Learn about the EPA’s Tier 3 Standards and how to take action!

Tuesday, May 28 at 2:00 pm EST

Register here: https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/121171406.

The EPA has proposed new Tier 3 air pollution regulations on vehicle and gasoline emissions to make our air cleaner. Join representatives from the American Lung Association, Consumers Union, and the Union of Concerned Scientists to learn how the EPA’s proposed new standards will be good for health, consumers, and the environment, and what you can do to support them.

Panelists

• Kesaaraa Wijeyewickrema, Manager, Clean Vehicles and Fuels, American Lung Association
• Shannon Baker-Branstetter, Policy Counsel, Consumers Union
• Rachel Cohen, National Outreach Coordinator, Clean Vehicles Program, Union of Concerned Scientists

Reserve your webinar seat now at: https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/121171406.

This webinar is a project of the Jewish Energy Network, which is mobilizing Jewish individuals to help their communities reduce energy use and increase energy advocacy within the Jewish community. Click here to sign up.

5/8/2013 11:29:00 AM

When our Washington-area Jewish community needs a voice in Annapolis, Richmond or before the D.C. Council, or when we need representation in broader organizational or faith group gatherings, or when we need to present in an organized fashion on any number of social or political issues, we rely on the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington to serve as our communal representative, connector and advocate.

Read the complete article in the Washington Jewish Week.

This year, only one week separates Israel Independence Day and Earth Day, which comes April 22. For those of us in the Jewish community who have particular concerns about the threats posed by the oil-rich regimes in the Middle East, this coincidence reminds us that moving toward a future that is less reliant on fossil fuels is good for geopolitics as well as the environment.

Read the full article here…

Adam Kessler is the director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia. Sybil Sanchez is the director of the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life.

NEW YORK (JTA) – Two weeks ago, JTA reported on a new alliance between Jewish leaders and domestic gas and oil companies. Called the Council for a Secure America, the alliance is based on a “common interest” between American Jews and domestic energy companies to “increase domestic oil and gas production and to decrease U.S. reliance on imported oil from the Middle East,” the report said.

Click here to read the complete Op-Ed in JTA.

click here for video and text of the floor speech

click here for tweets and quotes from the Task Force, COEJL, and other religious leaders

Register now!

Register by April 12 and Save $100!

Camp & Wilderness
Develop technical outdoor skills, enhance your ecological knowledge, and engage in practices to help you deepen your spiritual connection to Judaism and the natural world.

Congregational & Day School
Bring Jewish holidays, life cycles and agricultural cycles alive in your school or community through creative, hands-on Jewish environmental learning.

Farm & Garden  facilitated by Jewish Farm School  and  Adamah staff
Acquire the knowledge, skills and Judaic background you need to start a Jewish agricultural education program in your community.

Leadership & Activism
Explore specific environmental issues facing our global community and Jewish responses to these issues, while honing your ability to speak about and organize action around them.

“The training equipped us with battle-tested methods for effective community organizing, step by step,” said Stuart Reed of Hollywood, Florida. With his new skills, Stuart plans to organize Jewish congregations who are concerned about the impacts of sea level rise in coastal areas from global warming. Stuart feels more empowered because, “COEJL makes connections with local Jewish institutions and helps us overcome the obstacles we face.”

We need help to raise our collective voice on energy security, the environment, sustainability and economic vitality. If each of us chips in an extra $14 today, we can strengthen our network of environmental champions like Stuart as we approach our 14 x 14 goal.

Marla Davis, who works with young adults in the Jewish community of Columbus, Ohio, told us, “I have already started implementing the strategies I learned at the training.” Currently Marla is developing a leadership team dedicated to lowering her community’s environmental impact by reducing food waste. Marla points out that COEJL will play a vital role in helping her by “keeping me informed on national environmental issues and how to best communicate them within our Jewish communities.”

As participants start to implement their individual campaigns, COEJL will provide support and mentorship to help participants reach their goals. You can ensure campaigns like these come to life by making an online donation to COEJL today.

Pictures from the event can be found on COEJL’s Facebook page.

Read the full article here.

Read the complete op-ed in the Washington Jewish Week

“We praise President Obama for proposing the Energy Security Trust and prioritizing our nation’s response to the threat of global climate change,” said JCPA President and COEJL Co-Chair Rabbi Steve Gutow. “The President has highlighted his understanding of the moral urgency of reducing our contribution to the climate crisis. We hope to see regulations that enable us to achieve our national goal of a 17% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from 2005 levels by 2020.” COEJL is leading the Jewish community in an effort to reduce our Jewish energy use by 14% by the fall of 2014, the start of the next Shmittah cycle on the Jewish calendar.

“Reducing our nation’s reliance on fossil fuels would reduce serious environmental health risks, especially within our nation’s poorest communities, and ensure a cleaner and safer world for our children and future generations. As reflected by the President in his inaugural speech, we have a moral responsibility to ‘preserve our planet, commanded to our care by G-d,’” said Sybil Sanchez, director of COEJL. “In terms of next steps, we urge stronger implementation of the Clean Air Act, for example a limit on carbon emissions from existing coal-fired power plants. Further, while continuing to focus on energy independence, we hope that all steps toward clean energy prioritize environmental protection. Further, sufficient safeguards and regulations must be applied in the production of natural gas and all other forms of energy in order to protect groundwater sources, surface water sources, air quality, human and animal health, infrastructure and ecosystems.”

The Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life deepens and broadens the Jewish community’s commitment to the stewardship and protection of the earth.  Through a network of 27 national organizations and 125 community agencies, COEJL is mobilizing the Jewish community to address today’s energy and climate change crisis. COEJL is an initiative of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs.