A CALL FOR JEWS TO OBSERVE SHABBAT NOACH, OCTOBER 23-24, AS "GLOBAL CLIMATE HEALING SHABBAT"
This fall, Shabbat Noach -- when Jews around the world read the Torah portion about the Flood, Noah, the Ark, and the Rainbow -- comes on October 23-24, the day when a number of experts on the global climate crisis have called for world-wide actions to protect our planet from climate disaster.
We urge all Jewish communities to observe that Shabbat Noach as "Global Climate Healing Shabbat," with special prayers, sermons, lectures, debates, panel discussions, resolutions, kiddushes, meals, nature-walks, stories for children, invitations to public officials and environmental activists, and other means of bringing Jewish commitment to bear on healing the earth from the dangers that over-use of fossil fuels is bringing upon us all.
This Torah passage lends itself to focusing on the danger of destruction of life on our planet, and also on the actions we need to take to prevent destruction and preserve the web of life in which the human race has emerged and created civilization.
[Please see the statement we are appending [below] about the worldwide scheduled events and the key planners.]
The international observance of "Global Climate Healing Shabbat Noach" is a prelude to the crucial United Nations conference on global warming scheduled for Copenhagen in December, 2009.
Almost daily reports of widespread droughts, floods, storms, wildfires and melting polar ice caps, mountain snowcaps, glaciers, and the migration of animals cry out to us for action. Passage after passage of Torah and secular Jewish writings shout out to us that as Jews we must act more vigorously, not only in private and communal households but in shaping public policy.
We urge our own members and all Jews to contact local rabbis, Jewish educators and other scholars and communal leaders to plan “Global Climate Change Shabbat” events that will make this Shabbat the beginning of a truly transformative time.
We call on Jews not only to green our own households and communal buildings but also to work for major policy changes away from fossil fuels and toward shifts in energy use, transportation, food production, housing, and other dimensions of our society.
Jewish tradition about caring for the poor also guides us to make sure that industries and regions especially affected must get help from the whole society, and that poor countries also get special help to develop on a new path and to ward off the destructive effects of climate change.
We hope the continuing momentum of Global Crisis Shabbat will help the December UN conference in Copenhagen on the global climate crisis make the decisions necessary to greatly reduce threats to our climate.
Signed:
Rabbi Steve Gutow, president, for the Jewish Council for Public Affairs.
Rabbi Arthur Waskow, director, for The Shalom Center, which initiated this call.
Nigel Savage, director, for Hazon.
Debra Kolodny, director, for ALEPH : Alliance for Jewish Renewal
Richard Schwartz, president, for Jewish Vegetarian Society of North America
Rabbi Amy Eilberg of the St. Paul Interfaith Network
Ellen Bernstein, author, Birthday of the Trees and The Splendor of Creation
Rabbi Margot Stein, co-author, Guarding the Garden
Rabbi Mordechai Liebling,
[Partial list: Your signature welcome]
=========================
Related Press Release:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JUNE 18, 2009
JEWISH GROUPS URGE SHABBAT NOACH, OCT. 23-24, BE OBSERVED AS "GLOBAL CLIMATE HEALING SHABBAT"
Further info: Rabbi Arthur Waskow, 215/844-8494
A number of Jewish groups, including the Jewish Council for Public Affairs (the national umbrella group on public policy) today called for October 23-24, 2009, to be declared a “Global Climate Healing Shabbat,” in conjunction with many global climate-related events scheduled for Saturday, October 24. [Please see statement below this release about the worldwide scheduled events and the key planners.]
That Shabbat is in Jewish tradition Shabbat Noach, when Jews around the world read the Torah portion about the Flood, Noah, the Ark, and the Rainbow. This reading lends itself to focusing on the danger of destruction of life on our planet, and also on the actions we need to take to prevent destruction and preserve the web of life in which the human race has emerged and created civilization. The Call to shape Shabbat Noach in this way was initiated by The Shalom Center.
The international observance of "Global Climate Healing Shabbat Noach" is a prelude to the crucial United Nations conference on global warming scheduled for Copenhagen in December, 2009. The Jewish groups are urging that there be many global climate-related educational events that are consistent with the laws and spirit of Shabbat on that day.
