Highlights:

• From the Director
• Leadership Institute 1999: COEJL Goes to Washington, D.C. for Largest Ever Leadership Institute
• From the Field: Jewish Environmental Activism Around North America
• Legislative Agenda
• COEJL to Launch National Environmental Campaign
• A Summary of COEJL's Strategic Plan
• COEJL Environmental Policy Platform

From the Director
I am delighted to share with you that COEJL is building the foundation that will enable us to transition from a short-term project into a permanent presence in American Jewish life.

COEJL was originally created as a three-year project with funds from outside the Jewish community to jump-start environmental education and action programs within Jewish institutions.

Over the last several months, a broad cross-section of COEJL's national and regional leadership has completed a strategic plan that outlines a vision for COEJL over the long term.

In addition to a new mission statement, which appears at the top of the masthead above, COEJL's plan articulates three core goals:

• COEJL seeks to enact a distinctively Jewish response to the environmental crisis;

• COEJL seeks to address environmental degradation and the pain and suffering that it causes; and

• COEJL seeks to strengthen the Jewish community.

A summary of COEJL's strategic plan is on page 6.

This year's Leadership Institute, our largest ever, took place in Washington, DC in February. It clearly embodied COEJL's vision,

The vitality of Jewish environmentalism was present throughout the Shabbaton, from a unique ecological Havdalah ceremony to workshops on spirituality and ecology and text study sessions exploring Jewish perspectives on a wide array of issues.

The bonds developed between individuals from across the religious streams of Judaism, the warm embrace of individuals new to Jewish life, and the fresh discovery of Jewish values that many experienced at the Institute all testify to the power of COEJL and Jewish environmentalism to strengthen the Jewish community.

Meetings with Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, EPA Administrator Carol Browner, and dozens of members of Congress demonstrated COEJL's capacity to effectively advocate strong action to protect human health and the integrity of creation.

And leaders of the ever-growing number of COEJL regional affiliates shared their efforts to put COEJL's vision into practice in their work across North America, each in their own unique way.

We all left the Institute tremendously excited and optimistic about COEJL's future:

We are fortunate to be blessed with ever more opportunities for our work to take root and flourish. With your active partnership, COEJL will continue to grow. Your energy to organize, your promotion of COEJL's mission, and your financial support are all critical to COEJL's success.

Together we can make a great difference--to the well-being of life on earth and the future of Jewish life. I look forward to our continuing partnership.

                    Mark X Jacobs

 
COEJL Regional Affiliates

 
COEJL Goes to Washington, D.C. for Largest Ever Leadership Institute
Gathering from 23 U.S. states, Canada, and Israel, 135 COEJL activists spent four days in February in and near Washington, D.C. They learned about Jewish environmental traditions, celebrated Shabbat, developed, organizing skills, and advocated environmental action to members of Congress on Capitol Hill and to senior Administration officials.

The 1999 COEJL Leadership Institute took place in conjunction with the annual policy conferences of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA) and Hillel. This year, the conference involved nearly three times as many people as the last Washington Institute in 1997. Following are highlights from the program.

A day like no other
"It was a day like no other," exclaimed Teri Cohan Link of COEJL of Southern California, "and I am a veteran of political meetings." Teri was referring to the third day of the COEJL Leadership Institute, when COEJL activists met with the two senior environmental enforcement officials in the nation: Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt and EPA Administrator Carol Browner.

The meetings were a testament to the seriousness with which political officials regard COEJL's leaders and activists. Both Babbitt and Browner spent significantly more time than they had scheduled to respond to the many questions COEJL activists raised during the meetings.

Vice President Gore Addresses COEJL's Progress
The following are excerpts of Vice President Gore's remarks to the joint meeting of the COEJL Institute, JCPA Plenum, and Hillel Spitzer Forum.

"The Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life ... has made tremendous progress in connecting the priorities that must be pursued to save our environment ... to the deepest values in your religious tradition ... values that can be found in most of the religious traditions on our planet.

"President Clinton and I have proposed a new livability agenda for the 21st century. We should have stores and schools and daycare near where people live--so you don't burn a gallon of gasoline just to go get a gallon of milk.

"We are proposing this agenda so that. communities have more integrity I in their meaning and focus and design, neighbors get to know one another and democracy is brought back to life. So that the kind of appreciation for the integrity of communities that was present at the beginning of our nation and through most of history is restored once again.

"We can have that kind of future, if we are willing to work for it."

COEJL Challenges Interior Secretary Babbitt
More than 90 COEJL leaders and activists met with Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, and five other senior Interior Department officials aides to express concerns about the lack of a comprehensive federal policy to preserve biological diversity and protect public lands.

During the three-hour meeting, Babbitt and his staff responded directly to a broad range of questions. Among the issues raised were concern about the slow recovery of many endangered species, the reauthorization of the Endangered Species Act; and the scientific validity of Habitat Conservation Plans (HCPs).

While Babbitt defended current Administration policies as necessary in the current political and economic environment, he acknowledged that scientists have raised serious questions about the ability of those policies to protect and restore endangered and threatened species

Secretary Babbitt concluded his remarks by telling COEJL activists that he respects the religious basis of their concerns. "Americans are committed to protecting biological diversity because they understand the landscape as a sacred reflection of its Creator," he said.

EPA Administrator Browner Talks with COEJL Activists
COEJL leader Sharon Bloome of Seattle, WA gave Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Carol Browner a warm welcome to the Institute, presenting her with a letter from COEJL praising her for her tireless efforts to protect the environment. The letter described Browner's work as embodying the biblical imperatives to choose life, to pursue justice, and to till and tend the garden which all life shares."

In her address to the Institute, Ms. Browner discussed the connections between environmental protection, urban renewal, and economic justice during a session titled "Sustainable Cities: A 21st Century Challenge."

Browner advocated support for the President's "Livability Agenda," which is designed to bring money and energy to local movements to preserve green space, increase public transit, create or restore urban parks, protect water quality, clean up abandoned industrial sites, improve transportation planning, and develop "smart growth" strategies.

The Spirituality of Ecology: Exploring Jewish Liturgy
The COEJL Leadership Institute was not only about preparing people for environmental activism, it was also the creation of a special kind of spiritual community. This community, though diverse in ideology and observance, was able to pray and study together to the benefit and spiritual growth of all its participants.

In workshops led by Rabbi Lawrence Troster and Rabbi Arthur Waskow, Institute participants explored the potential of Jewish liturgy to help individuals and communities develop environmental awareness.

An example of this occurred at Havdalah when Perek Shirah, a little-known traditional prayer composed of Biblical verses, was recited. This prayer demonstrates how our tradition understands Creation as a great choir of praise for the Holy One. Following are a few verses from Perek Shirah:

The heavens say: "The heavens declare the divine glory; God's handiwork the firmament recounts."
The earth says: "The earth is the Creator's, and all its fullness; the globe and all who dwell on it."
The elephant says: "How great are your deeds, Almighty One, your thoughts are very deep."

 
From the Field: Jewish Environmental Activism Around North America
New Regional Affiliates Forming
Galvanized by the 1999 Leadership Institute, activists in New York City, Southern Arizona, Las Vegas, Chicago, and Minneapolis are spearheading efforts to develop new COEJL regional affiliates.

Tu B'Shvat, Green Teams, and Political Action, Focus on Bay COEJL
In February 1999, 180 people attended Bay COEJL's first major program, a community-wide Tu B'Shvat seder. Joining in the planning and implementation of the event were Jewish National Fund, B'nai B'rith, Hillel of San Francisco, The Israel Center of San Francisco, The Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, and the Jewish Community Relations Council. Rented dishware and organic food (where available) were used so that environmental ethics informed both the practical and programmatic aspects of the seder. At the seder, participants designed cards to send to newly-elected Governor Davis urging him to preserve forests in a way that protects all species.

Bay COEJL's next projects are to organize educational programs for Earth Day, Lag B'Omer, and Sukkot. In addition, Bay COEJL is developing a Jewish Green Team to provide education and technical support to Jewish families, organizations, synagogues, and institutions interested in becoming more environmentally sustainable. The first Green Team project is the Marin Jewish Community Center, which approached Bay COEJL to help it reduce waste, cut energy use and costs and green its community events.

Bay COEJL is organizing an environmental advocacy workshop as part of the Jewish Public Affairs Committee of California's annual Mission to Sacramento in April. Jewish community activists from across the state will meet with elected state officials to discuss a number of issues, including concerns about environmental health and justice.

Rabbi Douglas Kahn, executive director of the San Francisco JCRC, notes that "Bay COEJL helps to draw in to the community environmental activists who have sought an avenue in which to express their activism within a Jewish context. This brings added opportunities for both organizations." The JCRC serves as Bay COEJL's organizational home and sponsor.

