their peers. And, Tierney speculates, "If the delegates to future conferences on climate change are expected to wear illuminated symbols of their energy consumption, they won't be visiting any more spots like Bali."

Tierney isn't alone in trying to figure out ways to make carbon tangible. A team of four teens in England recently won a competition for their proposed invention: the "Enuffometer." The gadget would provide minute-by-minute monitoring of energy use, with results that could be text messaged to the owner's mobile phone – and remotely disconnect wasteful appliances. As the insightful youthful inventors explain, the Enuffometer helps people visualize their emissions since "people find it much easier to fight something they can see." Well put.

Carbon mood rings and the Enuffometer will likely be among the tools of the future to help us visualize our carbon emissions. But other gadgets already exist. The "Kill a Watt" helps users determine how energy is being used around the house – so that they can cut back on wasteful devices. [You can purchase a Kill a Watt (and other energy-saving gadgets) at www.coejl.earthaidkits.com.]

Those of you who read my posts know that, for me, climate change is anything but an invisible problem. To the contrary, I fear its effects are far too visible. But even I could benefit from a flashing reminder when my energy use is excessive. After all, we all need someone to remind us when we've used "Enuff."

[For more on ways that already exist to visualize the effects of climate change, read Liore's May 28 post, "Have to See it to Believe it?"]

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I'd love your thoughts on other ways we could send consumers the right signals about energy use.

The Jewish Council for Public Affairs just completed its first Community Relations trip to New Orleans.  This trip was a way to encourage dedicated leaders to reengage their communities around rebuilding the Gulf Coast and engaging in confronting poverty.  The mission to New Orleans took place June 15-18, 2008.  The mission was an opportunity for JCRC directors to invite an African American leader from their community for a three day transformative experience that included:

• Education about the intersection between poverty, race and climate change;
• A tour of New Orleans three years after the storms;
• Meetings with local faith, civic, and political leaders;
• A day of service in the area;
• Resources and contacts in the area for use when planning future trips;
• Concrete action steps you and your community partner can take upon returning home to engage on Gulf Coast and anti-poverty activism on a sustained basis.

The goal of this trip was to build and strengthen relationships that JCRCs can use to reengage their home communities around helping victims of Katrina and Rita, and as an entry point into broader anti-poverty activism and advocacy as part of the JCPA's anti-poverty campaign, "There Shall Be No Needy Among You". 

This trip was an eye opening experience for all of those who went.  Even three years after the storms that ripped the Gulf Coast apart, in some parishes only 25% of the homes have been rebuilt.  People are still trying to salvage their homes while having to live a "normal" life.  Over and over we heard about the trauma that people are still experiencing.  Some people are having to pay rent  while also paying off their mortgages on homes that have been destroyed.  And over and over again, we heard that the government on any level is just not helping.  It has been the grass roots and the faith based organizations that have been rebuilding the city and helping the residents of the city to cope with their losses.

When I first began to organize this trip, I was completely lost.  I had the names of a few people I was told I could use as contacts and we had an idea of what issues we wanted to incorporate.  But other than that, the canvas was empty.  I am not Jewish or African American and this too added stress in my planning.  I wanted to make both groups comfortable in their experience and wanted to make sure that we bonded as a group around.

In the end, my worries were probably a waste of time.  When we got to New Orleans, it became very obvious who we needed to be worried about, and who needed our attention.  Religion, race, economic class, did not seem to matter to the people whose homes we worked to rebuild.  People in New Orleans were just grateful that a group of caring people were there to help.  I think I am still in a bit of shock at how well the trip went.  I had envisioned so many things going wrong, but in the end, it was the participants' dedication to justice that proved to be what mattered. 

I learned a lot in New Orleans.  I learned about the systematic racism that took place during the evacuation of the city.  I learned about the government programs that did not help the people they were created for.  I learned about a tragedy that was not caused nearly as much by Mother Nature as it was broken manmade levees.  Most importantly, I learned that the people of New Orleans are relying on people like us, people who still have our homes and resources to help them get back on their feet, no matter what our background may be.

