Press Release 1/13/26: New York Jewish community responds to Governor Hochul's 2026 State of the State Speech

New York Jewish community unites to press Governor Hochul to protect our climate and communities and recommit to renewable energy solutions that look to the future – not to the past of dirty and deadly fossil fuels

More than 1,100 NY Jews from all denominations across the state signed onto a letter urging the Governor to invest in renewable energy solutions while resisting pressure from the White House and the fossil fuel industry to invest in more dirty, expensive, and dangerous fossil fuels 

“We share a deep love for our families, communities and the Earth; and we are deeply concerned that the effects of climate change—wildfires, drought, flooding, high asthma rates, and deaths caused by burning fossil fuels—will ruin everything we love.”

JANUARY 13, 2026 - Today, as Governor Kathy Hochul delivered her State of the State address, a broad coalition of Jewish climate organizations released a letter signed by more than 1,100 Jewish New Yorkers urging her to fulfill her promises to be a climate leader for the state. 

“In her address, the Governor exhibited voice and vision for solving many problems that face New Yorkers every day. We urge her as well to embrace the moral urgency of the climate crisis and the profound dangers it poses, and show resolve and climate leadership for our state,” notes the coalition. “She needs to find her voice in accelerating the transition to renewable energy – not through half measures and incremental steps, but by achieving the vision and spirit of the laws we have, in a coherent strategy.” 

The letter – sponsored by four organizations and signed by 45 clergy – reveals how deeply the Jewish community cares about the climate crisis, and illustrates how the overwhelming urgency to protect and preserve life unifies the community. 

While the letter notes that the Governor had previously delivered on some commitments – such as standing up for congestion pricing and offshore wind power, and signing the repeal of the 100-foot rule – the coalition cites recent actions that paint a distressing picture about her backtracking and making significant concessions to the fossil fuel industry. 

In late 2025, she approved permits for a new fossil fuel project, the Williams NESE Pipeline (which will escalate carbon emissions and accelerate the climate crisis, poison air and water, and raise prices for households); issued an energy plan that calls for fossil fuel investments and won’t meet goals in the state’s landmark 2019 climate law; and delayed a law aimed at electrifying new buildings.

In doing so, the Governor has cited concerns about affordability and the need for an “all-of-the-above” strategy. However it’s renewable energy solutions, not fossil fuels, that will keep communities safe, and pay off in the long run. Experts concur that new renewable energy projects (solar, wind, geothermal) are cheaper to construct and operate – even as they will minimize the incidence of climate disasters which cost both lives, and billions of dollars.

The letter states: “We are members of the Jewish Community across New York State—clergy, synagogue leaders, educators, and individual Jews who come from all denominations—Reform, Conservative, Reconstructionist and Orthodox, as well as those who identify as ‘just Jewish.’  We share a deep love for our families, communities and the Earth; and we are deeply concerned that the effects of climate change will ruin everything we love. This love and our Jewish values compel us to act in order to preserve life, a concept in Jewish tradition known as pikuach nefesh.”

The letter lays out three requests of the Governor: 1. Build more renewables quickly, and reject new pipelines and other fossil fuel infrastructure; 2. Create a roadmap to comply with the mandates and timeline of the state’s landmark climate law, the CLCPA; and 3. Meet with members of the Jewish community by the end of January.

The letter notes: “We’re counting on you to use every lever of governing you have to meet this moment of peril and opportunity.” And it affirms her potential for bold leadership, noting, “We offer you hizzuk (strength) to make New York the climate leader we know it can and should be.” 

The letter was organized by Adamah NY; Dayenu: A Jewish Call to Climate Action; Jewish Climate Action Network NYC; and Religious Action Center NY.

Quotes from NY Jewish climate leaders

Adamah NY 

“Adamah NY calls on Governor Hochul to lead with integrity and moral courage, placing the wellbeing of current and future generations, and of the one and only planet we share, at the center of her decisions.  We urge the Governor to uphold her commitment to a just and affordable New York, with climate justice at its core. Jewish tradition calls us not only repair the world (tikkun olam) but to do no harm (bal tashchit). Approving new gas pipelines or investing in additional fossil fuel infrastructure is unconscionable and compels us to oppose them.

More than 100 New York–based Jewish organizations in Adamah’s Jewish Climate Leadership Coalition recognize the urgency of the climate crisis and are committed to action. They, and many others, beseech Governor Hochul to stand firmly behind renewable energy—for a just, livable future we can all afford.”

–Dr. Shahar Sadeh, Director, Adamah-NY

Dayenu: A Jewish Call to Climate Action 

“We call on Governor Hochul to have vision and resolve, and to consider both the present and the future in making decisions about energy solutions. Investing in new fossil fuel projects will make New York less affordable, less healthy and, simply put, unable to thrive l'dor v'dor – from generation to generation. This is the moment to recommit to renewable energy that will power our state for decades, result in lower pollution and emissions, safeguard frontline communities, and enable us to heat and light homes, schools, businesses, and houses of worship.”

–Rabbi Jennie Rosenn, Founder and CEO, Dayenu: A Jewish Call to Climate Action

Jewish Climate Action Network NYC

“Our changing climate, as it affects the health of our environment and therefore of each and everyone of us, is not only a policy issue; it’s the most essential and consequential consideration we will ever face. As people who are guided by faith and moral obligation to protect all life, we dare not reverse course on our way to a safe sustainable future on this sacred planet. We urge the Governor to recommit to the mandates of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. She must boldly lead us out of harm’s way and through the calls to remain enslaved by fossil fuels. The way is forward; the time is now.”  

–Jeff Levy-Lyons and Wendy Seligson, Co-Directors, Jewish Climate Action Network NYC

Religious Action Center NYC

“We are dismayed by Governor Hochul’s investments in fossil fuel infrastructure, which raise utility bills in the short-term and damage our planet for the long-term. Jewish tradition instructs us: "Take care not to damage and destroy My world, for if you destroy it, there is no one to repair it after you" (Kohelet Rabbah 7:13). We know that today’s policy decisions will decide whether our children and grandchildren inherit a livable planet — and we call on Governor Hochul to invest in renewables, not fossil fuels, to ensure that they do.”

-Ben Elkind (RAC-NY Lead Organizer) & Jolie Schwab (RAC-NY Chair) 

Residential and Community Solar Energy Package Supported by JCAN NYC

By Jack Gorman, Member of JCAN NYC Steering Committee and Co-Chair JCAN NYC Advocacy Team

One of the most important things we can do in New York State and throughout the world is increase the availability of affordable and reliable solar energy to homes and businesses. To do this, we will need to enact measures that make building solar energy fields and connecting to solar energy sources practical and efficient. Solar energy can be accomplished in several ways. We are all familiar with the large-scale solar fields that generate electricity that is pumped into the electricity grid to power towns and cities. Smaller solar fields can also be placed in communities closer to where the electricity will be used, called “community solar.” Another type of solar energy is called “distributed solar,” which includes more local solar energy sources such as roof-top solar and placing solar energy units on balconies. All of these are important in increasing this vitally necessary source of sustainable energy that is proving less expensive and easier to build than fossil fuel energy sources.

Following our discussion with Michael Richardson, New York state climate activist and leader. at our November JCAN NYC general meeting, Michael provided us with a list of five bills currently pending in the New York State legislature that would go a long way to expanding development of and access to solar energy throughout our state. These bills are:

1. Accelerate Solar for Affordable Power Act (ASAP Act) (S6570/A8758)—raises distributed solar capacity goal to 20 GW by 2035 and includes multiple other provisions to make creating solar energy sources in New York more practical and efficient. This bill could save ratepayers billions of dollars and would create thousands of new, green jobs.

2. Resident Automated Solar Permitting (S5781A/A6270A) —requires municipalities with population over 5000 to implement automatic online permitting for solar systems. This would make it faster and cheaper for homeowners to install solar panels.

3. Community SOLAR Act (S8119/A9087)—shortens permitting timelines and lowers costs for community solar project development. This will help make solar energy available at reasonable costs for people who cannot place solar panels on their own homes and will create more local jobs.

4. SUNNY Act (S8512/A9111) --Solar Up Now New York Act exempts small-scale balcony or plug-in solar from interconnection and net metering requirements and prohibits utilities from requiring customers to obtain approval for using such a device or paying any related fee. This will remove barriers and red tape from installing small, plug-in or balcony solar units, making it much easier for people to install balcony solar in their homes.

5. NYS Residential Solar Tax Credits (S2626/A1373)--Increases the maximum residential solar tax credit from $5,000 to $10,000 and expands credit eligibility to include battery storage systems.

On the recommendation of JCAN NYC’s Advocacy Team, JCAN NYC supports passage of these five bills, which we call the “Residential and Community Solar Energy Package” during the 2025-2026 legislative session.