Hundreds Get Involved in Northwest Affiliate's "Ahavat HaAdamah"
Nearly 200 fourth-grade students from Jewish day and Sunday schools around Puget Sound gathered at Thornton Creek before Tu B'Shvat to plant 100 trees donated by the Seattle City Parks Department.

That evening, over 500 Jews of all affiliations and ages gathered to celebrate Tu B'Shvat at a seder sponsored by the Northwest Jewish Environmental Project (NWJEP) in collaboration with the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle, Jewish Education Council, Jewish, National Fund, Tree of Life Judaica & Books, Hillel at the University of Washington, and Chabad Lubavitch.

Through a new earth stewardship program called Ahavat Ha'Adamah (love of the earth), NWJEP educates Jewish youth about regional ecology and the importance of environmental preservation in the context of Judaism.

"We take students into nature, teach them about the natural world, and bring that into a Jewish context, using inspirational texts, prayers and hands-on activities;" explained Kevin Golden, a naturalist and NWJEP volunteer. NWJEP works in conjunction with regional environmental organizations to provide sites and materials for stewardship workshops. On April 18, NWJEP's Earth Day event will include both Jewish learning and hands-on action, including removal of non-native species, placing protective rings around trees, and clearing paths and hiking trails.

NWJEP also works with teachers and educators. "in conjunction with the Seattle Jewish Education Council's mini-CAJE (Coalition for the Advancement of Jewish Education), we conducted workshops with Jewish educators and provided training on how to introduce environmental education into the Jewish classroom," said Sharon Bloome, NWJEP co-founder and board chair.

"We are educating children, training teachers, working within the mainstream Jewish community as well as reaching out to the unaffiliated to bring awareness of, and, more importantly, involvement in caring for God's creation," said Larry Nicholas, executive director. "Our programs are moving people to a new paradigm of thinking about the environment, which will facilitate a Jewish contribution to the healing and care of the natural world."

 
Legislative Agenda
The following is an update of pending legislation in each of the four major areas of COEJL's Legislative Agenda. See COEJL's Environmental Policy Platform. To receive action alerts on these and other issues, join COEJL's Legislative Advocacy Network.

Environmental Health
The Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA), major pesticide reform legislation, was passed unanimously by Congress in 1996 to put children's health first when regulating pesticides. This Act is designed to ensure that pesticide residues on food are safe for children, not just healthy adults, as has traditionally been the case.

Unfortunately, hearings and bills are currently in the works to weaken or delay the implementation of the FQPA. COEJL encourages you to urge your Senators and Representative to allow the Administration to implement the Act as it stands.

Climate Change/Energy
In his FY2000 budget, President Clinton has requested more than $4 billion to promote clean, efficient energy sources, and for other efforts to reduce "greenhouse gas" emissions; $200 million for a new Clean Air Partnership Fund; and $3.6 billion in tax incentives over five years for climate change initiatives. COEJL strongly supports these programs.

On the legislative side, the "Credit for Early Action" bill, introduced by Senators Chafee (R-RI) and Lieberman (D-CT), is receiving mixed reviews among those advocating action to address climate change.

The Kyoto Protocol, which commits the United States to reduce carbon emissions to 7 percent below 1990 levels by the year. 2012, now awaits Senate ratification.

Biological Diversity
COEJL has endorsed the Endangered Species Recovery Act (ESRA) of 1999 as introduced by Representative George Miller (D-CA) on March 3. This bill, almost identical to the bill Miller introduced in 1997, is a proactive effort to aid declining species by setting recovery goals and providing incentives for landowners. Almost 70 Representatives cosponsored the bill before it was introduced. Companion legislation is expected to be introduced in the spring by Senator Lautenberg (D-NJ).

Headwaters Forest Agreement
In early March, the federal government and the State of California finalized an agreement regarding Headwaters forest and the management of Pacific Lumber Company lands. In exchange for $480 million in public funds, Pacific Lumber Co. will preserve 10,000 acres of old growth redwood forest and surrounding buffer areas, abstain from logging in three remaining ancient groves for 50 years, create 40,000 acres of streamside buffers, and allow independent monitors during timber operations.

The agreement has received mixed reactions among activists. While the agreement preserves more ancient forest than many expected, critics point out that more than 8,000 acres of "residual" old growth forest will be cut without surveying for endangered wildlife.

Sustainable Development
President Clinton and Vice President Gore have proposed a comprehensive "Livability Agenda." See above for more information.