“Almost daily reports of widespread droughts, floods, storms, wildfires and melting polar ice caps, mountain snowcaps, and glaciers indicate that we are already in a lot of trouble. So much trouble that I feel the words 'global warming' give people a false sense of comfort, and I call the danger 'global scorching' instead,” commented Rabbi Arthur Waskow, director of The Shalom Center, author of Down-to-Earth Judaism, and editor of two major anthologies of eco-Judaism. “Many climate scientists are projecting far higher temperatures and some, including James Hansen of NASA, are warning that the climate crisis will spin out of control with disastrous consequences in a few years, unless major changes soon occur.”
Rabbi Steve Gutow, President of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, pointed out that "The truth that climate change is caused by us humans is no longer debatable. The science is clear. The danger to our way of life on this planet is equally clear. We, as a Jewish community, who ought to take the lead in trying to stop this scourge, have not done so. It is time to change that. Dedicating Shabbat Noach to increasing awareness and action is a good way to move this process along."
Another leader of eco-Jewish activism, Nigel Savage, Hazon's director, added: “Organizations like Teva, Adamah, the Jewish Farm School, and Hazon have grown so strong precisely because we're striking a chord with so many people, especially the best of our young people. Jewish tradition cares about the world, and Jewish leaders and institutions, increasingly, want to make a real difference. This winter - from Parshat Noach in October to the Copenhagen Conference in early December, offers a unique opportunity for the Jewish community to stand up and speak out. And, most of all, to start a determined multi-year campaign to effect change within and beyond the Jewish world.”
"Israel is especially threatened,” stated Richard Schwartz of the Jewish Vegetarians of North America. “It is now facing the worst drought in its history, and in 2007 the Israel Union for Environmental Defense projected that, if present trends continue, global warming will produce major heat waves, a decrease in rainfall of 20 - 30 percent, severe storms and a flooding of the coastal plain where most Israelis live by a rising Mediterranean Sea.”
“Global Climate Healing Shabbat” events could include sermons, lectures, debates, panel discussions, resolutions, special kiddushes and meals, nature-walks, invitations to public officials and environmental activists, stories for children, and much more. Environmental movies could be shown during or after Shabbat, in accordance with the practice of each congregation.
The Jewish groups plan to urge their members to contact local rabbis, Jewish educators and other scholars and communal leaders to urge them to plan “Global Climate Change Shabbat” events that will make this Shabbat the beginning of a truly transformative time.
Jews need not only to green their own households and communal buildings but also to work for major policy changes away from fossil fuels and toward shifts in energy use, transportation, food production, housing, and other dimensions of our society.
Jewish tradition about caring for the poor also guides us to make sure that industries and regions especially affected must get help from the whole society, and that poor countries also get special help to develop on a new path and to ward off the destructive effects of climate change.
We hope the continuing momentum of Global Crisis Shabbat will help the December UN conference make the decisions necessary to greatly reduce threats to our climate.
Information on Jewish teachings on environmental stewardship and sustainability can be found at the websites of The Shalom Center 's Green Menorah Covenant (http://www.shalomctr.org ), the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish life (COEJL - www.coejl.org ), Canfei Nesharim (www.canfeiNesharim.org), Hazon, Teva, Adamah Fellowship, Jewish Farm School, Shalom Center (http://www.shalomctr.org), Jewish Vegetarians of North America (JVNA - www.JewishVeg.com)
=========================
Background Material on Major Global Warming-Related Events Planned for October 24, 2009
Forwarded message:
http://www.350.org/invitation <http://www.350.org/invitation
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
The Invitation
Dear World,
This is an invitation to help build a movement--to take one day and use it to stop the climate crisis.
On [Saturday] October 24, we will stand together as one planet and call for a fair global climate treaty. United by a common call to action, we'll make it clear: the world needs an international plan that meets the latest science and gets us back to safety.
This movement has just begun, and it needs your help.
Here's the plan: we're asking you, and people in every country on earth, to organize an action in their community on October 24. There are no limits here--imagine bike rides, rallies, concerts, hikes, festivals, tree-plantings, protests, and more. Imagine your action linking up with thousands of others around the globe. Imagine the world waking up.
If we can pull it off, we'll send a powerful message on October 24: the world needs the climate solutions that science and justice demand.
It's often said that the only thing preventing us from tackling the climate crisis quickly and equitably is a lack of political will. Well, the only thing that can create that political will is a unified global movement--and no one is going to build that movement for us. It's up to regular people all over the world. That's you.
So register an event in your community for October 24, and then enlist the help of your friends. Get together with your co-workers or your local environmental group or human rights campaign, your church or synagogue or mosque or temple; enlist bike riders and local farmers and young people. All over the planet we'll start to organize ourselves.
