Weinstein: "For all of that has been achieved since the first Earth Day in 1970, the escalating environmental travesties of the last year -- from record setting temperatures around the globe, to the devastation of Hurricane Sandy -- are bleak reminders of how much more must be done to arrest climate change and its effects."
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WASHINGTON, D.C., April 22, 2013 -- In honor of the 43rd annual Earth Day, Barbara Weinstein, Associate Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, issued the following statement:
"For all of that has been achieved since the first Earth Day in 1970, the escalating environmental travesties of the last year -- from record setting temperatures around the globe, to the devastation of Hurricane Sandy -- are bleak reminders of how much more must be done to arrest climate change and its effects. The damage to our earth over the years, whether through our own careless practices or through apathy that allowed such carelessness by others, must now be reversed. We must increase investment in renewable energy sources to compete with coal and gas, support a carbon tax or a cap and trade mechanism that ensures economic costs reflect environmental costs, and reduce our greenhouse gas emissions overall.
As Jews, we are aware of our responsibility to the next generation, l'dor vador, and to care for the world we bequeath to our children. We also cannot ignore the profound implications our environmental choices have on people in the developing world who are already suffering from climactic changes but do not have the resources to adapt to them. On this Earth Day, let us recommit ourselves to their future and to our own."
