Energy Policy Subscribe
A selection of initiatives, blogs, resources and communities on Jewcology which focus on energy policy.
From the Blogs
Free Eco Israel Birthright Trip with URJ Kesher
- June 1, 2015
This June 1-11 join Taglit-Birthright Israel and URJ Kesher on a unique program. The Eco Israel bus will explore and discover, up-close, the remarkable variety of environmental initiatives in Israel, through the lens of ecology and environment WITHOUT missing out on all of the highlights of a classic URJ Kesher Birthright tour. During the tour, the group will visit four main regions in Israel: North, Centre, Jerusalem, and South. In each region, you will encounter local community members, and will gain hands-on experience volunteering with local Israeli activists who are ...
What Rabbis Can Learn From The Pope
- May 14, 2015
- 1 comment
Earlier this week, I was scrolling through headlines, when I came across the following article: "Pope Top Adviser Blasts US Climate Skeptics." I am not sure I agree with his reasoning for criticizing those who deny that humans are having an impact on climate and on the environment in general, but I do agree with his using a position of moral authority to discuss the issue. This statement followed a conference held at the Vatican in early May, bringing together religious leaders to discuss climate change, where a different Cardinal stated that “a crime against ...
Alon Tal tells why it is important to vote for Green Israel Now!
- April 27, 2015
- 1 comment
Last chance to help us make Israel a greener, environmentally healthier land: Until the end of April you can vote online for the upcoming World Zionist Congress. The results determine, among other things, the division of power at the Jewish National Fund’s international board. For the past decade I have sat on the JNF board, largely because of the support and intervention of the Green Zionist Alliance – a wonderful group of young environmentalists who decided to get involved and improve Israel’s environmental performance. This support has allowed me to ...
Vote for Green Israel in the WZC Election before April 30th!
- March 27, 2015
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You can support the Israel you want to see. All American Jews can vote in the World Zionist Congress election going on right now. One of the most common questions, we get is why it costs $10 to vote. As Mirele Goldsmith, a Green Israel slate member answers: "The American Zionist Movement has contracted with an independent company to run the online election. This is to insure that the election is fair. The registration fee is being used exclusively to pay for the election. It is not a donation to the WZO. I wish there was no fee, but it is a small price to pay ...
Green Israel Parlor Meeting with Yossi Abramowitz
- February 10, 2015
Every Jew can vote in the World Zionist Congress elections. Cast your vote for a Green Israel. Find out why your vote matters. Hear about green activism in Israel and how you can make a difference from Captain Sunshine, Yossi Abramowitz. Yossi is the solar entrepreneur who built the largest solar field in Israel and is bringing Israeli solar technology to Africa. RSVP to receive location information.
Eden Village is hiring farm educator apprentices for 2015 growing season!
- January 26, 2015
Eden Village Camp is Hiring! Submit Your Application About Eden Village Camp: Eden Village Camp aims to be a living model of a thriving, sustainable Jewish community, grounded in social responsibility and inspired Jewish spiritual life. By bringing the wisdom of our tradition to the environmental, social, and personal issues important to today’s young people, we practice a Judaism that is substantive and relevant. Through our Jewish environmental and service-learning curricula, joyful Shabbat observance, pluralistic Jewish expression, and inspiring, diverse staff ...
Stop Now! ‘Shmita’ and Climate Change
- January 25, 2015
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Climate change is not a scientific or technical problem. The science is clear and the solutions are ready; it is an ethical problem. Will we, who have benefited from the burning of fossil fuels, take responsibility for the damage and make it right? There are at least three lessons we can learn from shmita.
I Am a candidate to Be a Delegate for the Green Israel Slate at the World Zionist Congress
- January 14, 2015
Jews are properly concerned about the well-being of Israel and wish her to be secure and prosperous, but what about security, wealth, and comfort of another kind -- the quality of Israel's air, water, and ecosystems? What about the physical condition of the eternal holy Land? What about climate change that, according to the Israeli Union for Environmental Defense (Adam Teva v’Din), may result in an average temperature increase of up to 6 degrees Celsius, a drop in average precipitation of 20-30 percent, severe storms when rain occurs, increased desertification, and an ...
Reject Keystone XL
- December 2, 2014
Dec. 2, 2014 Thirteen Jewish organizations, under the umbrella of the Green Hevra, have issued the following joint statement today publicly calling on the U.S. government to reject the Keystone XL pipeline: It has become abundantly clear that we are consuming far too many fossil fuels. In this Sabbatical/Shmita year, when the Torah calls for deeper gentleness toward the Earth, we are especially conscious of the dangers to the Earth from the drilling, transporting and burning of tar-sands oil. The resources that would be devoted to the Keystone XL ...
Climate Change and Elections
- November 6, 2014
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Over the past few months, most of us have been inundated with television, internet, and paper advertisements in connection with the 2014 elections. Certainly there are a variety of important issues, but unfortunately, even though the majority of Americans believe that climate change is real, a very minor percentage rank it as priority issue when making a decision how to vote (see http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/09/23/most-americans-believe-in-climate-change-but-give-it-low-priority/). This is somewhat disheartening, and is an area where I believe Jewish ...