I wish that I were creative enough to have come up with this term on my own, but alas, I must be honest, it was King Jigme Singye Wangchuck of Bhutan.  In catching up on my National Geographic magazines, I read an article entitled “Bhutan’s Enlightened Experiment,” and I think I had a little bit of enlightenment myself. 

Though told in jest, the joke teaches a valuable lesson. We cannot be so blinded by our political agenda that we ignore the signs in front of our eyes. Two weeks ago, the U.S. Senate began a historic climate debate. As I wrote on the eve of that debate, "simply forcing a national discussion about climate change is a victory." In many respects, the climate vote was an extraordinary success. Forty-eight senators voted to move to substantive discussion on the bill. Six others submitted statements to the record indicating that they likewise supported continued debate. Combined, a comfortable majority in the Senate thus supports aggressive federal action on climate change. And, as the Union of Concerned Scientists reports, many of those who voted in favor of such action had previously opposed such initiatives – even though the legislation at issue was stronger than bills the Senate has considered in the past. Fortunately, as Senator Boxer explained, "We [now] have a road map as to where our colleagues are. We will give the road map to the next president so he knows where our colleagues are and where are the consensus areas and where are the difficult areas."

Yet, despite these accomplishments, the climate debate was, in other respects, a tragic missed opportunity. Like the man waiting on his roof for divine intervention, many members of the Senate seem to be awaiting an intangible sign from above – ignoring the signs that G-d has already sent to Earth. On the second morning of the climate debate, opponents insisted that they were not familiar with the bill due to a handful of technical changes that had been made in its final hours. In a move witnessed but once a decade, they insisted that the clerk read the bill – all 492 pages of it – on the Senate floor. For most of the day – more than eight hours – the clerk droned on, reading of offsets and auctions, allocations and subsidies.

And then G-d intervened.

At mid-day, thunderclouds descended over Washington, D.C. The sky darkened and rain pummeled the Capitol. I approached the building amid announcements of a "severe thunderstorm warning" on the Senate intercom system. The National Weather Service declared a tornado watch with wind gusts of up to 70 mph, admonishing citizens to "take cover" and "move to a safe place" to avoid flash floods. My home outside the Nation's Capitol lost power for two days.

A tornado warning is disconcerting in and of itself. But its impact is all the more dramatic when viewed in this context. As Senator Reid (D-NV) explained on the Senate floor, 2008 is on track to be "the deadliest year in the history of tornado deaths" in the United States. Since January, more than 110 people have lost their lives due to tornadoes – compared to an annual average of 62. I don't imply that a single tornado season confirms climate change, but it certainly doesn't suggest that we're heading in the right direction either. And, if an anomalous tornado season weren't warning enough, G-d has sent a steady succession of reinforcements – in the form of flooding in the Midwest, a drought in California, and a heat wave on the east coast.

NRDC policy director, David Doniger highlighted the curious coincidence of the climate debate and the tornado advisory in his blog. In it, he challenged readers to "draw [their] own conclusions." As I heard the weather advisory on the afternoon of the climate debate, I had only one thought: the bureaucracy of the political process had gone on long enough. As thunder crashed from the heavens, G-d had sounded a wake-up alarm for 100 Senators on Capitol Hill. "Do something," He implored. "Assume your role as my partner in creation, and help me to repair the world." The next morning, 54 of them heeded that warning and voted to proceed to the debate. Unfortunately, 46 others are still waiting on their rooftops for a sign…

Inspired by Shavuot and the celebration of receiving the 10 commandments, my mind drifted to all of those other 10 commandments out there.  Lists of “10 Actions to Save the Planet” abound – but do they really matter?

During a time when global environmental catastrophes loom large, clear and real, we may debate the impact of our individual actions.  When China is opening a new coal-based power plant every week, does my switching to an energy efficient compact fluorescent light (CFL) matter?

COEJL challenged the American Jewish community to start fighting climate change with that simple act.  During our How Many Jews Does it Take to Change a Light Bulb? campaign, Jews across America heeded the call and switched out their energy inefficient incandescent bulbs for CFLs.  From changes in homes, offices, schools and synagogues, over 80,000 CFLs were purchased, keeping approximately 29,000 tons of CO₂ out of our atmosphere. 

