Washington — If only a bit of oil really could burn for eight days and nights — as it did when the Maccabees defeated the armies of Syria — we would hardly be in the predicament that we find ourselves in today. It turns out that an abundance of oil could end up being more dangerous than a shortage.
Why? The oil we burn is dangerously polluting our planet. Not to mention sending big bucks to nations that sponsor terror and distort American foreign policy.
The miracle of the Chanukah oil that we have been observing for the past week marks a stark contrast between our lives today and those of our ancestors over two millennia ago. Oil was then a coveted resource. Today we take it for granted, burning it with abandon as we drive increasingly larger vehicles.
The latest figures on global warming show us that it is the single biggest threat on earth. This warming of our planet, which will bring rising seas, droughts, floods and migrating diseases, is the result of greenhouse gas emissions.
When we didn’t know that excessive burning of oil was warming the planet, who could blame us? Now that we know, continuing to do so is careless. Some would even argue criminal. It’s clearly not the Jewish thing to do.
By virtue of our covenant with God, Jews are charged with being stewards of creation. That’s something people of virtually every faith believe. Whether as Jews or as members of the community of faith groups, we have hardly proved our mettle.
Twenty-five percent of greenhouse gas emissions come from the United States (we only make up 4 percent of the world population). Further, 25 percent of our enormous contribution comes from passenger vehicles. Plainly put, the cars we drive are poisoning the planet, and it’s time to do something about it.
A moral choice
The Interfaith Climate and Energy Campaign, an alliance of Jewish and Christian religious leaders, is working to right this wrong. Led by the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life (COEJL) and the National Council of Churches, the campaign sent a coalition of religious leaders to Detroit Nov. 20 with an open letter to the Big Three automakers.
We traveled around town in hybrid gasoline-electric cars (Toyota Priuses), owned and driven by nuns, to bring the moral imperative to increase fuel economy into the public eye. In meetings with Bill Ford, Jr., and other executives at Ford and General Motors, we urged automakers to consider the environmental and geo-political effects of poor fuel economy (now at its lowest level since 1980).
We talked about the ethics of their marketing strategies, which have led to a dramatic rise in the popularity of SUVs, among the worst gas guzzlers. We asked them to rapidly develop and implement technologies — some of which are ready for production — that can reduce global warming pollution and help bring about global justice.
At the same time, we have asked religious leaders to reach out from their pulpits to encourage congregants to view buying a car as a moral choice. The message: Don’t check your faith at the door when entering a dealership, understand that the choices we make have consequences for all creation.
We as Jews have an opportunity to be or l’goyim, a light unto the nations, to bring a new awareness, and in turn, a new sense of responsibility, to this often ignored issue.
Why have we taken fuel economy standards into our own hands? Because last March the Senate watered down what would have been beneficial legislation to force automakers to increase the miles per gallon of their cars.
In rejecting the revisions of the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) Standards (the guidelines that set the miles-per-gallon level that a corporate fleet of cars must meet), our Congress proved that it is incapable of making the right decision on this issue.
At a time of acute awareness about the dangers of our dependence on oil, members of Congress yielded to the automakers’ PR campaigns and lobbying influence.
Improving vehicle fuel efficiency is an issue that demands our full attention. As a people that see God’s earth as an inheritance to our children, we run the risk of leaving them — and all the other children on Earth — empty-handed. I can’t think of anything less in keeping with Jewish tradition than that.
The Maccabees had to fight against powerful forces to liberate the Temple. Today we must muster a similar grass-roots strength to work against powerful forces to liberate ourselves from reliance on oil — and the foreign powers that control it.
As we wait for automakers to respond, and while we commemorate a tiny bit of oil outlasting even the greatest expectations, we should heighten our own awareness of how we can help make our own oil go further.
Unfortunately we cannot rely on a miracle this time.
Sharon Bloome is the chair of the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life. Joining COEJL in the Interfaith Climate and Energy Campaign are leading rabbis and organizations such as the American Jewish Committee, Hadassah, the Jewish Council of Public Affairs, the Jewish Theological Seminary, the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association and the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism.
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