Why care about Israel’s environment?

You know, maybe all this talk about global warming, climate change, and the vulnerability of Israel’s environment is just a lot of hot air.

Why, I can think of at least 10 reasons to pop these hot air balloons. Maybe you can think of some more.

1. Like Moses, someone will become able to just strike a rock to get more water for Israel.

2. My grandson Noah heard that God will just bring a little deluge to revive the Dead Sea due to the wasteful ways in the rest of the world.

3. Since they invented drip irrigation, Israel’s scientists surely have the brains to invent a new clean energy source.

4. I have a dream that another Joseph will emerge to manage the drought.

5. Instead of climate instability, we have to concentrate on political instability, given the current Middle East conflicts.

6. No one else will accidentally or deliberately start another fire like that of the Mount Carmel forest.

7. The Jolly Green Giant of advertising fame will come to the rescue.

8. The Jewish community in the USA has enough of our own economic and environmental concerns.

9. If we reduce our carbon emissions in the USA, there will be a significant spillover effect in Israel.

10. Evangelical Christians in the USA will ensure Israel’s survival (at least until the Armageddon).

As you can see in this Purim spiel, only an April Fool would pay no attention to Israel’s environmental challenges.

If you doubt that, just go back and read Leon Cohen’s more serious page one article “Israeli woodlands fire inspires altruism and ecological thought” from last month’s Chronicle.

If you end up still disagreeing with me, a.k.a. The Jolly Green Giant of Psychiatry, then you can help Israel and the world by “going green” in any one of myriad ways.

You can conserve energy and reduce waste; contribute to environmental organizations like the Jewish National Fund; and be politically active.

This year’s Jewish National Fund Green Sunday will be devoted to addressing Israel’s continuing water shortage and the aftermath of the Mount Carmel fires. The event will be held on the Sunday, April 3, of April Fool’s Day weekend.

If you are called, please remember that this is no Purim spiel or April Fool’s joke.

H. Steven Moffic, M.D., is professor of psychiatry at the Medical College of Wisconsin.