Light in August
Hot enough for you?

Perhaps you’re not the type to look at a phenomenon as discrete as this week’s heat wave and conclude that we are reaping the effects of global warming. We don’t blame you: Skepticism is a virtue. You may, in fact, need more evidence, like the growing consensus among researchers that projected global greenhouse gas emissions will increase average temperatures by 2.5 to 10.4 degrees Fahrenheit in this century. And it’s not just the prospect of 110-degree days that worries scientists. It’s the rising seas, violent weather, and agricultural havoc that keeps them up during the soggy night.

Those Jews who are swayed by the scientific evidence should be heartened by an effort that has enlisted more than 600 rabbis in the cause of a sound U.S. energy policy.

The rabbis have written to members of the United States House of Representatives, currently at work on a major energy bill, and called for “moral reflection” on the way this country uses and abuses its energy resources.

The effort is spearheaded by the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life, a partnership of 29 national Jewish organizations and 13 regional affiliates. Its letter to lawmakers, “‘Let There Be Light’: Energy Conservation and God’s Creation,” concludes that there is “a moral obligation to choose the safest, cleanest, and most sustainable sources of energy to protect and preserve God’s creation.” It gets down to the nitty-gritty, calling for greater increases in fuel economy standards, continued protection of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and increased investment in energy efficiency and renewable energy.

COEJL’s effort is not a “sign of personal virtue,” as Vice President Cheney once characterized environmentalism, but a deeply ingrained part of what Judaism sees as our religious obligations on this earth. Nor are its goals unscientific: The consensus among scientists and policy experts (those not on oil company payrolls, that is) is that if dramatic action is not taken soon, our long hot summer will be a taste of a grim environmental future to come.

The heat is on. To learn more, visit the COEJL Web site.