In the spring of 1992 at the invitation of Al Gore and Carl Sagan, the leadership of the major organizations in American Jewish life, eminent rabbis, denominational presidents, and Jewish U.S. senators gathered in Washington, D.C. to discuss the creation of a Jewish response to the mounting environmental crisis. Those present agreed that the Jewish community had a responsibility to address the crisis (see founding statement).

In 1993, the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life was created and charged with catalyzing a distinctively Jewish programmatic and policy response to the environmental crisis. COEJL was initially envisioned as a time-limited project to “jump start” environmental programs that would become permanently integrated into Jewish institutions.

Established by the Jewish Council for Public Affairs (then NJCRAC), the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, and the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, COEJL became part of the National Religious Partnership for the Environment to enact a distinctively Jewish programmatic and policy response to the environmental crisis.

• Mission Statement
• Founding Statement
• Ten Year Anniversary Report, "What's Jewish About Protecting the Environment?"
• Resolutions
• Finances