Climate Change Subscribe
A selection of initiatives, blogs, resources and communities on Jewcology which focus on climate change.
Blogs
Earth Etude for 26 Elul
- September 12, 2012
Hashem's "Gaslands"* by Judith Feldstein My Lord, You sent us not a burning bush, but Your flaming water; a fire that lives in gas and is not drowned in H2O, with flames that are not quenched, and danger not consumed until we hear and live your will and love Your home as part of You. Last year You gave us Elul with the kiss and aftermath of Your Irene's with all the might of ordained winds and rains and floods. You offered us tsunamis to remember as the earth was shaken, and our towers crashed and crumbled ...
Earth Etude for 24 Elul
- September 10, 2012
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MEDITATION on ELUL by Richard H. Schwartz Elul is here. It represents an opportunity for heightened introspection, a chance to consider teshuva, changes in our lives, before the “Days of Awe,” the days of judgment, the “High holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. The shofar is blown every morning (except on Shabbat) in synagogues during the month of Elul to awaken us from slumber, to remind us to consider where we are in our lives and to urge us to consider positive changes. How should we respond to Elul today? How should we ...
Earth Etude for 19 Elul
- September 5, 2012
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Personal ethics in the face of climate change by Susie Davidson In his master work "Walden," Henry David Thoreau wrote, "We do not ride on the railroad; it rides upon us." Thoreau, who is largely credited as a forefather of the environmental movement, was issuing a dire warning that progress can, ultimately, lead to enslavement. He sensed that for all the conveniences that new modes of transportation, farming, communication and manufacturing could provide, we would ultimately become, for all intents and purposes, mere cogs entwined ...
Earth Etude for 11 Elul
- August 29, 2012
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Maintaining the Climate by Lois Rosenthal “If you go by my statutes and keep My commands and do them, I shall give you rains in their season and the land will give its yield…” Lev 26:4 The ancient Israelites trusted G-d to maintain the seasons in a fixed and repeatable way. They had worked out their lunar/solar calendar and holidays based on planting/harvesting seasons. Droughts were certainly a constant worry, but timing of planting and harvest was consistent enough year after year to be considered fixed by G-d. Suppose they ...
Earth Etude for 3 Elul
- August 20, 2012
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The Earth Is Crying Out in Pain Rabbi Katy Z. Allen “The Earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof.” (Ps. 24:1) The Earth is crying out in pain. Yet, its beauty and mystery shine forth, ever ready to calm us, inspire us, strengthen us, and remind us of our smallness in Creation. We walk in the woods and find wonder in the spring wildflowers. Eagerly we bite into the delicious bounty of the late summer harvest. In awe we gain inspiration from the night sky, a sudden and unexpected rainbow, a brilliant sunset. ...
Tar Sands Students: Fighting Environmental Destruction
- August 4, 2012
I never imagined I would be needed in the Senate’s Foreign Relations hearing room, but then again I only recently joined Tar Sands Students. On Wednesday, July 25, twenty-two high school and college students rallied together in D.C. to fight tar sands oil production, thanks to the hard work and dedication of my friend Michael Greenberg, the founder of Tar Sands Students. It was a big day for the coalition. We had a meeting scheduled with Melanie Nakagawa, Senator John Kerry's (D-Ma) top environmental adviser. Our goals for this meeting were to make ...
New Interfaith Ecology Video “One Home”
- July 26, 2012
The Interfaith Center for Sustainable Development based out of Jerusalem has recently released a new video entitled "One Home." This unique interfaith eco viral video features world religious leaders speaking out on environmental sustainability. Faith leaders including Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, the Dalai Lama, and others deliver a message of hope and inspiration on the importance of protecting the earth, our common home. Please share this video with your family, your friends, and your community and help promote a sustainable future! bit.ly/onehome1
Action Alert! Tell the EPA: Support Strong Carbon Limits Today!
- June 20, 2012
BACKGROUND COEJL and The RAC (Religious Action Center for Reform Judaism) are joining together to demonstrate the Jewish community’s support for our nation’s first-ever proposed limits on carbon emissions from new power plants. The proposed Carbon Pollution Standard for New Power Plants will prevent any new power plant from emitting more than 1,000 pounds of carbon dioxide per megawatt of electricity produced. With conventional coal plants currently emitting more than 1,800 pounds of carbon dioxide per megawatt, pollution controls setting higher technology ...
New COEJL Webinar on Funding and Creating an Energy Efficiency Project
- May 16, 2012
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Join COEJL for the third in our series of webinars for Sustainability Liaisons. These briefings will enable your organization to take concrete actions toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions 14% by 2014. Get the practical information that you need to fulfill the commitment your organization made in signing the Jewish Energy Covenant Campaign Declaration. Our panelists have implemented energy efficiency projects of all sizes, from insulating pipes for a quick payback to building a brand new facility. What happens once you identify actions you can take to reduce energy ...
The New Plague: A Name Change for Climate Change
- April 1, 2012
- 1 comment
After reading the following article, http://www.voanews.com/english/news/environment/Climate-Change-Panel-Says-Expect-More-Extreme-Weather--144966925.html, titled “Climate Change Panel Says Expect More Extreme Weather,” it is hard not to make the immediate connection to the story of Pesach. “The 594-page report is the work of 220 authors from 62 countries. It cites thousands of scientific studies. Enough is known, the editors say, to make good decisions about how to manage risks of climate-related disasters.” It discusses the ...
