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August 18, 2003 |
COEJL Community e-bulletin #9 |
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Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life
Save the Date!
Mark and Sharon Bloome Jewish Environmental Leadership Institute
Feb 22-24, 2004
Boston, MA
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IN THIS ISSUE:
TAKE ACTION: Close the Dirty Diesel Loophole!
CELEBRATE: Introspection in Elul
LEARN: Tisha B'Av, Tragedy, and The Temple
GO GREEN: Clean Car Conservation
SPOTLIGHT ON THE FIELD: Greater Boston COEJL Gets in on the Action
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TAKE ACTION
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Close the Dirty Diesel Loophole
"The quality of urban air compared to the air in the deserts and forests is like thick and turbulent water compared to pure and light water."
Moses Maimonides, "The Preservation of Youth": The Guide to Health, pp. 70-71
EPA is currently accepting comments on a strong and positive proposal that would extend the pollution control standards for diesel trucks and buses to other types of big diesel engines like bulldozers and tractors. Just one diesel bulldozer pollutes as much as 26 new cars. If enacted, the new rule would reduce cancer-causing particulate soot by 90 percent and smog-forming nitrogen oxides by 95 percent by 2014. Sulfur in fuels would be cut sharply enough to allow the use of catalytic converters. It is crucial that the administration receive as many supportive comments as possible by the August 20th deadline. Click here for information on how to act by mail or email.
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CELEBRATE
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Elul - Introspection and Tshuvah
This August 29th is also the first of Elul, the beginning of the Hebrew month devoted to introspection and to tshuvah (repentence / turning / self-betterment). Elul, as the prelude to the High Holy Days, calls us to focus on our recent shortcomings, and to commit to a more ethical and spiritual path from here on out. Our vidui / confessional prayers are, significantly, all in the plural: "we were arrogant, we betrayed our values, we consumed too much, etc.". How many of our mistakes affected the Earth? How many hurt our fellow humans, including future generations? As the year winds down, we name and confront our sins, so that we can ultimately turn our mourning into joy. Consider writing an "environmental Ashamnu", or acrostic of ecological shortcomings, to compel ourselves and our communities into affirming a sustainable path.
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LEARN
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Mourning and Warning
Last week we commemorated Tisha B'Av, the anniversary of the destruction of the Temples. We Jews, who still fast millennia later in remembrance of past tragedies, have a long historical attention span. But what about the present tragedies in which we're implicated, and those we're heading toward in the near future? If all of the Earth is God's Temple (see Isaiah 6:3 and elsewhere), then humanity is right now destroying the Holy of Holies, each and every day. For a fuller picture of how past and future grief meet in Jewish memory, click here to read a column by Rabbi Fred Scherlinder Dobb on socialaction.com.
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GO GREEN
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Working at the Car Wash, Yeah!
Summertime can find many people in their driveways washing their cars. Remember that vehicle-washing at home lets untreated waste water run off directly into the environment. In sufficient quantities, detergents, even the biodegradable ones, can have a toxic effect on a wide variety of marine life. Wash your car/truck/boat at a self-serve or commercial car wash. The water polluted with minerals, oil and detergents is funneled into a drain that is then either piped to a water pollution control plant for treatment or recycled. If this service is not available for you, then try the following:
Wash your car in a grassy area or on other porous surfaces like gravel so that the water can filter through layers before going into the ground.
Try using very mild detergent or biodegradable soap, (labeled environmentally-friendly, biodegradable and low phosphate), or if the vehicle is not too dirty, try using just water and a sponge.
Use a bucket and dispose of the water in the sink (so that it will be treated) and/or use a hose with a nozzle to stop the free flow of water.
Cover your car. It can reduce the need for frequent washing and waxing as well as protect the finish from fading.
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SPOTLIGHT ON THE FIELD
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Greater Boston COEJL Acts!
Thanks to the phone calls and emails of Greater Boston COEJL activists, state legislators restored many of the Governor's harshest cuts to environmental programs. Funding for all of the following programs were restored:
Recycling programs
Zoos
Blue Hills Trailside Museum
Riverways Program
Toxic Use Reduction Institute
Greater Boston COEJL continues its grassroots activism this month with "Pruning and Pulling: Helping Our Local Ecosystems", a program to water newly planted trees and remove invasive non-native plants so that plants that are native to the ecosystem can be planted in the fall. Sunday, August 24, 11:30 - 4:00 pm.
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