Interview with Jessi Thompson: author of the weekly call to action in JCAN NYC’s Pre-Shabbat Climate Action

(interview has been edited for brevity)

Welcome Jessi.  We’d love to get to know you and what inspires you to write the calls to action in the Pre-Shabbat Climate Action message each week.

First, please tell us a little bit about yourself.

I’m a professional musician and the mother of two teen-age boys who are avid baseball players.  As a musician, I’m a long-time violist with Daedalus Quartet and I freelance, teach and perform throughout the United States. I’m also a Dayenu Circle leader and member of the JCAN NYC Steering Committee.

Wow.  What else would you like the readers to know about you?

I am passionate about climate activism and really stumbled my way into the work which is probably true for so many.  It can feel intimidating at the beginning, but you really don’t have to know anything.   The key is to just start and figure it out from there.  There are many people who will help you to learn along the way.

How do you prepare for the weekly Pre-Shabbat Climate Action message?

I try to keep tabs on what’s going on, especially at the state level and where there are possible areas for Pre-Shabbat Cilmate Action readers to plug in by clicking and emailing.  People have such busy lives, I look for actions that are meaningful and fit our weekly schedule. Sometimes I add an extra that’s a little more involved, like going to a rally.

Why did JCAN NYC start Pre-Shabbat Climate Action?

We want to encourage New York Jews to make action a habit and regular, restorative part of the week, not so different from Shabbat.  No need to be an expert.  I see it as part of my job to explain that consistent, sustained, week-after-week support is critical to our success.  That’s how we got the Governor to sign the recent 100-foot repeal bill limiting new gas infrastructure.

What gives you the most satisfaction in your climate work?

Of course, it’s great when we get a win!  I also feel a sense of tikkun olam and that we all play a part.  While we can’t always get the outcome that we hope for, that doesn’t mean that our actions haven’t had impact, they set the stage for the future.  Hope is an action, not a state of being.  When we take action, we’re creating hope. 

Note: JCAN NYC’s weekly Pre-Shabbat Climate Action, a brief email sent every Thursday that prompts readers to take a simple but meaningful action on climate and inspires them with a short reflection grounded in Jewish thought and practice.  If you’re not a subscriber to Pre-Shabbat Action, please consider signing up now. 

JCAN NYC Advocacy Platform 2025-2026

JCAN NYC’s 2025-2026 platform falls in three areas as follows:

1.      Move Governor Hochul to do more to advance renewables and end fossil fuel expansion.   The governor wields substantial power in shaping the state’s climate budget, and she oversees key regulatory agencies, including the Public Service Commission. We believe that Gov. Hochul has power this year to make meaningful policy and program decisions and will therefore devote significant attention to influencing her.   As part of this effort, we will pursue the following activities:

a.      Continue to oppose new gas pipelines.

b.      Advocate that the NY Power Authority (NYPA) increases its commitment to develop renewable energy from 7GW to 15 GW by 2030.

c.      Urge a better NY State Energy Plan. This plan covers the next 15 years, but in its current iteration falls very short of what we feel is needed to meet the state’s CLCPA commitment.

d.      Urge Governor Hochul to sign the NY Heat Act as passed by last year’s legislature, thus rescinding the 100-foot rule.

e.      Continue to support issuance of the full regulations for the Cap and Invest program to fund the transition from fossil fuels to renewables.

f.        Collaborate with three other climate organizations to send a letter to the Governor on behalf of the NY Jewish community, urging her to adopt policies and programs that build renewable energy in the state and reduce carbon emissions.

2.      Double down on climate action in NYC once the outcome of the city’s mayoral contest has been settled and our next mayor’s priorities are clear.  As part of this, we may:

a.      Promote the Green Healthy Schools program as a member of the Climate Works for All coalition. Among other things, this program would improve HVAC systems in schools, put solar panels on the roofs of school buildings and create good green jobs.

b.      Strengthen and enforce Local Law 97. Our strategy for this will depend on the results of the November NYC mayoral election.

3.      Advocating for the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act, which came close to passage in Albany last year.  

JCAN NYC Testimony Regarding the Draft NYS Energy Plan

Testimony Before the NYS Energy Planning Board, September 30, 2025, by Wendy Seligson, JCAN NYC co-director,

Hello, my name is Wendy Seligson.  I am a resident of Riverdale in the Bronx.  I am here representing the Jewish Climate Action Network NYC, of which I’m a co-director. Thank you for hosting this hearing. 

Our members come from all denominations of the Jewish faith and also include those who identify as “just” Jewish.  We are compelled by our faith to act in order to protect and preserve life, a doctrine in Hebrew known as “Pikuach Nefesh”.  Our members are worried and we are not alone.

We are here today to ask you to invest more in clean energy.  The State Energy Plan must include specific mechanisms to finance the clean energy transition while ensuring energy affordability, including through Cap and Invest. This is our future.

We are also here to ask you to make the New York State Energy Plan a much stronger, clearer roadmap for complying with New York’s 2019 climate law, the CLCPA, which we advocated for at that time.  Among other things, the plan needs to:

• Lay out strong interim targets for achieving the CLCPA.   How can we meet our goals without clear, strong targets to achieve?

• build on the 2022 Scoping Plan.  We watched as the plan was created by experts with extensive public input.  We need to use it more fully.

• end gas expansion and ultimately New York’s dependence on expensive, outmoded fossil fuels

• undertake permit reforms to unlock clean projects more quickly and affordably

We have no time to waste. Please make this plan one that leaves no doubt that it will protect life today and future generations.   Thank you.

Why Sun Day Matters: A Jewish Call to Climate Action

By Sadie Shapiro, JCAN NYC 2025 summer intern

This isn’t just a climate event, it’s a mitzvah.
On Sun Day, communities across New York gather to demand bold climate action and celebrate clean energy solutions like solar power.

But for Jewish communities, this is more than just a general cause. It connects directly to core Jewish values and teachings.

Teshuvah in Action: Turning Toward a Better Future

In Judaism, teshuvah (repentance) is more than just saying "sorry." It’s a four-step process:

1. Recognize the harm

2. Take responsibility

3. Repair the damage

4. Commit to do better

Sun Day is a tangible way to actively do this. We recognize the damage caused by fossil fuels and climate injustice. So we take responsibility, as individuals, as communities, and as Jews. We show up to repair. And we commit to a better, more sustainable path forward.

Why Should Jews Care About the Environment?

Judaism has long-standing values that encourage caring for the world around us. Here are a few key ideas that relate directly to climate action:

Tikkun Olam — This means “repairing the world.” It’s a central idea in Jewish life and is about doing our part to fix what’s broken—whether that’s injustice, pollution, or damage to nature.

Bal Tashchit — This is a commandment that teaches us not to waste or destroy the earth’s resources unnecessarily. It’s a reminder that how we treat the environment matters and that we should act with care and intention.

Shmirat HaTeva — This means “guarding nature.” Judaism teaches that we are caretakers of the planet—not its owners. We have a responsibility to protect it, for ourselves and for future generations. The Earth is not ours to exploit—it’s ours to protect.

Lo Ta’amod Al Dam Re’echa (Do Not Stand Idly By):
Climate change is not just an environmental issue—it’s a justice issue. From heat waves that disproportionately affect communities of color to flood-prone housing and polluted air, Jewish ethics demand that we act. We cannot stand idly by.

Why Show Up for Sun Day?

Sun Day is a way for Jewish communities to live out these values in a visible and meaningful way. By participating, we:

• Show that Jewish voices are part of the climate movement

• Build connections between Jewish identity and caring for the Earth

• Help push for policies that protect people and the planet

• Encourage more Jews to see environmental action as part of their spiritual and communal life

You don’t have to be an expert to get involved. Just showing up, listening, and lending your presence makes a difference.

Let’s Be Part of the Solution

Caring for the environment isn’t separate from being Jewish—it’s part of it. Sun Day is one opportunity to take that seriously and join others who are working toward a better future.

Join us. Let’s take action together.

Why I Joined JCAN NYC: Uniting My Passions for Climate and Jewish Community

By Sadie Shapiro, JCAN NYC 2025 summer intern

When I first came across JCAN NYC, I felt instantly connected to its mission. JCAN doesn’t just talk about climate change in a general sense, it highlights the Jewish responsibility to care for the earth, rooted in our tradition and values. I realized how perfectly JCAN reflects the two most important parts of my life: my commitment to climate action and my deep connection to the Jewish community.

I am currently going into my final year at the University of Bristol, where I study Geographical Sciences, specializing in areas such as climate systems, sustainability, and environmental science. I have always felt a strong sense of urgency about the climate crisis, and with that, a responsibility to act, educate, and get others involved.

At the same time, being Jewish is a huge part of who I am. I have always been actively involved in Jewish life, both at home and at university, where I served as Campaigns Officer for the Jewish Society. I’ve seen firsthand how strong, supportive, and action-driven the Jewish community can be, especially when uniting around an important cause.

