On passage and signing of the budget reconciliation bill, Rabbi Jennie Rosenn responds:
We are witnessing in real time the terrible and tragic consequences of climate denialism – in our politics and our lives.
Last week in Washington, DC, cowardly politicians in both the House and the Senate traded our collective future for tax breaks for billionaires and giveaways to the fossil fuel industry.
Then, as President Trump signed the budget reconciliation bill into law on the Fourth of July, devastating flash floods tore across Central Texas, killing more than 100 people and destroying entire communities. The final toll will likely be higher. The scale of the loss, including dozens of children, is unimaginable.
Our hearts break for the tragic loss of life and ongoing devastation. And our fists are clenched in fury as politicians in Washington have yet again prioritized corporate greed over the American people.
The bill passed by Congress and signed into law by President Trump will make climate disasters like the Texas floods more frequent and more severe. Emissions from fossil fuels heat the atmosphere and create conditions for catastrophic weather events. The answer is clear: we must invest in clean energy solutions and move away from the dirty energy sources that are accelerating the climate crisis at staggering rates.
Moreover, as the Trump Administration defunds the science and institutions that enable us to research and predict weather events, we are losing the capacity to warn communities and save lives.
The budget reconciliation bill lays bare who is calling the shots in the halls of power in Washington, DC right now: corporate polluters and billionaires. As they win, we lose.
The bill contains litanies of provisions that will catapult our country backwards: Increasing pollution and climate devastation, intensifying poverty and food insecurity, and reducing access to healthcare – with disproportionate impact on communities of color, exacerbating systemic inequalities across the board.
As we approach the three weeks of mourning leading up to the Jewish holiday of Tisha B’Av, the words from the book of Lamentations (2:11) echo:
כָּל֨וּ בַדְּמָע֤וֹת עֵינַי֙ חֳמַרְמְר֣וּ מֵעַ֔י נִשְׁפַּ֤ךְ לָאָ֙רֶץ֙ כְּבֵדִ֔י עַל־שֶׁ֖בֶר בַּת־עַמִּ֑י בֵּֽעָטֵ֤ף עוֹלֵל֙ וְיוֹנֵ֔ק בִּרְחֹב֖וֹת קִרְיָֽה׃
My eyes are spent with tears, / My heart is in tumult, / My being melts away / Over the ruin of my poor people / As children languish….
Even amidst our heartbreak and anger, we remain resolute. We will not stop fighting for a clean energy future. Now, more than ever, we must accelerate clean energy legislation at the state level, empower climate policymakers in every level of government to take bold action, and not back down as a handful of billionaires and profiteers attempt to steal our future.