With your help, there will be an event at every iconic place on the planet on October 24-from America's Great Lakes to Australia's Great Barrier Reef--and also in all the places that matter to you in your daily lives: a beach or park or village green or town hall.
If there was ever a time for you to get involved, it's right now. There are two reasons this year is so crucial.
The first reason is that the science of climate change is getting darker by the day. The Arctic is melting away with astonishing speed, decades ahead of schedule. Everything on the planet seems to be melting or burning, rising or parched.
And we now have a number to express our peril: 350.
NASA's James Hansen and a team of other scientists recently published a series of papers showing that we need to cut the amount of carbon in the atmosphere from its current 387 parts per million to 350 or less if we wish to "maintain a planet similar to that on which civilization developed."
No one knew that number a year ago-but now it's clear that 350 might well be the most important number for the future of the planet, a north star to guide our efforts as we remake the world. If we can swiftly get the planet on track to get to 350, we can still avert the worst effects of climate change.
The second reason 2009 is so important is that the political opportunity to influence our governments has never been greater. The world's leaders will meet in Copenhagen this December to craft a new global treaty on cutting carbon emissions.
If that meeting were held now, it would produce a treaty that would be woefully inadequate. In fact, it would lock us into a future where we'd never get back to 350 parts per million-where the rise of the sea would accelerate, where rainfall patterns would start to shift and deserts to grow. A future where first the poorest people, and then all of us, and then all the people that come after us, would find the only planet we have damaged and degraded.
October 24 comes six weeks before those crucial UN meetings in Copenhagen. If we all do our job, every nation will know the question they'll be asked when they put forth a plan: will this get the planet back on the path to 350?
This will only work with the help of a global movement-and it's starting to bubble up everywhere. Farmers in Cameroon, students in China, even World Cup skiers have already helped spread the word about 350. Churches have rung their bells 350 times; Buddhist monks have formed a huge 350 with their bodies against the backdrop of Himalayas. 350 translates across every boundary of language and culture. It's clear and direct, cutting through the static and it lays down a firm scientific line.
On October 24, we'll all stand behind 350--a universal symbol of climate safety and of the world we need to create. And at the end of the day, we'll all upload photos from our events to the www.350.org website and send these pictures around the world. This cascade of images will drive climate change into the public debate--and hold our leaders accountable to a unified global citizenry.
We need your help-the world is a big place and our team is small. Our crew at 350.org will do everything we can to support you, providing templates for banners and press releases, resources to spread the word, and tools to help you build a strong local climate action group. And our core team is always just a phone call or e-mail away if you need some support.
This is like a final exam for human beings. Can we muster the courage, the commitment, and the creativity to set this earth on a steady course before it's too late? October 24 will be the joyful, powerful day when we prove it's possible.
Please join us and register your local event today.
Onwards,
Bill McKibben - Author and Activist- USA
Vandana Shiva - Physicist, Activist, Author - India
David Suzuki - Scientist, Author, Activist - Canada
Bianca Jagger - Chair of the World Future Council - UK
Tim Flannery - Scientist, Author, Explorer -Australia
Bittu Sahgal - Editor of Sanctuary magazine - India
Andrew Simmons - Environmental Advocate, St. Vincent & The Grenadines
Christine Loh - Environmental Advocate and Legislator - Hong Kong
=========================
A Message Seeking Greater Involvement in Responding to Global Warming
Dear fellow vegetarian, animal-rights, environmental and social justice activists,
We are the ones with the responsibility and opportunity to help the world avoid an unprecedented catastrophe and help shift it to a brighter, sustainable future.
The facts are starting to get into the mainstream, but let us consider some of the essentials:
* There are almost daily reports of severe droughts, heat waves, storms, flooding and wildfires and about meltings of polar icecaps and glaciers. While this has occurred due to an average temperature increase of about 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit in the past 100 years, global climate scientists are projecting an increase of from 3 to 11 degrees Fahrenheit in the next 100 years, which would result in an unparalleled disaster for humanity.
* A recent report indicated that our oceans may be virt ually free of fish by 2050; species of plants and animals are disappearing at the fastest rate in history; it is projected that half of the world's people will live in areas chronically short of water by 2050;
* We do not have much time. Some climate scientists. Including James Hansen of NASA, are warning that global warming could reach a tipping point and spin out of control in a few years, with disastrous consequences, unless major changes soon occur.