 
COEJL to Launch National Environmental Health Campaign
In partnership with COEJL regional affiliates and national participating organizations, COEJL will launch a national action campaign in the fall of 1999 to address issues of environmental health. COEJL will organize the campaign through the broad distribution of posters and study and action materials; the recruitment and training of regional campaign organizers; and, depending upon the availability of funds, small action grants.

The campaign will engage Jewish organizations in action around three major issues:

Healthy Food and Farms: Our agricultural system relies heavily on pesticides and other toxic chemicals that pose threats to human health, wildlife, and the integrity of whole ecosystems. Yet there are many alternatives to conventional agricultural practices, which we as families and Jewish institutions can support to protect the health of our families, farm workers, ecosystems, and future generations. The COEJL campaign will involve Jewish institutions and individuals in education and action linked to the holiday of Sukkot. We will encourage Jewish organizations and families to support sustainable agriculture and to develop relationships with local sustainable farmers. One major effort is COEJL's current collaboration with the Central Conference of American Rabbis and the Religious Action Center to develop an action packet on these issues for all Reform synagogues in North America for Sukkot 1999 (July distribution).

Healthy Homes, Schools, and Shuls: Many of the common products we use in our homes, schools, and synagogues are toxic. This is of particular concern with regard to children and fetuses, who are more likely than adults to be harmed by toxic chemicals. Chemicals that have the potential to interfere with child and fetal development are especially worrisome. COEJL will provide materials to assist Jewish families and institutions in removing toxic chemicals (such as pesticides, cleaners, and paints) from homes, synagogues, schools, and other facilities, as well as provide information about safe alternatives. This part of the campaign will be linked to the cleaning out of homes and institutions in advance of Passover 2000.

Healthy Hospitals: Ironically, health care facilities are a leading source of dioxin and mercury pollution from the incineration of medical waste. These chemicals, even in very small quantities, can cause serious harm to human health. In collaboration with Health Care Without Harm, a national organizing effort, COEJL has already begun to involve regional affiliates and other institutions around the nation in efforts to encourage hospitals, nursing homes, and other health care facilities to adopt pollution prevention practices that can save money and save lives.

Watch for further information about the COEJL campaign.

Building a 'Fence Around Life'
COEJL introduced the themes of its environmental health campaign to COEJL activists at the Leadership Institute during a panel discussion on "Toxics, Health, and the Environment: Developing a Jewish Response." Introducing the panel, COEJL director Mark X. Jacobs pointed out that "when we as a society mass produce thousands of chemicals without first researching their effects, we are unwittingly conducting a massive, uncontrolled experiment on ourselves and future generations."

Rabbi David Saperstein, director of the Religious Action Center, focused on the impacts that our actions are going to have on all the world's children. Saperstein refuted the arguments put forward by industry representatives and others that we need conclusive proof of harms before we can take action against environmental contaminants. Claiming that such arguments are both irrational and not consistent with Jewish values, Saperstein argued that the Jewish approach is to meet potential harm head-on before it can unleash its destructive power. Citing the Jewish concept of building a fence around the Torah, Saperstein encouraged COEJL activists to "build a fence around human life" by advocating stricter testing of chemicals released into the environment.

Dr. Devra Davis of the World Resources Institute, a leading expert on environmental health, spoke about three elements of creation that were previously thought to be in the exclusive control of the Divine: the earth's climate, the sex of a child, and mother's milk. We now know that human beings are affecting the earth's climate. Every major industrial country is reporting a substantial decline in the birth of male children compared to female. And the breast milk of every woman on earth is contaminated with traces of DDT, PCBs, dioxin, and other pollutants. Furthermore, there has been a 30% increase in cancer in children since 1973. Davis encouraged COEJL activists to take action to protect ourselves and future generations from toxic pollution.

Rabbi Daniel Swartz of the National Religious Partnership for the Environment described the disproportionate effects of pollution on those at the lowest, socioeconomic levels. He pointed out that while the statistics imply that we are making significant strides in some environmental health areas, many of the gains to the population at large hive been realized by concentrating the harm on the nation's poorest members. Swartz urged COEJL activists to be vigilant in pursuing environmental justice for, all people, regardless of age, race, or class.

