Barbara Weinstein 

Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism 

Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life 

bweinstein@rac.org 

EPA Public Hearing: Carbon Pollution Standard 

Washington, D.C. 

May 24,2012 

Hello, my name is Barbara Weinstein. I am the Legislative Director of the 

Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, the Washington office of the Union 

for Reform Judaism, which advocates on behalf of more than 900 congregations 

and 1.5 million Reform Jews in the U.S. and Canada. I am also here on behalf of 

the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life, composed of 27 national Jewish 

organizations spanning the full spectrum of Jewish religious and communal 

life. Thank you for the opportunity today to speak in support of the EPA's 

proposed Carbon Pollution Standard for new power plants. This standard marks an 

historic step toward developing comprehensive U.S. climate and energy policy, 

and we call on the EPA to maintain the strength ofthis proposed safeguard as it 

moves toward issuing a final rule. 

The looming crisis of climate change is an immense environmental, 

political, and economic challenge. But in the Jewish community, as in the faith 

community broadly, climate change is also a moral and spiritual challenge. 
Judaism teaches that we are partners with God in the world of creation, that we 

must "till and tend" the Earth (Genesis 2: 15)- and that is it not ours to abuse for 

our own profit. Our ancient sages, writing well before there were power plants or 

man-made carbon pollution, told us that God implored, "Take care, lest you spoil 

and destroy my world, because if you do, there is no one after you to make it right 

again" (Kohelet Rabbah 7:13 ). If we fail to preserve and protect this world- our 

only world- by failing to address rising levels of carbon pollution, we betray our 

responsibility to one another and to future generations. 

Our faith also instructs and guides us that in the most difficult times, even in 

times of economic hardship or political conflict, all of Creation is to be honored 

and protected. In Deuteronomy (20: 19) we read that it is forbidden to cut down 

fruit-bearing trees outside a (besieged) city. This reminder to honor our natural 

resources, even when it may seem most imperative or expeditious to exploit them, 

is a lesson that inspires us in the secular sphere, as well. 

The standards proposed by the EPA address the heart of our nation's carbon 

problem by targeting power plants, the country's largest source of carbon 

pollution. Existing power plants emit more than 2 billion tons of carbon and other 

toxic pollutants each year- nearly 13,000 pounds for every man, woman, and child 

in the United States. And there are serious health, environmental, and economic 

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consequences of those emissions. Scientists and experts agree: carbon pollution 

threatens public health and welfare by contributing to rising rates of respiratory 

ailments and heart attacks. These health issues disproportionately affect some more 

than others: particularly communities of color, low-income communities, children, 

and older adults. Moreover, carbon pollution is agreed to be the main cause of 

climate change and is linked to the rising number of extreme weather events in 

recent years. Each year from 200 I to 2011 has been one of the 12 warmest years 

on record. The trend is projected to continue, with April making history as the 

third warmest month ever recorded. 

The science is clear and our faith tradition inspires our understanding of the 

steps that must be taken to reduce carbon emissions and address the impacts of 

these harmful pollutants. That is why a recent survey conducted by the Public 

Religion Research Institute found that an overwhelming 69% of American Jews 

are supportive of tougher laws and regulations to protect the environment, even if 

it raises prices. 

Today, it is OUR responsibility to protect our children from the impact of 

climate change. That includes the 55% of American children who in 2005, by this 

agency's own estimate, lived in counties in which the eight-hour ozone standard 

was exceeded on at least one day per year. Today, it is OUR responsibility to help 

prevent our congregants and others in Missouri, Texas and Kansas from ever again 

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knowing the devastation caused by the extreme weather events that swept their 

state this year and last. The same kinds of extreme weather events, like heat 

waves, that this agency notes on its website are probable to become "more likely 

and progressively more intense over the course of decades under current climate 

change scenarios." Today, it is OUR responsibility to cut our carbon emissions 

and arrest the ever-worsening phenomenon of climate change. And we can do that 

by adopting the Carbon Pollution Standard for new power plants that this agency 

has proposed. 

The need for carbon limits has never been clearer. We commend the EPA 

for taking steps to limit these harmful emissions, and we call on the EPA to 

maintain the strength of this safeguard as it moves toward issuing a final rule. 

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