JUST ENGAGE

Word on the street (or, really, from British Consulate) is that British royalty and political leadership have been interested in the US faith-based initiatives on climate change. Under the auspices of the National Religious Partnership for the Environment, the Jewish, Catholic, Protestant and Evangelical communities have come together to advocate for the health of our shared planet and the poorest among us who will be most affected. Consequently, representatives from the different communities of faith (including someone from Presbyterians for Restoring Creation) were asked to share our experiences in interfaith programming and advocacy with religious, communal and political leaders of Belfast, Northern Ireland as part of a US Interfaith Climate Change Delegation last week.

In the United States, we use the strength of a coalition of religious voices to make a powerful unified statement on Capitol Hill. In Belfast, it is not only rare for the Catholic and Protestant communities to advocate together for a cause – it is nearly unheard of; these communities have been fighting to the death over Irish vs. British alliance in a thirty-plus year conflict called “the Troubles.” The hope of the British Consulate was that uniting on climate change could be a catalyst for greater peace.Though it was difficult to look beyond the fear and anger that remains in the divided communities, our mission was clear and our language strong. As religious communities, we have obligations to our neighbors, the poorest among us and generations yet to come. This is a mandate we all share and may inspire dialogue and joint action.

How a people can move fully beyond the terror of the Troubles and into a place of cross-community environmental efforts will not be easy. Nonetheless, neither the memory of terror nor the issues of climate change will simply disappear. Both require great effort and compromise. I hope that we, the delegates, enabled new conversations and connections and empowered the current efforts of the grassroots movement.

Some interesting links:

The Christian International Aid organizations are focusing on Climate Change and its impact on the World's Poor this Lenten season - fantastic and powerful materials:
Trocaire
TearFund's Carbon Fast

The truth is, wins can be rare here in Washington.  The rule of thumb is that it takes at least 3 Congresses (or 6 years) for a piece of legislation to gain some traction.  Many of the bills we advocate for have been debated for much longer.  Even pieces of emergency legislation that are reactions to recent events, have often been in the works for a long time.  Take for instance the PATRIOT Act.   Though the passage of the PATRIOT Act was a quick response to the atrocities of 9/11, many of the actual provisions had been floating around for a while before then.   And we all know that the PATRIOT Act is still being debated and amended—still in response to the failures of our national government prior to the 9/11 terror attacks.  So here we are, almost 7 years later, and our legislative process is in response mode.  It takes a while to get anything done.

All that being said, last week we had a pretty good win.  Let me be clear, there are all different levels of winning.  We win when a piece of legislation that we are advocating for is introduced.  We win, when it is approved by a subcommittee, and then full committee.  The biggest Congressional win is when the legislation is sent to the President.  And then, there is the ultimate win—a Rose Garden signing ceremony.  At each level though, the wins become less likely.  Last week’s win was the biggest Congressional one.   

The Senate voted 51-45, to approve the Intelligence Authorization Conference Report.  That Conference Report included a small provision that would require ALL U.S. agencies to comply with the Army Field Manual on Interrogation.  That is HUGE.  The Army Field Manual lays out protocols for how to interview detainees in U.S. custody.  More importantly, it explicitly lists a set of prohibited techniques. 

5-75. If used in conjunction with intelligence interrogations, prohibited actions include, but are not limited to—

•              Forcing the detainee to be naked, perform sexual acts, or pose in a sexual manner.

•              Placing hoods or sacks over the head of a detainee; using duct tape over the eyes.

•              Applying beatings, electric shock, burns, or other forms of physical pain.

•              “Waterboarding.”

•              Using military working dogs.

•              Inducing hypothermia or heat injury.

•              Conducting mock executions.

•               Depriving the detainee of necessary food, water, or medical care.

This provision would effectively outlaw the use of many CIA “enhanced interrogation techniques” such as waterboarding.  According to the Attorney General, waterboarding is no longer apart of the CIA’s program.  That being said, CIA Director General Michael Hayden recently testified that CIA waterboarded 3 detainees. The Administration has argued that complying with the Army Field Manual will hobble the CIA Interrogation program.  I think, if the CIA program violates any of those prohibitions, it should be hobbled. 

The Army Field Manual provision will now head to the President’s desk.  He has two options, to sign the bill or to veto it.  There is tremendous pressure to sign the Intelligence Authorization Bill.  This legislation has not been updated in several years.  Now with a majority of Congress supporting this bill, it seems that now would be a good time to sign it.  However, the President doesn’t have all that much to loose by vetoing the bill—he isn’t up for reelection, and his approval rating can’t get much worse. 