Become an Energy Star Congregation or Facility
The Environmental Protection Agency has created a program to help religious institutions become more energy efficient, reducing operating costs while helping to protect the environment. They can provide all of the information and technical assistance you need to become an energy-friendly building.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
National Council of Churches Energy Star Hotline: 1.800.288.1346
EPA's Energy Star Program: 1.888.STARYES or www.epa.gov/smallbiz

 
A Summary of COEJL's Strategic Plan
Protecting the Environment, Building Jewish Community
COEJL was initially established as a three-year (and then a six-year) project to engage the organized Jewish community in environmental study, action, and advocacy.

At its outset, COEJL was funded predominantly by the National Religious Partnership for the Environment (NRPE) with funds from outside the Jewish community. More recently, COEJL has begun receiving support from within the Jewish community.

During this five year start-up phase, COEJL has been in partnership with and housed by the Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA), which serves as a national coordinating body for 13 national and 125 local Jewish public affairs agencies.

In May 1998, COEJL's Steering Committee established a Strategic Planning Group, chaired by Arden Shenker of Portland, OR, to consider and articulate a vision for COEJL in the future. The plan was adopted by COEJL and ratified by the Jewish Council for Public Affairs at their annual Plenum in February 1999: COEJL is now in the process of recruiting a high-level board and raising the funds necessary to execute the vision outlined below.

Mission Statement
The Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life (COEJL) engages Jewish institutions and individuals in bringing the moral passion of Jewish tradition and social action to environmental stewardship in order to advance social justice, protect future generations, preserve the integrity of creation, and strengthen the Jewish community.

Goals and Objectives
COEJL seeks to enact a distinctively Jewish response to the environmental crisis:

• by integrating Jewishly informed environmental consciousness into the educational, religious, and practical endeavors of hundreds of Jewish communal institutions:

• by making Jewish environmental education and ecologically-conscious Jewish ritual observance commonplace among both grassroots Jewish organizations and Jewish families: and,

• by facilitating the development of a Jewish environmental ethic through outstanding Jewish scholarship on environmental sustainability and justice from the diversity of Jewish theological and legal traditions.

COEJL seeks to address environmental degradation and the pain and suffering that it causes:

• by engaging national and local Jewish public affairs agencies in the development of policy statements on environmental issues;

• by involving Jewish institutions and leaders in ongoing religious and civic coalitions that advocate the moral imperative to protect the environment;

• by serving as the voice of the organized Jewish community concerning the environment: and,

• by mobilizing hundreds of Jewish institutions and thousands of Jewish individuals to take action to protect the local, national, and international environment.

• by involving unaffiliated and marginally affiliated individuals, particularly young people, in Jewish learning, life, and community through Jewish environmental study and action;

  by fostering a Jewish environmental movement that conveys to young Jews through the deeds of the Jewish community that Judaism is profoundly relevant to one of their core concerns; and,

  by creating annual national, regional, and local education and action programs that bring together a diverse group of Jews--across denominations, generations, secular/religious differences and unaffiliated/affiliated differences.

Constituency Relationships
Jewish Council for Public Affairs: It is anticipated that COEJL will continue to maintain a close, organic relationship with the JCPA. So that COEJL can continue to serve legitimately as the voice of the organized Jewish community, COEJL by-laws will state that COEJL's public policy positions will continue to be based directly upon the policies of the JCPA.

National Participating Organizations: Current national participating organizations will be encouraged to: make an annual financial contribution; organize significant environmental programs at their national events; distribute the COEJL newsletter to grassroots membership and institutions; and, urge organizational constituents to participate in COEJL.

Regional Affiliates: COEJL will continue to develop regional affiliates in collaboration with agencies and activists around the country. Mutual obligations between COEJL and its regional affiliates will be articulated in COEJL's by-laws.

Grassroots institutions and Individuals: COEJL will work through its national participating agencies and regional affiliates to recruit COEJL liaisons at synagogues, schools, Hillel foundations, community centers, camps, and other grassroots Jewish organizations. COEJL will appeal to grassroots institutions and individuals for financial support.

Strategic Planning Group: Arden Shenker (chair), Sharon Bloome, Marvin Catler, Jerome Chanes, Sarrae Crane, Ted Eisenberg, Stuart Himmelfarb, Paul Minkoff, Debbie Morgan, Mark Pelavin, Nan Rich, Russell Robinson, Larry Rubin, John Ruskay, Steven Shaw, Daniel Swartz, Al Vorspan
Consultants: Richard Bobbe, Alan Ganapol, Mirele Goldsmith, Dr. Egon Mayer
Staff: Mark Jacobs