| Since I first wrote about the Apollo Project a couple of years ago, much has advanced. Just this past weekend, President Elect Barack Obama pledged a public works project on a vast scale that would emphasize green investment to achieve economic recovery. Indeed, the progress from vision to reality is truly impressive.
The announcement comes amid a growing consensus that to overcome the country’s economic crisis in a manner that is sustainable and forward thinking, the government needs embark on a "Green New Deal" investing in initiatives to repair infrastructure, increase the production and consumption of renewable energy, encourage energy efficiency, and upgrade the electricity grid. This sentiment has been echoed by leaders across the political spectrum, as well as abroad.
Of course, the Jewish community was a critical part of the original New Deal coalition, the grouping of voting blocs that supported the New Deal and voted for FDR who faced a right-wing backlash. That coalition not only proved to be a lasting political alignment that survived well into the late 1960s but also supported his economic recovery policy agenda. Now that there is buzz of a "Green New Deal" it seems natural to ask what today's coalition will look like and assess in what way the Jewish community will be involved in these momentous changes. |
Speaking of politics, in spite of the Jewish community's initial reservations, Obama won 78% of the Jewish vote, which is quite a healthy showing as Mik has previously described. In that sense at least, Jews join with union members, hispanic voters, the Netroots, youth, the religious left, African-Americans, and other groups to form an electorate coalition for Barack Obama. "But voting for the same candidate doesn’t mean thoroughgoing political alignment," as a recent article in the Forward astutely observes. Will Jews and the organized Jewish community be committed to a Green New Deal? Are we bought in into the same political project? How do we relate to other constituencies of our political coalition? There is a lot to ponder. A few years ago, when researching the organized Jewish community’s activity on energy and the environment, I concluded that that the community was involved in the debate, perhaps more than I had expected, but was not necessarily leading in the manner that it led on other issues.
I'm glad to report that there appears to have been some progress over the last year. In the summer of 2008, COEJL led a team of 10 major American Jewish organizations in issuing a joint Climate Change Policy Statement that called for aggressive action on such timely topics as cap-and-trade, renewable portfolio standards, and energy efficiency. This is a welcome step forward and consistent with the Green New Deal project that is developing. We are living in exciting times. In the upcoming posts, we will explore further the organized Jewish community's response to the economic, energy, and environmental crisis as well as possible ways in which we can do more. I encourage your full participation, suggestions, and comments. |