Yes, our independent acts of environmental conservation matter.  Below is my list (I dare not call them commandments) of 10 actions with a range of required effort that will help you and your community reduce our impact on global warming.

1)      Change 5 light bulbs to energy efficient and cost effective compact CFLs ( if all American Jews did this it would be the same as taking 1.76 million cars off the road for a year)

2)      Switch out a meat meal for a vegetarian one (global livestock is responsible for 18% of CO₂ emissions and 37% of methane emissions - a greenhouse gas that is twenty times more potent than CO₂)

3)      Eat local (in the US, conventional food travels an average of 1,500 miles to reach our markets)

4)      Find new meaning in old traditions: walk or bike to synagogue (only 6% of all trips made in the US are by bike or foot)

5)      Recycle ½ of your household waste (saves 2,400 pounds of CO₂ a year)

6)      Install a programmable thermostat and drop it 2 degrees in the winter and raise it 2 degrees in the summer (saves 2,000 pounds of CO₂ a year)

7)      Eliminate “phantom loads” by unplugging unused electronics, shutting off power strips, or buying smart ones that will shut it off for you (if all phantom loads in US homes were stopped, we could shut down 17 power plants)

8)      Fully inflate your tires and improve mpg efficiency (Saves 347 lbs of CO₂ a year)

9)      Plant a tree – in your own backyard or Israel (if all Jews in America did this it, 6 million tons of CO₂ absorbed over its life)

10)  Due to the fact that CO₂ is a global gas, when you’ve taken all the actions you can, buy carbon credits to offset the rest.

To purchase appliances that enable tips 6, 7 and 8 click here.

As with the biblical 10 commandments, this list is only the beginning. Though it may be scary, it’s also empowering.  We - in our houses with our family, offices with our colleagues and community with our friends - can be part of the solution.

Months ago, I met with my counterpart from another faith group.  I had been working at COEJL for about a week.  "Be careful not to get burned out," she cautioned.  "This is a marathon, not a sprint."  Little did she know, the Jewish people are well equipped for such journeys.  After all, we wandered for forty years in the desert before arriving in Israel .

Click here to urge your Senator to support The America's Climate Security Act.

In recent years advocacy efforts have gone beyond the traditional rallies & op-eds we are accustomed to.  Apparently, now Urban Outfitters has brought pro-Palestinian advocacy to new levels.  First, it was their “Anti-War Freedom Scarves,” which look like kaffiyahs and have become the newest fashion craze in New York.  Every time I see one wrapped around the neck of a “hipster” New Yorker I cringe for the ignorance and stupidity of the wearer (I’m pretty sure most don’t know what the scarves really mean).

But now, Urban Outfitters has hit a new low with their “Victimized” t-shirts.  These depict three children holding guns, a Palestinian flag, and the word victimized in huge letters on the bottom.  Both the scarves and the t-shirts have been removed from the website and shelves of Urban stores, citing they are sorry they caused offense. To see the t-shirts click here: http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/30019_Urban_Outfitters_Glorifies_Terrorism

My issue, however, is who at Urban Outfitters permits this stuff to be sold in the first place??

Many of you may remember a few years ago when they came out with the “Everyone loves a…” t-shirts.  The Italian girl/boy shirts had pizzas on it, the Catholic ones had crosses, and the Jewish ones had dollar signs.  Yes, they were all a bit stereotypical, but clearly the Jewish one crossed the line and, after complaints, they quickly changed the design of the t-shirts.  However, if they quickly take these offensive items off their shelves once they get complaints, then the question is: did they know all along that they were offensive?  Given the recurrence of these incidents, one would think that they would pay more attention from the start.  Unfortunately, even though they took the kaffiyahs off the shelves, the fashion trend they sparked was so great that you can now find them at street vendors!  Therefore, addressing the problem only after is not enough.

I admit I am a fan of the graphic t’s they sell.  I have a “little miss” shirt, a couple promoting voting, and some partisan political ones.  However, I’m going to rethink my purchases in the store... at least until they seem to put more thought into their decisions.  Where does a retailer draw the line at being activist and being offensive?  It might be one of those “I know when I see it” circumstances.  But, it seems like Urban Outfitters has done this a little too many times for that approach to continue.