That’s why when I read more about JCAN, I knew I had to get involved. I reached out directly and asked if I could join them as an intern this summer, because I wanted to be part of the incredible work they’re doing.

I want to explore and support ways to get more Jewish communities involved in climate action. Climate change impacts all of us, and we need as many voices as possible pushing for change. What better place to start than within our own communities – communities that have always shown incredible power when standing up for what’s right.

JCAN NYC is doing exactly that. It’s showing that caring for the planet is a Jewish responsibility, and that we have a role to play in this movement, not just as individuals, but together.

I’m so proud to be working with JCAN and to be part of a growing effort to educate, empower, and mobilize Jewish voices for climate justice. This work combines everything I care about, and I’m excited to see how far we can go.

Great Books: Summer 2025

What would summer be without great books to read? We’re happy to share recommendations from some of the JCAN NYC members who are responsible for creating the highly popular pre-Shabbat message.

Ace Leveen,  writes the reflection section of the pre-Shabbat message

• Am I Too Old to Save the Planet?  by Lawrence MacDonald  A surprisingly easy read. We learn the short history of where things went wrong in terms of the climate and what we can do now. Read it and share it!  

• Orbital  by Samantha Harvey  A  gorgeous novel about six astronauts orbiting the earth sixteen times in one day. Harvey reminds us of the vastness of the universe and the beauty of the precious earth we are working to save. I loved it! 

Jeff Levy-Lyons,  writes the reflection section of the pre-Shabbat message

• The Secret Despair of the Secular Left: Our Fraying Connections with Our Communities, Our Bodies, and the Earth by Ana Levy-Lyons   This book examines how modernity and a secular framing of life cuts us off from the spiritual resources we need. It lifts up ancient religious practices to reground us in the fundamental relationships with our soul/bodies, our communities, and the Earth .

• The Pearl and the Flame: A journey into Jewish Wisdom and Ecological Thinking by Natan Margalit  Rabbi Margalit, a Jewish scholar and the founder of Organic Torah, draws on ancient wisdom to reveal the mistaken notion that humans are separate from, rather than a part of, a greater wholeness.

Rachel Landsberg,  writes the reflection section of the pre-Shabbat message

• I recently read Rabbi Yitz Greenberg's book The Triumph of Life: A Narrative Theology of Judaism. Rabbi Greenberg claims that God is One who loves life, and human beings are created to choose life in all that we do. As a Jewish climate activist, this theology speaks directly to me and helps give Jewish language to our climate work of creating a sustainable world built on justice and interconnections where every living being can thrive. 

Mary Krieger, manages outreach to synagogues and subscribers  

• The Book of Eels  by Patrick Svensson is a fascinating meditation on the cultural significance and life cycle of the mysterious eel.  You will come away with a renewed respect for the complexity of the natural world. 

Jessi Thompson,  writes the advocacy section of the pre-Shabbat message

• Limitarianism: The Case Against Extreme Wealth by Ingrid Robeyns.  Robeyns lays out a clear and compelling case for limiting the amount of wealth individuals can acquire. While not her sole focus, the impact of this problem on the climate crisis is a central pillar in her argument.  Not exactly a beach read, but surprisingly readable.

Hope on Earth Day

By Joan Seidman, JCAN NYC member

I arrived at the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan on Earth Day for a viewing hosted by JCAN NYC of select segments from 50 States of Sustainability, a documentary that focuses on innovative companies that are leading the way to a renewable economy.  I was grateful  for the beautiful spring day, but  my heart was heavy with the news that President Trump had issued an executive order opening up the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument west of Hawaii to commercial fishing.  My spirits were buffeted back and forth between awe at nature’s beauty and the sense of powerlessness I often feel. How will we get out of this mess?  How can we save the planet?  

The three segments from 50 States of Sustainability gave me some hope that, behind the scenes, away from the hype and the headlines, there are smart, dedicated young people working on groundbreaking projects that promote sustainability, among them Byron Kominek who, at Jack’s Solar Garden in Colorado, combines the production of solar energy and locally grown food for his community. In Vermont, Kyle Clark and his team at Beta Technologies have developed two types of all-electric airplanes along with a network of charging stations.  And Sea Briganti’s Missouri-based company, Loliware, has come up with a new technology that uses ocean-farmed seaweed to replace plastic.  Who knew? 

As an added bonus, Larry Confino, the director/producer, was on hand to talk about what motivated him to make the documentary, as well as some of the moving experiences he had as he traveled across the country to film it.  It was an evening to inspire hope in everyone present.

If you are intrigued, you can find a trailer for the series here.  If you would like to view the Q&A that followed, the JCC has made it available on its YouTube channel.

Reflection at Pesach: Matzah, Charoset, and Karpas

By Rachel Landsberg, JCAN NYC member

Soon we will be celebrating Pesach, the holiday that marks our journey from slavery to freedom. Passover begins, on the first night, with the Seder; we spend the night sitting around the table eating symbolic foods and telling our story. The eating and the storytelling are intertwined, so much so that we have a seder plate (or several) that adorns our table as well as a plate of matzah that is lifted up and covered and uncovered at choice moments throughout the Seder. The symbolic foods of the Seder assist us in telling the story.

Let’s look a bit more deeply into three of the symbolic foods we eat - the matzah, the charoset and the karpas.

As we open up the seder to tell our story, we begin with the words הָא לַחְמָא עַנְיָא - “This is the bread of poverty that our ancestors ate while in Egypt.” We begin our story with the matzah. Rashi, commenting on the term לחם עני / the bread of affliction (Deutoronomy 16:3) suggests that the matzah is referred to in this way because it is a bread that calls to mind the affliction to which the Israelites were subjected in Egypt. But the symbolism of the matzah does not end there. The matzah is also our bread of freedom and redemption. In response to the question, מַצָּה זוֹ שֶׁאָנוּ אוֹכְלִים, עַל שׁוּם מַה? “This matza that we eat: what does it recall?” the haggadah tells us, 

עַל שׁוּם שֶׁלֹּא הִסְפִּיק בְּצֵקָם שֶׁל אֲבוֹתֵינוּ לְהַחֲמִיץ עַד שֶׁנִּגְלָה עֲלֵיהֶם מֶלֶךְ מַלְכֵי הַמְּלָכִים, הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא, וּגְאָלָם

“It recalls the dough of our ancestors, which did not have time to rise before the Ruler of Rulers, the Holy One, blessed be God, revealed Godself and redeemed them.” The matzah, then, not only reminds us of the affliction and oppression the Israelites experienced – the hard labor, the uncertainty, the suffering - but also the redemption that comes perhaps when you least expect it, when you are unprepared, when your bread has not yet risen.

Another food we use to tell the story of the Israelites in Egypt is the charoset. The Talmud offers two explanations as to why we eat charoset on the night of the Seder. Rabbi Yochanan posits the more widely known position that the texture of the charoset resembles the mortar that the Israelites used to build the cities of Egypt. The charoset reminds us of the physical labor the Israelites endured as slaves. Rabbi Levi offers a drastically different suggestion:  the charoset serves as a remembrance to the “apple tree.” The apples of the charoset harken back to the apple orchards where the continuity of the Israelites was guaranteed. The Israelite women went to deliver their babies under the apple trees, away from the Egyptians, to protect the baby boys under threat from Pharaoh’s decree to kill them. And the Israelite women seduced their husbands under the apple trees to make sure the Israelite nation would continue to procreate and grow.  The charoset, like the matzah, symbolizes two contrasting realities - the impasse and “going nowhere” nature of slavery in contrast to the hope of a future and the commitment to ensure continuity and perpetuity.

The third food to mention is the karpas. The word karpas originates from the Greek word karpos, which means the fruit of the soil. The eating of karpas is often fulfilled by dipping parsley into salt water. The salt water, we are told, symbolizes the tears the Israelites shed because of their bondage. The parsley in its green-ness, reminds us of spring, hope, new beginnings, the birth of a people. Whereas the matzah and the charoset carry dual and opposing symbols, the dipping of the karpas in salt water carries both the idea of slavery and the hope for redemption simultaneously.

As we continue to tackle climate change and face big hurdles under the new administration in this country and as the challenges of addressing climate change globally persist, these foods of the Passover seder can serve as an inspiration to us. They help remind us of the Jewish belief in the possibility of transformation, at any moment, no matter how hard things are, no matter how impossible it seems to bring about change. Our bread of affliction can turn into our bread of redemption that we carry with us as we leave Egypt. The harsh conditions of slavery do not preclude the possibility of a future. Our tears from the past mingle with our joy in witnessing a new dawn.

May we use Passover and these symbolic foods from the Seder to acknowledge the pain and the suffering and the tears that climate change has wrought around the world while simultaneously embracing and working towards the possibility of transformation, redemption, perpetuity and new beginnings.

To keep New York families healthy, it's time for Cap-and-Invest

Letter to the Editor from Jack Gorman, Activist and Co-Founder of Critica, a Bronx non-profit that works to improve the public’s understanding of science, published in the Riverdale Press, March 2025.

It’s cold these days in New York, and  many New Yorkers are freezing at home, struggling to afford their utility bills. A staggering 1.3 million New York households are now 60 or more days behind on their utility bills. Unsurprisingly, it now costs more than ever to heat an apartment in New York City, to the tune of $200/month. Yet despite these grim statistics, Con Ed is demanding a nearly 13.5% new rate hike for natural gas, which would begin next year The fact that a public utility is raising prices in this context makes devastatingly clear what many of us in the climate-justice community have known for a long time: Our system of heating homes with fossil fuels is broken. Paying exorbitant rates for natural gas is increasingly economically and environmentally untenable. We need action from Albany to alleviate this affordability crisis, ideally by funding cleaner, cheaper sources of energy. To that end, it’s crucial that Governor Hochul implement the New York Cap and Invest Program (NYCI) without delay. 

I am a lifelong New Yorker and a retired Bronx physician. Like many New York doctors  of my generation, I still remember taking care of children suffering violent asthma attacks–which I saw routinely when I was a pediatric intern nearly 50 years ago. I vividly remember wondering then what caused so many  children to gasp for air. But it was only years later that we learned how air pollution, caused by burning fossil fuels to heat our homes and run our cars, had devastated air quality in the Bronx and triggered a dramatic spike in childhood asthma rates in Black and Brown communities. It gave me firsthand professional exposure to the urgency of shifting away from polluting fossil fuels. 

New York State has a clear path to solve the present  energy and climate crisis. Energy from sustainable sources, like solar and wind, is increasingly cheaper than fossil fuels. Cities dedicated to increasing their use of sustainable energy, like Burlington, Vermont, have realized significant energy savings. We need to get New York State on track to liberate us from expensive and dangerous fossil fuel dependence.

Fortunately, New York has already taken a gigantic step in the right direction. In 2019, our state passed the Climate Leadership and Protection Act (CLCPA), mandating that we get off fossil fuels by 2050. But now comes the hard part: we need to pay for this transition. To do that, New York is legally required to implement its  Cap and Invest program (NYCI), which will raise revenue for such efforts by limiting the amount of greenhouse gases that companies can release and placing a fee on emissions by large-scale polluters in our state. Effectively implemented, NYCI could raise $5 billion in 2025 and 2026, increasing to over $10 billion a year starting in 2027. That money would then  be directed to a variety of projects speeding our transition to clean energy, reducing our energy bills, and decreasing the many health risks we suffer from burning fossil fuels.

NYCI is a win-win for communities and the climate, but Governor Hochul is refusing to take action in this moment. The draft regulations needed to  kickstart NYCI  were due  to be released last summer. Nine months later, we’re still waiting on them. Accordingly, the cost of inaction is only getting higher. And while we struggle to pay ConEd’s exorbitant rates, we are forced to breathe polluted air that continues to give  our neighborhoods some of the highest rates of asthma-related hospitalizations and deaths in the country. 

Climate change deniers may try to tell us that programs like NYCI are too expensive or  inconvenient. And to this end, attempts to finance the transition to clean energy sources have faced cumbersome  challenges. For example, New York’s Climate Change Superfund Act, a new law that will pump billions into the state’s climate projects, is being challenged  by Republican  states intent on maintaining their fossil fuel businesses.  This challenge, though, only points towards the strength of New York’s climate initiatives: these states are intent on crippling programs they know will push towards a less polluting future. Rather than shying away from a fight, Governor Hochul should take the next step in New York’s transition by implementing NYCI.

Amidst warmer winters and drier summers, we know that we must move away from burning coal, gas, and oil. Taxpayers should not be asked to shoulder the burden of the damage polluters have caused, nor should they continue to pay exorbitant utility bills to a dying industry. NYCI  is a  clear path for our state to  pay for its legally mandated transition to sustainable energy.  Now it’s time for the Governor to hold up her end of the bargain. 

Gov Hochul, There’s No Time to Waste

This article appeared in the JCAN NYC newsletter published on February 2, 2025.

Governor Hochul has delayed the implementation of regulations for the Cap-and-Invest program that would provide  billions of dollars to fund clean energy projects to help achieve the state’s climate law mandates and would offset the cost to low- and moderate-income households.  After suggesting she would release the long overdue regulations for the program in early 2025, she failed to include a concrete plan in her proposed budget. 

Governor Hochul claims to be concerned about affordability but fails to recognize that rising utility, insurance, disaster remediation and other climate crisis-related costs are beyond low and moderate income New Yorkers.  A study issued by the NYC Environmental Justice Alliance concluded that if the Cap-and-Invest program were designed with rebates for New York households making $200,000 or less, overall household expenses will remain steady or decrease,  while the investments in clean energy projects will help to minimize future costs  Eddie Bautista, Executive Director of the NYC Environmental Justice Alliance, explains this and the overall program in a January 28th interview on Inside City Hall.

JCAN NYC is joining with a large number of advocacy groups, including NY Renews, the New York  League of Conservation Voters, and Environmental Advocates, to call on Governor Hochul to release the regulations for the Cap-and-Invest program.  On January 22,  JCAN NYC members joined over 400 individuals from across the state at a NY Renews rally to support this call to the governor.   

Governor Hochul and the NYS Legislature need to hear from New Yorkers that there’s no time to waste.  With fossil fuel companies and utilities doing everything they can to slow down progress on climate, our leaders need to get the message loud and clear that we have a moral obligation to take bold action on climate and that delay will make addressing the crisis exponentially more costly for all New Yorkers.  Please respond to the calls to action that you receive as often as possible.

Applying Jewish Wisdom to Protecting the Planet

By Rabbi Yonatan Neril, Founder and Executive Director, Interfaith Center for Sustainable Development

“Rabbi Amorai asked: ‘Where is the Garden of Eden?' He replied: ‘It is on earth.'”

Two recent hurricanes— Helene and Milton—impacted millions of people, animals, trees, and insects in the South. Hurricane Helene preceded Rosh Hashana, and Hurricane Milton made landfall in Florida before Yom Kippur, as the second-most intense Atlantic hurricane ever recorded over the Gulf of Mexico. At a time when Jews engage in spiritual introspection, these hurricanes can serve as a wake up call for the ecological crises that we are collectively responsible for.

I appreciated speaking recently at Congregations Darkhei Noam and Ramath Orah during NYC climate week. As the founder and director of the Jerusalem-based Interfaith Center for Sustainable Development, I’m working to unleash the power of clergy and faith communities as change agents for climate action. The faith community is a sleeping giant in regards to climate action. There exists a significant need to engage religious communities on climate change. A widespread view among religious adherents is that religion is separate from ecology and climate change. Most Torah, Bible and Koran study, teaching and preaching occur without relation to the greatest crisis facing humanity today—the climate crisis.

Jewish tradition contains several core values that relate deeply to addressing the climate crisis. 

First, Jewish teachings emphasize consuming in moderation since people find true satisfaction in spirituality, community, and family. Spiritual living should bring consciousness to our consumption. To rise to this ultimate challenge for human civilization, we have to raise our spiritual awareness and maturity. A person can exist at varying levels of soul awareness, but a sustainable planet will require that we learn to live and thrive at higher levels of spiritual consciousness. 

Second, Jewish wisdom highlights the importance of foresight and long-term thinking. About 1,500 years ago, the rabbis of the Talmud taught: “Who is the wise person? The person who can see the effect of their actions.” We can prioritize the future of our children and grandchildren above our own standard of living. Spiritual awareness can help us recognize the link between our actions and the larger problem, while cultivating foresight, concern, and change.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, Jewish tradition embodies hope. Some people—out of terror, anger, or depression—despair of our ever returning to personal and planetary balance and sustainability. Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks of blessed memory wrote, “Hope is a human virtue, but one with religious underpinnings. At its ultimate it is the belief ... [that God] is mindful of our aspirations, with us in our fumbling efforts, that He has given us the means to save us from ourselves; that we are not wrong to dream, wish and work for a better world. Hope is the knowledge that we can choose; that we can learn from our mistakes and act differently next time.”

Many people fear that humans have irrevocably destroyed the ecology of “Eden” on earth. But God created the world out of love for life on earth. We can find in the Hebrew Bible and Jewish tradition deep inspiration for fulfilling the blessing of all life, for changing course to preserve God’s creation, and for sustaining human life in harmony with nature and all of God’s creatures. Jewish teaching can reveal a spiritually grounded vision for both long-term sustainability and immediate environmental mindfulness and action.

Some people believe religion is separate and distinct from ecology or care for God’s creation. Most Hebrew Bible study, teaching, and preaching occur without addressing the ecological crisis, the greatest crisis facing humanity. An ancient Jewish commentary on the Hebrew Bible, the Midrash, teaches that "God gazed into the Hebrew Bible and created the world." The Divine teaching is a blueprint for all of creation and instructs us about living sustainably in the world God created. 

Applying Jewish teachings to stewardship of God’s creation is not just an idea for today, but essential for a future in which we achieve a balanced, worldwide ecosystem and thrive on a planet viable for all life. Jewish wisdom can provide important messages for striving to find balance, and relate to a range of critical, contemporary ecological challenges, such as preserving animal and plant biodiversity, ensuring clean air, land, and water, and showing compassion to both domestic and wild animals. Each of us can take many different kinds of actions that sustain the world and sustain our souls. “Study is not the most important thing, but action,” Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel says. For practical steps you can take for a more sustainable planet, click here. 

On Rosh Hashana, We Are Commanded to Listen to the Sound of the Shofar

By Rachel Landsberg, JCAN NYC member

The season of sounding the shofar is upon us:  Soon we will be hearing one hundred blasts of the shofar as we usher in the New Year on Rosh Hashana.  The shofar wakes us from our slumber and compels us to do teshuva — to return to ourselves, to recommit to repairing our world, to mend our mistakes from this past year.  These blasts harken back to important communal moments when the shofar was sounded:  the Israelites standing at Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments; the shofar joining other instruments in a symphony of celebration, praise and joy; heralding the new moon or messaging the dangers of an impending war; a signal of redemption and liberation yet to come. 

Interestingly, the blessing that is recited over the blowing of the shofar on Rosh Hashana does not make reference to the act of blowing itself but rather to the act of hearing:

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה' אֱלֹקינוּ מֶֽלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָֽׁנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתָיו וְצִוָּֽנוּ לִשְׁמֹֽעַ קוֹל שׁוֹפָר / Blessed are You God Who commanded us to hear the sound of the shofar.   

We are commanded to listen to the voice of the shofar.  

The Shulchan Aruch, a code of Jewish law compiled in the 16th century, begins its section on the laws of blowing shofar with the following statement:

 שׁוֹפָר שֶׁל רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה מִצְוָתוֹ שֶׁיִּהְיֶה כָּפוּף כְּדֵי שֶׁיִּכְפְּפוּ אֶת לִבָּם לְהַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא בַּתְּפִלָּה.

‘For optimal fulfillment of the mitzvah, the shofar that is sounded on Rosh HaShanah should be curved, as a reminder that people should bend their hearts towards the Holy One Blessed Be God in prayer.’  According to the Shulchan Arukh, the sounding of the shofar helps us bend our hearts and moves us closer to God.  That act of listening has a profound impact on us, allowing us to feel God more fully, which in turn, paves the way for us to find our words, our prayers, and our intended future actions.

The message of the shofar and its emphasis on listening, can be particularly instructive this New Year.  First, let us use the various sounds of the shofar - the broken cries; the loud, jubilant blasts; and the decisive wake up calls to action – to help us listen to and reflect on the past year and set intentions for the coming year in our climate work.  

• Where did we make a difference, collectively and individually?  What risks did we take?  

• What were the defeats?  Where did we fall short?  

• How can we build on our experiences from the past year to inform our climate work this year?  What new things would we like to try?  

• How can we use community and our Jewish values to ground us in the work and to sustain our efforts in the coming year?

Second, let us use the sound of the shofar to reframe what it means to engage others – around the upcoming election, around climate, around other substantive  issues that we face at this moment.  The opening words of the Shulchan Aruch can guide us in centering the act of engaged listening - rather than talking - in our interactions. We can decide to draw closer to others and listen, even those with whom we disagree, rather than turn away.  We can bend our hearts towards the spark of the Divine that is found within all of us, and reach for commonality and connection despite any differences.  The Shulchan Aruch suggests that when we allow ourselves to bend our hearts, open ourselves up and truly listen, we are able to find the words or prayers or actions that will help propel us forward.  

May we merit a new year filled with blessings, with hope, with determination, with community and with deep, engaged listening as we continue in the holy work of building a sustainable future and world for all of God’s creatures.

Imagining Future Generations: Why JCANY NYC supports Local Law 97 and opposes Intro 772

The Babylonian Talmud tells the story  of the righteous man Honi who meets an elderly woman who is planting a carob tree.  He asks her when it will bear fruit and she answers that it will bear fruit in 70 years.  He asks her if she thinks she’ll live another 70 years, and she replies:  Just as my ancestors planted trees for me, I am planting trees for my children and grandchildren so they will have carob to eat. 

JCAN NYC members imagine the future for our children and grandchildren and for all New Yorkers.  That’s why we support Local Law 97, because it will substantially reduce harmful, climate-polluting emissions for generations to come, and why we oppose Intro 772 which cynically undermines Local Law 97.   Last week we joined the New York City Environmental Justice Alliance, WEACT For Environmental Justice, New York Lawyers for the Public Interest and other members of the Climate Works for All Coalition to submit a Memo of Opposition to Intro 772 to City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams.  Add your voice now; call your City Council member (Find your Councilmember here) and City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams (718-206-2068) and tell them that you join JCAN NYC in opposing Intro 772.  If your Councilmember is on the bill, ask them to get off of it. Read on to learn more.

Local Law 97

Local Law 97, the centerpiece of New York’s landmark Climate Mobilization Act, was adopted in 2019.  The law requires that buildings over 25,000 square feet decrease their emissions by adopting energy efficiency measures, shift to renewable energy and implement other climate-friendly measures. Buildings are the single largest source of harmful emissions (estimated at 70%) in New York City. The benefits to New Yorkers from Local Law 97 are enormous:

•  Dramatically cleaner air for all New Yorkers, especially in environmental justice communities  overburdened by harmful emissions

• Much lower energy and utility bills now and in the long term

• Tens of thousands of new, good green jobs to perform the work needed to comply with the law

• Drastic reduction in harmful emissions that drive climate change

The law was thoughtfully designed by a wide mix of stakeholders with protections and support for building owners, including residents of co-ops and condos. The law recognizes the need to take things step by step to gradually make the big change we need:

• Building owners were given five years after the law was adopted to prepare to comply with the first set of standards, which took effect this year.  Owners continue to have time to plan for and comply with progressively higher standards that take effect every five years, so that they can achieve reductions when building systems are replaced and repaired.

• The Buildings Department is required by the law to address hardship.  In the 2023 rule-setting process, owners were given the option for an additional two years to begin compliance and to purchase unlimited Renewable Energy Credits to help offset the emissions.  Active rule-making continues in this area, as does  the search for solutions for building owners facing genuine obstacles to compliance when making reasonable efforts.

• Resources and support have been developed alongside the rollout of the law.  New York City provides free technical assistance through the NYC Accelerator and has created the NYC Energy Efficiency Corporation, Buildings Energy Exchange and CUNY Building Performance Lab to provide help.  There are also public and private financing options and state and federal financial incentives.

The law is working.  Many buildings have raised their efficiency level.  Initially it was estimated that 20% of buildings would not be able to comply with the 2024 standards;  it is now estimated at only 10%.  Design professionals, contractors, lenders and workers are all helping to shape a new industry to achieve clean energy in New York City.

Intro 772

On the surface, Intro 772 appears to contain technical provisions that amend Local Law 97.  But if you dig deeper, you can see just how cynical these amendments  are and how they eviscerate Local Law 97.  Some experts believe that these changes would effectively exempt most co-ops and condo buildings from Local Law 97.

•  Intro 772 would include open and green spaces as part of the square footage of condos, co-ops and garden-type maisonette dwellings; this would artificially inflate these building’s performance and undercut the requirements to reduce emissions.  By cynically increasing a building’s square footage with open and green space, the building’s emissions will appear to be lower per square foot. Yet, open and green spaces have nothing to do with a building’s emissions or whether the building is experiencing hardship complying with the law. 

• Co-ops and condos whose average assessed value is less than $65,000 per apartment would benefit from delays and special protections.  There are many co-ops and condos that can comply with the law without hardship, including large middle and upper-middle income co-ops, that would qualify for delayed penalties and special protections under this standard.  When it comes to standard setting, even J-51 protections are limited to projects where the average assessed value is less than $45,000 per apartment.  To protect the integrity of Local Law 97, co-ops and condos should be required to follow the law’s hardship regulations. 

• Intro 772 would require the NYC Department of Buildings to consider whether to grant an adjustment due to prior work; even though the standards set in Local Law 97 take prior work into account.  This would enable certain buildings to double-count the benefit of the work performed.

Local Law 97 puts New York City on the right track to protect future generations from the harms of climate change and yields the immediate benefits of healthier air, lower energy and utility costs and tens of thousands of good green jobs.    We can’t be side-tracked by cynical, self-serving attempts to undermine this landmark law.  We owe it to those we love and all future generations.

JCAN NYC Assembly District 69 Candidates Forum

On May 14th,  JCAN NYC hosted a live Candidates Forum for the open seat in Assembly District 69 being vacated by Assemblymember Danny O’Donnell.  Micah Lasher, Eli Northrup, Carmen Quinones and Melissa Rosenberg demonstrated their knowledge and passion about the climate crisis,  shared how they’ve worked for climate solutions, and spoke about environmental justice, the  NY HEAT Act and other climate legislation. 

For more information:

·       Watch the video of the candidates forum, it’s incredibly informative!

·       Read the candidates’ climate statements below and access their websites for more information.

 If you live in Assembly District 69, please share this post with your friends and neighbors. And remember to vote.  Early voting extends from Saturday, June 15 through Sunday June 23; election day is Tuesday, June 25. 

1. Micah Lasher: Statement on Climate Issues for the Jewish Climate Action Network (micahlasher.com)

I believe that climate change is the existential crisis and public policy challenge of our time — and that New York must be a leader in implementing bold and creative solutions to the climate crisis. I have a long track record working to advance government action that responds to climate change, and would continue that work in the State Assembly.

In 2022, just weeks after joining Governor Hochul’s administration as Policy Director for the State of New York, I helped craft a statewide proposal to ban gas in new buildings, which we included in the 2022 State of the State and Executive Budget, but which was not accepted by the Legislature. Undeterred, we tried again in 2023 and were successful. It was the first statewide ban in the nation. Also in 2023, I helped advance cap-and-invest as an economywide strategy to meet the objectives of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA), and also to find a compromise on expanding the New York Power Authority’s involvement in building renewable energy projects. This year, I was proud to help include proposals to eliminate utility rules that prolong our dependency on fossil fuels in the Executive Budget, along with a proposal to improve renewable energy siting procedures. While the latter was accepted by the Legislature and enacted, the former was not; I will take up the cause if I am fortunate enough to be elected to the Assembly.

Previously, as Chief of Staff in the New York State Attorney General’s office from 2013 to 2016, I played a key role in the office’s case against Peabody Coal for deceiving investors about the impacts of climate change and attendant regulatory changes, and helped initiate a landmark investigation into Exxon around a similar set of legal questions. And prior to that, as Director of State Legislative Affairs for the City of New York, I helped pass S.1145-C (2010), to move buildings away from high-emissions heating oil.

In the State Assembly, I will be a forceful voice for aggressive action on climate change, including fighting for these crucial pieces of legislation:

• the New York HEAT Act, to continue chipping away at the cycle of fossil fuel dependency;

• the Climate Change Superfund Act, to make fossil fuel producers pay for resiliency investments according to the harm their products have caused;

• the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act, to reduce single-use plastics and packaging waste by 50%; and

• the Green Buidlings Act, to provide tax relief for co-ops and condos tied to emissions reductions.

 I will also fight to build the political will and consensus in support of making the tough calls necessary to implement the CLCPA and meet its emissions reductions targets.

 I view the work of tackling climate change as a moral obligation, consistent with the Jewish values on which I was raised — to repair the world, to tend our collective garden, and to protect the vulnerable.

2. Eli Northrup: Statement for JCAN (eli4ny.com)

Climate policy is core to my campaign. My father, Brad Northrup, worked for the Nature Conservancy for almost 40 years. He cared deeply about the environment and community and being helpful to others, values that had a huge influence on me. He passed away two years ago, and when he died, it was a wake up call for me. I carry his legacy with me both as a policy advocate and now as a candidate for NY Assembly District 69.

Climate change is a policy crisis and a spiritual one - a crisis created by the hypocrisy of powerful interests with impacts felt most on the most vulnerable, and that demands community action to meet this moment. I am committed to taking bold action to combat climate change and want to make sure I am talking regularly to the people with a long-term vision for the future and to the people most impacted by environmental justice issues, such as those living in environmental justice areas, youth New Yorkers like the Sunrise Movement NYC (who has endorsed me in this race), Jewish and faith-based climate leaders like JCAN New York, Amadah, and the Jewish Climate Leadership Coalition amongst others, and more. I will cosponsor existing bills like the NY Heat Act, the Climate Change Superfund Act, the Just Energy Transition Act, and Stop Climate Polluters Handouts Acts to ensure we end egregious state subsidies to climate crisis contributors, make sure the worst polluters pay for the harms they cause, ensure we redevelop and replace fossil fuel facilities and sites by 2030 and given government the authority and direction to align gas utilities with state law's emission reduction and climate justice mandates. Further, air quality remains a climate and public health priority. I will work to build on existing local and state policies to ensure that our public transportation infrastructure minimizes emissions and eliminates the use of fossil fuels, while also making sure that it is safe and efficient to reduce the need for private vehicles on the streets, and will work to create indoor air quality standards that support buildings having the proper ventilation and measurement tools to protect people against airborne harms and air quality events. I appreciate JCAN’s leadership as a Jewish community movement pushing powerfully to choose hope, blessings and life by advocating for climate forward policies and look forward to working with you in this fight.

3. Carmen Quinones: Strengthening Our Global Environmental Commitment Through Partnership (carmenquinones.com)

Dear Members of the Jewish Climate Action Network

As President of Douglas Housing, my commitment to environmental justice and sustainability is deeply personal and a major focus of my professional work. Your dedication to Tikkun Olam- repairing the world through climate action-resonates strongly with my vision for a sustainable future.

Witnessing the severe effects of environmental degradation in urban areas has solidified my resolve to combat global warming and ecological destruction. The connection between environmental health and public well-being, both mental and physical, is undeniable. Pollution and environmental neglect not only worsen health disparities but also degrade the quality of life for all living beings.

The impact of climate change on our ecosystems, from vast oceans to urban green spaces, reinforces the urgency of our mission. The decline in biodiversity and disruption of habitats affect everything from food security to disaster resilience, presenting clear and present challenges to our communities and future generations.

My efforts as a leader and policymaker include advancing initiatives that reflect JCAN's goals: promoting green infrastructure, advocating for reduced environmental footprints, and supporting community-led environmental programs. These efforts aim to empower communities, enhance environmental education, and promote sustainable practices..

 The vision for our partnership is to combine our resources, expertise, and networks to tackle the root causes of climate change effectively. By working together, we can extend our reach and magnify our impact, creating lasting change for a healthier, more resilient world..

 I am eager to collaborate with JCAN in a partnership that goes beyond traditional collaboration, one that redefines our stewardship of the planet. Let's unite our strengths and work towards securing a sustainable future for all. I look forward to discussing how we can turn our shared vision into reality.

Warm regards

Carmen Quinones President, Douglas Housing 

(917) 848-5146   (347) 666-9344

4. Melissa Rosenberg: JCAN Statement from Melissa Rosenberg, Candidate for AD-69 (melissaforny.com)

Climate justice isn't just a buzzword for me; it's a guiding principle driving my campaign to ensure a fair and sustainable future for all. I have a proven track record of advocating for policies and development initiatives that uplift our community as well as marginalized communities disproportionately affected by environmental degradation. As a member of Community Board 7 for the last seven years, I have consistently supported initiatives aimed at addressing climate change, reducing waste, improving public transit infrastructure and prioritizing pedestrian and bike safety. Professionally, I spearheaded efforts for one of the largest residential geothermal projects in the United States, as well as assisted nonprofits serving the most vulnerable New Yorkers in adapting affordable housing through green retrofit programs.

Affordability is a core tenet of my campaign and I believe it must extend beyond just housing to also consider essential needs like ensuring access to a habitable living space that is heated and cooled. I support the NY HEAT Act and believe that tying a necessary cost-of-living to income is humane and good public policy. Additionally, I am extremely supportive of shifting the responsibility for dealing with plastic waste back to producers. Consumer and public responsibility for dealing with a negative consequence produced by wealthy corporations is an incorrect and dated framework that we must move away from. For this reason I support the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act. As an Assembly Member, I will continue to advocate for policies such as these that foster sustainable development and prioritize climate protections for all residents of Assembly District 69 and beyond.

Earth Day 2024: Celebrate Our Trees!

By Dr. Adriane Leveen, JCAN NYC co-founder and steering committee member

A few years ago, I became the facilitator of JTREE USA, a Jewish tree planting organization in our national forests now under the auspices of Adamah.  Doing that work helped me realize that my love of trees originated in my childhood at a very young age, perhaps as a 4- or 5-year-old.  That love of trees lives deeply in my heart and now guides my conscious actions as a climate activist and enthusiastic planter of trees.