Equity or the Flood: Two Visions of Justice
- February 19, 2012
It is now seven weeks to Passover and the Passover foods are already for sale in my local supermarket. My family is already planning when to do our shopping and whom to invite to the seder. Like many Jewish families, we put a lot of time and preparations into this holiday because we want to make it special and different from the rest of the year as was done when we were children. But our preparations are not only about shopping, cooking, invites and the changeover of dishes. Every year, we spend at least a little time considering what we ...
Why Tu B’shvat Matters in 2012
- January 26, 2012
The economy is in crisis across much of the USA and Europe, governments are killing their citizens in Syria and Bahrain, and organized crime is dominating Mexico and Central America… This Tu B’shvat how can we worry about environmental issues, when there are so many pressing social issues face our society? Indeed, environmental concerns seem to be fairly low on the international priorities list these days. Look at the recent failure of the Durban conference, in which governments, (most notably my own Conservative Canadian government), were unwilling ...
Educating Teens About Environmental Issues (CJN November 2011)
- January 18, 2012
This "Sustainable Jew" article appeared inthe Canadian Jewish News November 3, 2011 During the time surrounding the High Holiday period, I had the opportunity to speak to Grade 8 Science classes at a number of the Toronto Jewish Day Schools. My talks are generally drawn from materials I have access to as a result of being trained by Al Gore as a Climate Reality Project volunteer presenter. Recently, Mr. Gore hosted a 24 hour effort, 1 for each time zone in the world, where local speakers would explain climate change and global warming in the global ...
Community open to New Ideas (CJN September 2011)
- January 18, 2012
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This "Sustainable Jew" column appeared in the Canadian Jewish News, September 8, 2011 How does a community come together to look at new ideas and decide which ones to make a small investment in and see if they will succeed? The GTA Jewish community brought forward 78 proposals to the UJA Federation’s SixPoints Jewish Venture Philanthropy Fund. Sixty individuals pooled their financial resources and business planning skills to fund and support new and innovative programs, consistent with Jewish values. Each proposal team was asked to record a ...
Seniors and Environmental Issues (CJN August 2011)
- January 18, 2012
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This "Sustainable Jew" article appeared in the Canadian Jewish News on August 11, 2011 The Canadian Association of Retired Persons (CARP) is a national, non-partisan, non-profit organization committed to a ‘New Vision of Aging for Canada’ promoting social change that will bring financial security, equitable access to health care and freedom from discrimination. Their mandate is to promote and protect the interests, rights and quality of life for Canadians as they age. At the June 2011 IdeaCity conference I had the opportunity to meet and ...
What does it mean to be a “Sustainable Jew” (CJN Sept 2010)
- January 18, 2012
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This column was originally published in the Canadian Jewish News - September 22, 2010 Have you ever thought of Sukkot as a holiday which celebrates the Sustainable Jew In ancient Israel, Sukkot had a major agricultural focus. The celebration was a thanksgiving for the fruit harvest and the blessings of nature in the year that had passed. Today, Sukkot is a Jewish Festival where we step out of the comfort of our own homes, and enter temporary dwellings where we are exposed to the vagaries of the weather while performing the mitzvah of “Leshev Bsukah&rdqu...
Growing Forests In The Desert
- December 22, 2011
- 1 comment
By Abigail Klein Leichman for Israel21C Photo Courtesy of Tel Aviv University http://www.tau.ac.il/index-eng.html Leave it to Israeli scientists to figure out a way of growing trees in the barren sands of the Arava Desert. The trees aren't just meant to look pretty. This pollution-reducing forest planted over the summer is soaking up harmful excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and releasing beneficial oxygen. Another "green" bonus is that the trees are nurtured with recycled sewage water and saltwater. The project is a research ...
thoughts about sustainability – from Noach to Abraham
- October 23, 2011
Einat Kramer “And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.” Genesis 9:16 Parshat Noach details a terrible ecological disaster, the Flood that immerses the world in water and brings an end to all life – all because of man’s despicable behavior. In this parsha we meet Noach, the first “environmental activist” who acted upon a divine commandment to keep every species of animal ...
“This is our nation’s Yom Kippur moment.” Testimony to State Department against Keystone XL Pipeline
- October 10, 2011
Joelle Novey, Director Greater Washington Interfaith Power & Light Friday October 7 Testimony to State Department Against Keystone XL Pipeline Through Greater Washington Interfaith Power & Light, hundreds of congregations of all religious traditions work together on energy and climate issues. I am submitting into the record today hundreds of comment cards from local churches and synagogues where good folks have concluded that the Keystone XL Pipeline would do great harm, and that their religious traditions call them to speak out. These cards ...
“Is this the pipeline that is desired of us?” Talk to Rally Against Keystone XL Pipeline
- October 10, 2011
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Joelle Novey, Director Greater Washington Interfaith Power & Light Delivered to Sept 2 2011 Rally Against the Keystone XL Pipeline Behind the White House I speak this afternoon on behalf of hundreds of congregations in the DC area that are working to respond to climate change in their sacred communities. These congregations work together through an organization called Interfaith Power & Light. And I speak as one of dozens of religious people – priests and ministers and rabbis, Christians and Jews and Muslims and Unitarian Univer...