So even if this doesn’t become law, this is a huge step forward.  The majority of members of Congress of both chambers voted to force the CIA to comply the Army Field Manual.  Clearly, we want this be the law, but if it isn’t, we are building the legislative momentum and political will to outlaw the some of the most atrocious interrogation techniques.    

It is important to celebrate successes.  It would seem a little strange to celebrate this bill, knowing the President might continue to authorize such torturous interrogation methods.  Their won’t be a rose garden ceremony, or more importantly an end to the CIA program.  But we still need to celebrate our victories—they can be so few and far between.  Perhaps a Congressional signing ceremony? 

I'm not an economist, but I know the basics:  Lower the price and people will buy more.  It's true for every industry: From the proverbial widgets of freshman economics class to flat-screen TVs and tomatoes -- and renewable energy.  So, if we want to make people buy renewable energy, shouldn't we make it cheaper for them to buy it? Apparently, the Senate fell asleep during Economics 101. 

Last Wednesday, the Senate rejected a stimulus package that included $5.7 billion in tax incentives for (among other things) the installation of energy-efficient appliances and building improvements.  The package would have given tax breaks to wind-farm developers, appliance manufacturers and businesses that install fuel cells.  The Sierra Club reports that this is the third time in only seven months that the Republican leadership has blocked a package of clean-energy tax incentives.

The sad thing is, this should have been a no-brainer.  For one thing, the breaks were signed into law years ago.  Unfortunately, they are set to expire at the end of the year.  The stimulus package provided an easy vote for a short-term fix to extend the tax breaks while Congress works out a long-term solution.  Moreover, these breaks should have been an easy political win.  As Scott Segal, an energy lobbyist in Washington told the LA Times, these are one of the few things that both the Sierra Club and industry can rally behind.  The IPCC was just given a Nobel prize for finding that climate change is "unequivocal."  NASA just declared that 2007 can claim the dubious honor of tying for the second warmest year since the start of the Industrial Revolution.  Shouldn't we be doing whatever we can to encourage the use of low and no-carbon technology?

Last night I stayed up much past my goal bedtime because I was gardening. You may be asking yourself: "who gardens at midnight?" The simple answer which, admittedly, leads to more questions is: someone who lives in a 3rd floor NYC apartment! How does one garden in a NYC studio apartment? Instead of a shovel I use a large spoon, instead of lush gardens that flow into each other I have potted plants (beautifully and lovingly made by my father), instead of a compost pile I have a mini bag of soil.... I think you get the point.

So there I was, past midnight, my fingers deep in soil and dirt all over the floor; throughout, an incredibly satisfied smile was planted on my face (sorry that I don't have a picture for you).

There are some technical bonuses to my craziness: plants increase oxygen levels in a room and they are aesthetically beautiful.  But my excitement did not come from these secondary benefits. Real earth may have been three floors down, yet, in the simplest of ways I was connecting with the source of life. 

In Leviticus (19:23) we are told, "When you enter the land of Israel you shall plant all kinds of trees for food." My apartment is not in Israel, nor are most of my plants edible. My own interpretation of this passage suggests that when you find your dwelling place, connect physically with your land and plant that which will sustain you. For those who may not have a green thumb - it's hard to kill a cactus.

In the wide gamut of policy questions, the federal budget is not usually thought of as the sexiest of issues. Mandatory versus discretionary spending, budget outlays and reserve funds…. With the exception of budget wonks (as my fiancé calls me), who really cares?

However, what appears to our glazed over eyes to be numbers on a ledger, in reality has important affects for real people’s lives and their ability to access needed services. The budget answers questions such as: How many low-income seniors will be able to heat their homes this winter? How much aid will Israel receive? How many children will be able to go to the doctor if the cost of insurance is beyond their parents’ means? What is the size of our military? How many people in developing countries can access treatment for malaria and HIV/AIDS? How many pregnant and nursing mothers will be able to access nutritionally appropriate diets for the new lives they are bringing into the world? How much are we willing to invest in protecting our environment?

When viewed in this light, the budget becomes a moral document, and as a community of faith, driven by the mandate, “tzedek, tzedek tirdof”, we have a lot to say about what the final budget resolution looks like.

So, how are our Jewish values and priorities reflected in the administration’s FY2009 budget released yesterday?