     4 or 5? Yes- I grew up in a small town in upstate NY. We lived on a quiet shady street since I was a few months old. In our front lawn was a maple tree that was there long before we moved in.  In our back lawn lived a mighty Eucalyptus that literally provided shade for half our lawn and loomed magnificently over our house.  That tree also predated us.  The edge of our back lawn was separated from the back lawn of our neighbors on the next street over by 6 towering Pine Trees. Those trees were green year-round and offered us shelter and countless opportunities for imaginative play.  Their needles would fall to the ground and create a soft carpet while their branches made a roof tall above our heads. The Pines were always there and last time I checked, they are still standing. My mother lived in that house until she died in 2014- which means that all of my childhood and all of my visits home since were to that modest house surrounded by those same Pines well into my 50s.  Those trees and that house gave me deep roots, literally and metaphorically. 

      I have come to realize that when one develops a relationship with someone or something- family, friends, JCAN NYC--and trees -- one ends up caring deeply about, and wanting to ensure, their well-being.  Of course that is true of the earth as well.

__________

On this Earth Day let’s explore trees in a number of ways to remind ourselves yet again of the crucial role trees and forests play in fighting the climate emergency that we are now living through.

Forging a relationship:  In I and Thou Martin Buber famously establishes I / thou as a “world of relation” between 2 entities. In those moments we simply take one another in. We see and appreciate one another in our fullness. We don’t use or exploit one another.  And guess what?  Buber chooses a human encounter with a tree as his initial example of an I/Thou relationship.

 Listen to a few of Buber’s lines:      

I Contemplate a tree…I can feel it as movement: the flowing veins around the sturdy, striving core, the sucking of the roots, the breathing of the leaves, the infinite commerce with earth and air- and the growing itself in its darkness… if will and grace are joined… as I contemplate the tree I am drawn into a relation, and the tree ceases to be an It…What I encounter is…the tree itself.” [1]

You may wonder about this example since a tree doesn’t talk back to a human! But I will venture to suggest that we can experience a tree as offering itself to us as it is. Further, it turns out that trees can communicate with one another.  I think today Buber would add to his description of a tree the discovery that a tree’s roots communicate with, and warn, the roots of other trees if danger is approaching!

      A March 2018 essay in the Smithsonian Magazine quotes Peter Wohlleben, a German forester and author:

Trees share water and nutrients through the networks [of their roots], and also use them to    communicate. They send distress signals about drought and disease, for example, or insect attacks, and other trees alter their behavior when they receive these messages.”[2]

Scientists call these mycorrhizal networks. In other words, trees have reciprocal relationships with other trees. How fascinating!

      Such attentive experiences as contemplating relationships between humanity and trees and trees with other trees directly lead many of us to recognize our human obligation to protect, celebrate and preserve trees, woods and forests.

Biblical Trees and the power of Metaphor in Isaiah 11 introduces the urgency of finding a new leader for the People Israel in a very tough time – around 700 BCE. Yet the prophet opens his exhortation with a description of a tree:  

וְיָצָ֥א חֹ֖טֶר מִגֵּ֣זַע יִשָׁ֑י    וְנֵ֖צֶר מִשׇּׁרָשָׁ֥יו יִפְרֶֽה׃

But a shoot shall grow out of the stump of Jesse,
A branch shall sprout from his root.

Note the language:  A shoot from a stump, and in the second half of the verse a branch from roots, suggesting renewal, rejuvenation, return of vigor and continued growth.  The second phrase ends with the Hebrew verb ‘sprout’ or ‘blossom.’ Isaiah is describing a physical tree. Not all trees actually can regenerate themselves- - but we can spot those who can- and apparently Isaiah was familiar with that possibility as he described just that phenomenon.  I am obsessed with this image so that every time I walk in the woods, I look for the shoot emerging from a stump and I can always find examples!  

      But this verse is also a metaphor. It is the stump of Jesse, the father of King David. Isaiah was hoping to find another David – a figure who could be successful in pushing back an enemy and keeping Jerusalem and its inhabitants safe. Thus Isaiah 11: 1 offers a promise and a possibility for continued and new life.

      In sum, this example from Isaiah teaches us about a tree’s physical life cycle. Even though it may be cut down many trees know how to rejuvenate themselves. A tree can live for many years, its roots old in the ground. A tree can endure.  But Isaiah also reminds us that trees have metaphoric power. Our people have and will survive and so can our planet. Even in one’s darkest hours we can identify and walk a path of sustainability for all species.

__________

Why is tree planting so essential? The National Forest Foundation offers us a few reasons. 

Carbon capture - In one year, a mature tree can absorb a half a Metric ton of carbon dioxide equivalent. Altogether, forests in the U.S. offset about 16 percent—or three decades worth—of greenhouse gas emissions emitted from cars, trucks, power plants, and other sources in the country. In fact, forest ecosystems are the largest land-based carbon sink on Earth.

Clean water - National Forests are the largest single source of fresh water in the U.S., supplying millions of Americans with water. Reforestation helps halt soil erosion and ensures that our forests can supply the water that we all depend on.

Wildlife habitat – National Forests provide habitat for more than 3,000 wildlife species. Nearly one third of federally listed threatened and endangered species (more than 400 species) are known to depend upon National Forest habitats.

Forest Health - Reforestation after disturbances improves forest health. By planting the right species, reforestation helps makes our forests more resilient to future challenges like climate change and wildfire.

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      A few summers ago my family and I hiked through the Hendy Cowell Redwoods State Park in Northern California.  God was with me on that day as I gazed up at those towering, silent, majestic Redwoods- ancient, wise and threatened.

     Relationships with trees- even a quiet, memorable walk through the woods, create obligations in those who cherish them-obligations to pay attention and  to preserve trees where ever we find them- - in our backyards, our streets and cities, and in our national parks and forests - - giving all of us the chance to capture some carbon and to breathe for generations to come.

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 If you are interested in planting some trees this Earth Day through the National Forest Foundation go to: https://adamah.org/about-adamah/give-now/jtree/. Thanks!

[1] Martin Buber, I and Thou, trans. Walter Kaufmann (New York: 1970)

[2] From: Do Trees Talk to Each Other?

Richard Grant March 2018

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-whispering-trees-180968084/#:~:text=Trees%20share%20water%20and%20nutrients,Scientists%20call%20these%20mycorrhizal%20networks

Putting Ourselves into the Shoes of Another as We Tell the Story of Pesach This Year

By Rachel Landsberg, JCAN NYC member

Pesach/Passover is the holiday of storytelling; we are invited to retell the story of yetziat Mitzrayim, the exodus from Egypt, around the seder table. On the one hand, we are telling a very particular story, with fixed details and characters and events. It is a story of what happened to our people and to our ancestors. It is, perhaps, “the” central and defining story that helps us understand ourselves better – who we are and how we have gotten to where we are today.

And, on the other hand, it is the most universal of stories, serving as inspiration to many individuals and communities across the world in the past and up to and including the present.  The story of overcoming oppression and moving towards liberation has been crucial to the human experience throughout time. In addition, the Pesach narrative has much insight to offer us as climate activists, and I invite each of us to bring that identity and lens into our telling of the exodus this Pesach.

Two lines from the Haggadah (the Jewish book used to guide us through the Passover seder) jump out at me this year as a Jewish climate activist.  The first one comes after we recite the Four Questions. The Haggadah tells us:

מִצְוָה עָלֵינוּ לְסַפֵּר בִּיצִיאַת מִצְרָיִם. וְכָל הַמַּרְבֶּה לְסַפֵּר בִּיצִיאַת מִצְרַיִם הֲרֵי זֶה מְשֻׁבָּח.

It is a commandment upon us to tell the story of the exodus from Egypt. And anyone who elaborates on the telling of the story of the exodus from Egypt is praiseworthy.

Not only are we obligated to tell the story of the exodus from Egypt, but we are asked to elaborate, to stretch out, to magnify our telling of the story. Perhaps this elaboration not only suggests quantity - how much time we take to tell the story - but also quality - the way in which we choose to tell the story.  The request to elaborate, perhaps, invites us to delve more deeply into the story and to see how it is relevant and personal to us each year.  What is the story of oppression in our times?  What do we, individually and collectively, need to be freed from this year?  As we change each year, the story changes with us; as the world changes each year, what the world needs from us changes. It is our task, then, on the night of Pesach, to use this story of the past to help us better understand ourselves, our world, the challenges before us, and what action is needed from us today as we continue to work to dismantle oppression. 

Towards the end of the Maggid (“Telling the Story”) section of the Haggadah, we recite:

בְּכָל־דּוֹר וָדוֹר חַיָּב אָדָם לִרְאוֹת אֶת־עַצְמוֹ כְּאִלּוּ הוּא יָצָא מִמִּצְרַיִם

In each and every generation, a person is obligated to see themselves as if they left Egypt.

We are obligated to see ourselves in this story, to imagine that we ourselves have left Egypt. The Haggadah is asking us to embody an experience that we have not actually lived through, to put ourselves into the shoes of another.  To do that, we must step outside of our own selves for just long enough so that we can get a taste of someone else’s experience, we must ask good questions and become good listeners, and we must develop and then employ empathy.  We must identify the challenges, the “Egypt,” of our times and then hold out faith that we can leave that Egypt behind and move into a redemptive future, united.

