Background on: "How Many Jews Does It Take to Change a Light Bulb?"

Get involved in this nationwide campaign launched by COEJL and the JCPA as a Jewish response to global warming. The campaign is engaging the Jewish community in awareness, advocacy, and concrete action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote energy conservation and sustainable legislation. This is one of those calls to action that can change how American Jewry responds to the daunting environmental problems confronting us and future generations.

The campaign has received enthusiastic support from all of the major denominations and numerous Jewish institutions with special mention of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, an early builder of this campaign. One hundred influential leaders from the Jewish community, synagogues, organizations, and activist groups representing hundreds of thousands more participated in our campaign launch meeting/conference call.

This initiative is helping congregations, Jewish institutions, and individuals purchase and install energy efficient, cost effective compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs. The campaign also aims to engage the Jewish community in energy legislation and advocacy, greening synagogues, and energy conservation.

Our message is as easy as changing a light bulb: If you could conserve energy and help stop global warming in one simple step, wouldn't you? CFLs use up to 75% less energy than incandescent light bulbs, while lasting approximately eight times longer. This means less production of greenhouse gas emissions, air pollution, and toxic waste. The average CFL will save its owner at least $55 in energy costs over the lifetime of the bulb! Your CFL will pay for itself in energy savings within two to three months (based on a 5-hour/day use and average electricity costs.) If every U.S. household replaced one bulb with a CFL, it would have the same impact as removing 1.3 million cars from the road.

We need you and each member of your community to be one of the many Jews to take this one easy action -- to install an energy efficient, cost effective compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulb to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Email climatechange@coejl.org TODAY and say: Yes, I want to be part of COEJL's CFL campaign to help stop global warming! In order for us to make a huge impact, we need everyone to make this commitment.

Climate Change Campaign Links:

• CFL Climate Change Campaign
• Take a Scientist to Synagogue
• COEJL's Climate Change Resources
• An Inconvenient Truth - info and study guide
• Climate Change and Energy News