* Scientists at the February, 2009 annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science indicated that global warming will likely increase more rapidly than expected because greenhouse gas emissions have increased faster than recent predictions and increased temperatures are setting off self-reinforcing feedback mechanisms in global ecosystems. (http://www.truthout.org/021609M)
* A major societal shift toward vegetarian diets is an essential step in responding to global warming.
A landmark 2006 report by the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization estimated that livestock production globally is responsible for more greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs, in CO2 equivalents) than the world's entire transportation sector. The report, “Livestock's Long Shadow,” projects that the world's current population of about 56 billion farmed animals will double in 50 years if human population growth and dietary trends continue. The resulting increase in greenhouse gas emissions would largely negate reduction goals for green house gas emission reductions from transportation, electricity and other, higher-profile sectors.
* While we definitely need to transition from our dependency on fossil fuels to renewable, sustainable energy sources, it takes several hundred years for the carbon dioxide that is already in our atmosphere to break down and dissipate. Methane has a very short atmospheric life but has 72 times the warming power of CO2 during its time in the atmosphere. Hence. focusing on reducing short-lived greenhouse gases such as methane would give us more time to wean society off of fossil fuels and would help us avoid passing critical tipping points. More than half of the methane emissions comes from the livestock sector. Stopping methane emissions now means that the methane that's currently in the atmosphere will disappear in less than 20 years, reducing the warming effect by a substantial amount.
* Expert recognition of the importance of diet in preventing global warming is growing. This fall, Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, Chair of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which shared a Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore in 2008, called on people in the developed world to "give up meat for one day [a week] initially, and decrease it from there." More recently, NASA climatologist James Hansen -- the world's most prominent scientific advocate of aggressive action against global warming -- told an interviewer:
"... if you eat further down on the food chain rather than animals, which have produced many greenhouse gases, and used much energy in the process of growing that meat, you can actually make a bigger contribution in that way than just about anything. So, that, in terms of individual action, is perhaps the best thing you can do."
It is essential that the above messages be more widely spread. Fortunately, there is much starting to happen re reducing global warming, including many global-warming-related actions planned worldwide on October 24, 2009 and a major conference of the world's nations scheduled for December, 2009 in Copenhagen. However, the major contributions of animal-based agriculture to global warming is seldom considered.
Thus, it is urgent that we do everything we can to get this issue onto society's agenda. We should spread the word as widely as possible through articles, letters to editors, calls to radio talk shows, contacts with media people, religious leaders, educators, as well as friends, neighbors and family members.
We must make it absolutely clear that, while much more has to be done, there is no way the world will avoid an unparalleled catastrophe if there is not a major societal shift to plant-based diets. We must stress that the future of humanity and all of creation is threatened as perhaps never before and swift actions are urgent.
Suggestions very welcome.
I plan to next write a press release based on the material above on behalf of the “Veg Climate Alliance” that I hope will be endorsed by many groups.
Yours, for a humane, healthy, just, environmentally sustainable world,
Richard Schwartz
Director, Veg Climate Alliance
President, Jewish Vegetarians of North America
=========================
Dear chevra,
I am sending you a draft press release announcing "Climate Healing Shabbat" on October 23-24, which is both Shabbat Noach and the climate crisis day announced by a coalition of "environmental" groups and leaders.
I invite you to suggest added phrasing you think important . I do not think there is anything seriously controversial in it, but of course I am open to hearing any serious concerns you have with the present text.
I want to get moving on this quickly, before we lose many many Jews to summer vacation. I think it will be important for planning among rabbis and congregations to begin as soon as possible.
You will see that there are several “quotations” given without names of people taking responsibility for them. I invite you to add your name to one or another these, and if you do to change the language to suit you -- and I invite you to add other comments in your own name, if you desire.
And - most important - I invite you to add either the name of your organization or your own individual name as a co-sponsor of the call. Please note that at the end of this draft are the names and websites of several organizations -- the ones I had easily at hand. Please fill in any website I haven't included, and any organization you think should be.
Please respond as quickly as possible to Awaskow@shalomctr.org
Thanks!
Shalom, salaam, peace - Arthur
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Jewish Groups Call for “Climate Healing Shabbat” in Conjunction With International Activities
For Immediate Release:
June x, 2009
Contact: Rabbi Arthur Waskow, director, The Shalom Center (215/844-8494); Awaskow@shalomctr.org
If you wish to be listed as a contact, let me know; others will be given for the final release.