In that quest to put myself into the shoes of another, I will be bringing many new questions to my seder this year, in addition to the traditional Four Questions, as I attempt to confront the climate crisis and climate injustice.  I have included a list of resources at the end of this piece that I have found that are helping me to consider each of the following questions:

• What is it like to be a climate refugee with no sense of what the future will bring? 

• What does it feel like to literally watch the habitat where you live change before your very eyes? 

• How does environmental racism impact your daily life? 

• What will help you, as a coal miner worried for your livelihood and your family’s future as we transition off of coal and onto renewables?  

The Haggadah, weaving the personal and the universal together as one, asks us to see our plight as intricately connected to the plight of others and our story as intricately connected to the story of others.  Similarly, as we work to address climate change in the fullest and most liberating of ways, we must listen to the stories in our own communities and across the globe so that we can find solutions that truly ensure a shared and sustainable future for all living things.

This year at our seder, when we break out into song as we recite Hallel upon completing the telling of our story, may we be blessed to not only rejoice at the redemption of the past, but may we also feel the hope of the future world we are working together to create and the redemption yet to come.

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Resources from Rachel related to the questions she raises

• The Years Project, “Refugees Are Fleeing Climate Change

• Untold Stories of Climate Change Loss and Damage in the Least Developed Countries (LDCs): Solomon Islands

• The World We Need: Sharon Lavigne's Story of RISE St. James

• The Daily’: The Climate Change Battle Through One Coal Miner’s Eyes, 3/30/2017 (starts 9 minutes and 15 seconds into the episode) 

A Call for Humanity

By Jeff Levy-Lyons, JCAN NYC Co-Director

As we move into a new year we turn to Exodus, which contains so much to learn from, so much for rabbis and scholars to unpack.

In Exodus, we see how quickly fortunes can change and how precarious freedom and a sense of safety are, which is certainly something we’re experiencing now.

And of course there’s Moses, who claims to be “not a man of words” but grows into a man who speaks truth to power and ultimately utters more words than everyone else in the Torah combined. We can learn from his example and trust that when we need to speak up for climate justice we'll find the words.

So much to learn in Exodus.

But I’d like to highlight how the story of our enslavement and ultimate liberation has been used for generations to remind us that we are called to remember the stranger and care for the stranger–our history of enslavement reminds us that the lives of others are our concern.  

I’ve noticed that concern for the other drives our climate work–almost  every time we use the word “climate,” it’s followed by the word “justice.”  Our belief that all lives should be our concern has been tested in ways we couldn’t have imagined a few short months ago. In the immediate aftermath of the horrific attack on October 7, many in the Jewish community did not feel that kind of concern coming towards us from others; for some it felt like quite the opposite. 

I’m not a psychologist, but my understanding of trauma is that it causes individuals to withdraw into themselves and moves groups to get a lot more tribal than they otherwise might be.  But as I look out at this patchwork, this mixed multitude of humans we call Am Yisrael, it’s not our achievements and accomplishments, it’s our humanity that makes me most proud to be Jewish.  

Our challenge right now is to find the hizuk (the strength) to hold onto our humanity; even when we are told that we shouldn’t; even when we’re just not feeling it. We must let Exodus remind us that no matter the circumstance, the lives of others are our concern. 

Just as we work for climate justice with the understanding that our vision may not be  realized in our lifetimes, we need to stay focused on a vision of peace in the Middle East that may seem impossible right now. Because that’s what visions are, a stubborn belief in something that seems far away. And by keeping that vision alive, we’ll hold onto our humanity and won’t let it become another casualty of this terrible time. 

A report from COP28, Dubai, December 2023

By Ben Orlove, JCAN NYC steering committee member

I am glad to report back on my recent visit to COP28, the global climate conference held last month in Dubai. I am glad as well for all the interest that I’ve received from people who have asked me about my time there. I take that interest as a sign that people have not succumbed to climate anxiety or climate grief, but rather that they retain a sense that positive action on the climate crisis is still possible.   That sense is one that I share. It’s a sense that animates JCAN as well.

Some people express pessimism about the COP process. They recognize the vast power of fossil fuel companies and fossil fuel producing countries, either because of their wealth and influence, or from the ability of any country at the COP to veto a proposal, since all resolutions have to be passed unanimously, with any of the 198 member countries having the option to exercise a veto.     

At the COP, I got a sense that there are some limits to the power of the petrostates to block the process. When the head of the COP, who manages the state energy company of the host country, the United Arab Emirates, suggested that the use of fossil fuels could not be ended without impoverishing the world as a whole, he received a great deal of negative publicity, and had the embarrassment of organizing an emergency press conference to walk back his comments. It was also evident that the small island states, which all have votes, can speak powerfully as well. 

 A number of excellent summaries of the outcomes from this COP are available online. I recommend this summary from Carbon Brief as a place to start. And, to  cut to the chase, I can report on the points that struck me as major takeaways:

Speaking directly about fossil fuels. The whole COP process began with an agreement “to achieve  stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system.” So greenhouse gasses have been on the table from the start, and after some years, there was also agreement on temperature thresholds—keeping the warming below 2°C or close to 1.5˚C. But it has been a challenge to produce statements that would refer to fossil fuels. Recent COPs have spoken about a “phase down” of coal—a weaker phrase than the “phase out” many had sought. So it was an advance to have all fossil fuels mentioned at COP28, though “transition away” from them is quite vague.

Loss and damage. Small island states have been pressing since the late 1990s to set up funding and mechanisms to address the harms that countries are experiencing for which adaptation is not possible. This COP provided that effort with a major win—the launching of a fund for such compensation. Details remain unclear, but this is one step that cannot be walked back. This was another point I witnessed at the COP: the great respect given to small island states and other coastal countries, faced with impacts of sea level rise.

Financing. This issue remains a major ongoing point of contention. Poor countries have substantial energy needs, and they can’t meet them with renewable sources unless wealthy countries provide significantly higher levels of funding.

Overshoot. This word, used with increasing frequency in climate circles, is a way to deal with the fact that the world is barreling ahead to shoot past 1.5˚C and 2°C. This term suggests that the world could come back down from a higher temperature to one of the preferred levels, so that the period of exceeding the threshold would be finite—and hopefully brief.  

Like most of the nearly 100,000 people who participated at the COP, I was not one of the official country delegates, able to cast a vote at the sessions at which the key resolutions were approved. I attended meetings at which representatives of different countries, NGOs and other civil society organizations provided testimony and offered comments on draft documents; I coordinated closely with an NGO that focuses on the negative impacts that come from letting polar ice sheets and mountain glaciers melt, including sea level rise, reduction of water resources, natural hazards and the harms of culturally significant landscapes.   I also attended side events, where organizations gave talks. To convey some of the experience, I include some photographs from the COP.

This Indigenous Dayak woman from the Malaysian portion of Borneo brought these leaves from her home area, along with water from a river in a local forest. She is chanting a prayer as the opening invocation of the Indigenous Pavilion. She explained the significance of each of the three plants, and spoke of the importance of Indigenous spirituality within culture. 

 These two Indigenous Maasai leaders from Yanzania, pictured with me, spoke extensively about the importance of assuring Indigenous sovereignty in the transition to renewable energy. Some governments have built  hydropower dams that flood Indigenous lands, or have simply usurped these lands to obtain ore for minerals, like lithium, cobalt and copper, required in batteries.    

 This young woman from Kyrgyzstan works with a communications NGO which constructs domes. Each of them contains air at a specific level of pollution corresponding to recent climate-related bad air days in specific locations around the world. The stuffed bear had been left outside for some weeks in Kathmandu, where its white cloth covering was darkened by soot. The more forceful demonstrations that have been a feature of many COPs were limited in number and scale because of the policies of the United Arab Emirates.

 I have worked with this Indigenous Sherpa leaders from Nepal for several years. We discussed steps to promote full Indigenous participation in adaptation projects in mountain regions.

And there were others who I don’t have pictures of.  A representative of a postal workers’ union in Canada, concerned about the impacts of wildfires on worker health in her country. A government official from Nigeria, who explained that the wealthy countries are not giving enough financing for his country to meet basic energy needs for health, education and food security through renewable sources. A Chinese woman, based in London, who serves as a simultaneous interpreter at the plenary sessions; she spoke of the challenges of coming up with terms in Chinese for “bottleneck” and “overshoot.” An official representative from Iceland (who can vote on resolutions) who spoke of the growing linkages between mountain, polar and coastal countries to provide a unified voice on sea level rise. 

Meeting people like these, my hopes are renewed. The COP gave me the sense that there are many groups like JCAN, working on issues in their cities and communities and nations. We are not alone.