NCJWBCS Goes Environmental

Creating an Environmental Legacy will be the focus of our Public Affairs programming this year. 'For a generation, the environmental movement has told us to change our lifestyles to avoid catastrophic consequences ... those consequences are now irreversibly switching on; we need to revolutionize our lives if we want to survive'. (Jon Mooallem, New York Times Magazine 4/19/09)

State Public Affairs proposes a campaign to educate ourselves so that we may promote a conscientious environmental advocacy program that we will be proud to bequeath to future generations. We suggest the following goals:

study legislation to promote action alerts for state and federal environmental issues
educate to develop awareness of the social justice component in many environmental issues
discuss the pending Climate Change Bill to understand better its affect on our community
understand the environmental factors that impact our health and our vulnerable populations
and commit to developing sustainable consumption habits.

To this end we have planned a series of events concentrating on environmental issues and their impact on our local and global communities. We will be partnering with GreenFaith, an interfaith environmental advocacy coalition, to develop greater awareness of this critical subject. Our November Study Group will be led by Rabbi Larry Troster and will focus on 'Why the Environment Is a Jewish Issue.'

The General Meeting in April, during Earth Week, will feature a panel discussion entitled 'From Generation to Generation: Creating An Environmental Legacy'.

Our year's program will culminate in May with a bus tour of Toxic sites in New Jersey.

We hope you will all join us at every event and in all our calls to action as we advocate for a more healthy environment.

Our thanks to Paul Kaufman, NCJW BCS's 'first man'for providing us with his guidance and inspiration for this project.

Connie Hochberg, Gloria Lieberstein and Bea Podorfesky