A number of Jewish groups, including The Shalom Center , __________. _____________ ,
today called for October 23-24, 2009 to be declared a “Global Climate Healing Shabbat,” in conjunction with many global climate-related events scheduled for Saturday, October 24 [please see statement below this release about the worldwide scheduled events and the key planners].
That Shabbat is in Jewish tradition Shabbat Noach, when Jews around the world read the Torah portion about the Flood, Noah, the Ark, and the Rainbow. This reading lends itself to focusing on the danger of destruction of life on our planet, and also on the actions we need to take to prevent destruction and preserve the web of life in which the human race has emerged and created civilization.
The international observance of Climate Healing Shabbat is a prelude to the crucial United Nations conference on global warming scheduled for Copenhagen in December, 2009. The Jewish groups are urging that there be many global climate-related educational events that are consistent with the laws and spirit of Shabbat on that day.
“Almost daily reports of widespread droughts, floods, storms, wildfires and melting polar ice caps, mountain snowcaps, and glaciers indicate that we are already in a lot of trouble. So much trouble that I feel the words 'global warming' give people a false sense of comfort, and I call the danger 'global scorching' instead,” commented Rabbi Arthur Waskow, director of The Shalom Center, author of Down-to-Earth Judaism, and editor of two major anthologies of eco-Judaism. “Many climate scientists are projecting far higher temperatures and some, including James Hansen of NASA, are warning that the climate crisis will spin out of control with disastrous consequences in a few years, unless major changes soon occur.”
Israel is especially threatened,” stated _____ _______. “It is now facing the worst drought in its history, and a 2007 Israel Union for Environmental Defense” projected that, if present trends continue, global warming will produce major heat waves, a decrease in rainfall of 20 - 30 percent, severe storms and a flooding of the coastal plain where most Israelis live by a rising Mediterranean Sea.”
“Judaism has very strong teachings on environmental stewardship and tikkun olam (the healing and repair of the world),” stated _____________ ___________. “and it is time to put these teachings into practice to avoid the unprecedented catastrophe that the world is rapidly approaching and to help shift our imperiled planet to a sustainable path.”
“Global Climate Healing Shabbat” events could include sermons,
lectures, debates, panel discussions, resolutions, special kiddushes and meals, nature-walks, stories for children and much more. Environmental movies could be shown during or after Shabbat, in accordance with the practice of each congregation.
The Jewish groups plan to urge their members to contact local rabbis, Jewish educators and other scholars and communal leaders to urge them to plan “Global Climate Change Shabbat” events that will make this Shabbat the beginning of a truly transformative time. Jewish environmental awareness and activism must be greatly increased, and Judaism's splendid environmental teachings must be put into practice to help save humanity and all of God's creation from the impending disaster.
Jews need not only to green their own households and communal buildings but also to work for major policy changes away from fossil fuels and toward shifts in energy use, transportation, food production, housing, and other dimensions of our society. Jewish tradition about caring for the poor also guides us to make sure that industries and regions especially affected must get help from the whole society, and that poor countries also get special help to develop on a new path and to ward off the destructive effects of climate change. We hope the continuing momentum of Global Crisis Shabbat will help the December UN global warming conference make the decisions necessary to greatly reduce threats to our climate.
Information on Jewish teachings on environmental stewardship and sustainability can be found at the websites of [Fill in your group and website] Canfei Nesharim (www.canfeiNesharim.org), Hazon, Teva, Adamah Fellowship, Jewish Farm School, The Shalom Center 's Green Menorah Covenant (http://www.shalomctr.org) …... Jewish Vegetarians of North America (JVNA -www.JewishVeg.com), and the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish life (COEJL - www.coejl.org).
=========================
Major Global Warming-Related Events Planned for October 24, 2009
Forwarded message:
http://www.350.org/invitation
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
The Invitation
Dear World,
This is an invitation to help build a movement--to take one day and use it to stop the climate crisis.
On [Saturday] October 24, we will stand together as one planet and call for a fair global climate treaty. United by a common call to action, we'll make it clear: the world needs an international plan that meets the latest science and gets us back to safety.
This movement has just begun, and it needs your help.
Here's the plan: we're asking you, and people in every country on earth, to organize an action in their community on October 24. There are no limits here--imagine bike rides, rallies, concerts, hikes, festivals, tree-plantings, protests, and more. Imagine your action linking up with thousands of others around the globe. Imagine the world waking up.
If we can pull it off, we'll send a powerful message on October 24: the world needs the climate solutions that science and justice demand.
It's often said that the only thing preventing us from tackling the climate crisis quickly and equitably is a lack of political will. Well, the only thing that can create that political will is a unified global movement--and no one is going to build that movement for us. It's up to regular people all over the world. That's you.
So register an event in your community for October 24, and then enlist the help of your friends. Get together with your co-workers or your local environmental group or human rights campaign, your church or synagogue or mosque or temple; enlist bike riders and local farmers and young people. All over the planet we'll start to organize ourselves.
With your help, there will be an event at every iconic place on the planet on October 24-from America's Great Lakes to Australia's Great Barrier Reef--and also in all the places that matter to you in your daily lives: a beach or park or village green or town hall.
If there was ever a time for you to get involved, it's right now. There are two reasons this year is so crucial.
The first reason is that the science of climate change is getting darker by the day. The Arctic is melting away with astonishing speed, decades ahead of schedule. Everything on the planet seems to be melting or burning, rising or parched.
And we now have a number to express our peril: 350.
NASA's James Hansen and a team of other scientists recently published a series of papers showing that we need to cut the amount of carbon in the atmosphere from its current 387 parts per million to 350 or less if we wish to "maintain a planet similar to that on which civilization developed."
No one knew that number a year ago-but now it's clear that 350 might well be the most important number for the future of the planet, a north star to guide our efforts as we remake the world. If we can swiftly get the planet on track to get to 350, we can still avert the worst effects of climate change.
The second reason 2009 is so important is that the political opportunity to influence our governments has never been greater. The world's leaders will meet in Copenhagen this December to craft a new global treaty on cutting carbon emissions.
If that meeting were held now, it would produce a treaty that would be woefully inadequate. In fact, it would lock us into a future where we'd never get back to 350 parts per million-where the rise of the sea would accelerate, where rainfall patterns would start to shift and deserts to grow. A future where first the poorest people, and then all of us, and then all the people that come after us, would find the only planet we have damaged and degraded.
October 24 comes six weeks before those crucial UN meetings in Copenhagen. If we all do our job, every nation will know the question they'll be asked when they put forth a plan: will this get the planet back on the path to 350?
This will only work with the help of a global movement-and it's starting to bubble up everywhere. Farmers in Cameroon, students in China, even World Cup skiers have already helped spread the word about 350. Churches have rung their bells 350 times; Buddhist monks have formed a huge 350 with their bodies against the backdrop of Himalayas. 350 translates across every boundary of language and culture. It's clear and direct, cutting through the static and it lays down a firm scientific line.
On October 24, we'll all stand behind 350--a universal symbol of climate safety and of the world we need to create. And at the end of the day, we'll all upload photos from our events to the www.350.org website and send these pictures around the world. This cascade of images will drive climate change into the public debate--and hold our leaders accountable to a unified global citizenry.
We need your help-the world is a big place and our team is small. Our crew at 350.org will do everything we can to support you, providing templates for banners and press releases, resources to spread the word, and tools to help you build a strong local climate action group. And our core team is always just a phone call or e-mail away if you need some support.
This is like a final exam for human beings. Can we muster the courage, the commitment, and the creativity to set this earth on a steady course before it's too late? October 24 will be the joyful, powerful day when we prove it's possible.
Please join us and register your local event today.
Onwards,
Bill McKibben - Author and Activist- USA
Vandana Shiva - Physicist, Activist, Author - India
David Suzuki - Scientist, Author, Activist - Canada
Bianca Jagger - Chair of the World Future Council - UK
Tim Flannery - Scientist, Author, Explorer -Australia
Bittu Sahgal - Editor of Sanctuary magazine - India
Andrew Simmons - Environmental Advocate, St. Vincent & The Grenadines
Christine Loh - Environmental Advocate and Legislator - Hong Kong
=========================
Richard H. Schwartz, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus, College of Staten Island
Author of "Judaism and Vegetarianism," "Judaism and Global Survival," and "Mathematics and Global Survival," and over 130 articles at www.JewishVeg.com/schwartz
President of Jewish Vegetarians of North America (JVNA) www.JewishVeg.com
and Society of Ethical and Religious Vegetarians (SERV) www.serv-online.org/
Associate Producer of A SACRED DUTY (asacredduty.com)
Director of Veg Climate Alliance (www.vegclimatealliance.org)
president@JewishVeg.com