Religious Environmentalists
- October 14, 2014
- 1 comment
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This month I want to highlight the various groups that continue to do amazing work throughout the various faith communities. Coming together as Jewish environmentalists to collaborate and share ideas is crucial, but I am also a strong believer in working with other faith communities, especially when it comes to advocacy. The following are several groups I think do fantastic work and can be excellent partners and/or resources in connection with environmental learning and activism: GreenFaith (http://greenfaith.org/): GreenFaith has an amazing fellowship program ...
Outdoor High Holiday Services with Ma’yan Tikvah
- September 25, 2014
Outdoor High Holiday Services with Ma’yan Tikvah – A Wellspring of Hope Rosh HaShanah Day 1, Thursday, September 25, 9:30 AM, Cedar Hill Camp 265 Beaver Street, Waltham, (accessible by MBTA bus) Click here to carpool to this service. Rosh HaShanah Potluck Dinner and Shmita Seder, Thursday, September 25, 6:30 PM, Location TBD, in Wayland Rosh HaShanah Day 2, Friday, September 26, 10 AM, Greenways Conservation Area, 60 Green Way, Wayland Kol Nidre Service, Friday, October 3, 6:45 PM, Church of the Holy Spirit, 169 ...
Climate on Rosh Hashanah – an existential threat to Israel
- September 23, 2014
Protecting Israel doesn't just mean getting off of Arab petroleum, it means getting off of all petroleum. If you're not advocating for that, you might as well be calling for the destruction of the state.
Earth Etude for Elul 21- What Does Atoning and Returning to God Mean?
- September 15, 2014
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by Rabbi Judy Weiss Ps. 27:1 "The Lord is my light and my rescue. Whom should I fear?" For an entire month before Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, we focus on atoning and returning to God. But what exactly, in real life terms, does atoning and returning to God mean? We plan our path to return by adding Psalm 27 to our daily prayers. This psalm repeatedly affirms hope in God. It ends with: Ps 27:14 "Let your heart be firm and bold, and hope for the Lord." As Robert Alter comments, the Psalm opens and closes with the same sentiment "It begins by affirming trust in God ...
The Book of Yonah and the People’s Climate March
- September 8, 2014
A month from now, on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, Jews all over the world will read the book of Yonah in synagogue. The book is an appropriate selection for the day when the Torah instructs us to “afflict your souls and don’t do any labor…because on that day he will atone for you, cleansing you; of all your offenses before the Lord you will be cleansed.” (Vayikra 16:29-30) In contrast to Vayikra (the Book of Leviticus), which describes an elaborate ritual to cleanse the sanctuary of metaphysical impurity, the book of Yonah explores the sometimes tortuous ...
Earth Etude for Elul 10- Topsy Turvy Bus
- September 4, 2014
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by Rabbi Margaret Frisch Klein The world seems a little topsy turvy these days. A plane missing. 223 girls kidnapped in Nigeria. 3 teen agers kidnapped and murdered in Israel. A plane shot out of the sky. Israel in Gaza. Rockets in Israel. Too many children killed in the streets of Chicago. Too many deaths. When does it stop? In the Fox River Valley, Illinois, after a punishing winter of epic proportions, it is nice to be outside. Six congregations, part of the nascent Prairie Jewish Coalition, sponsored the Topsy Turvy bus. What is a ...
Earth Etude for Elul 7- Rosh Hashanah Shemittah Seder 5775
- September 1, 2014
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Created by Rabbi Nina Beth Cardin, to be shared, celebrated, and enjoyed Click here for a downloadable version to print out and use at your Rosh HaShanah dinner. Ever since the first breath of creation, time has unfolded in cycles of seven. Six days reach their crescendo in the seventh day, Shabbat - the Sabbath, the day of rest. Six years reach their crescendo in the seventh year, Shemittah - the sabbatical, the year of renewal. Seven cycles of seven years reach their crescendo in the Jubilee year, the ultimate enactment of re-creation. All ...
Giving Yourself an Autumn Break
- August 31, 2014
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by Andrew Oram This time of year always seems a hurricane of activity: coming back from vacation to reams of email, or starting school, or dealing with all the pent-up housework that went blissfully ignored during the easy summer months. Traditionally, Jews see this time of year very differently. Like typical Americans, this period is for them both an ending and a beginning: a recognition of the waning of life and an invigorating harbinger of new possibilities. But in place of the chaotic hurricane that starts for us after Labor Day, many Jews launch a period of ...
Nuclear: Carbon-Free but Radioactive
- July 23, 2014
By Benjamin Kahane. Nuclear energy isn’t quite a fossil fuel, since unlike coal, natural gas and petroleum, nuclear is not powered by fuel that developed over millennia from pressurized dead organisms — but nuclear isn’t renewable, either, since it uses a finite non-renewable fuel source. Nuclear power also presents many environmental problems, such as how to handle its radioactive waste product, and, in extreme circumstances, is disastrous, such as in Chernobyl, Ukraine, and recently in Japan. Click here to continue reading this article
GZA Leads KKL-JNF Effort Against Fracking in Israel
- July 17, 2014
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By David Krantz. NEW YORK (Sept. 16, 2011) — Hydraulic fracturing and in-situ retorting for oil in Israel should be banned in Israel pending further research into the environmental effects of the relatively new fossil-fuel extraction techniques, according to a new report issued by Israel’s Keren Kayemet L’Yisrael / Jewish National Fund (KKL-JNF) at the initiation of the Green Zionist Alliance. Click here to continue reading this article
