With a $3.5 trillion budget resolution passing the House today, Rabbi Jennie Rosenn, Founder and CEO of Dayenu: A Jewish Call to Climate Action issued the following statement:
“The passage of today’s $3.5 trillion budget resolution through the House marks a critical step forward on the road towards the bold climate action that most Americans support. Amid a summer of cascading weather emergencies and a UN report showing the ways in which we are perilously close to a point of no return, we call on Congress to pass a recovery package that addresses the dire threat we face and invests in bold climate solutions, jobs, care, and justice. A package that fails to include these investments will constitute a failure by our elected representatives to address the crisis at hand.
“As we approach Rosh Hashana, the Jewish new year, we enter a time of reflection and teshuvah, atonement and turning. It is painfully clear that we must turn away from fossil fuels and towards a livable, equitable future for all. And Congress must turn our country and economy toward a just and livable future by swiftly passing a recovery package that includes a pathway to 100% clean, pollution-free energy, targeted funding for communities impacted by environmental racism and injustice, and unprecedented investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy. There is no more time to waste.
“To that end, Dayenu is mobilizing the American Jewish community to demand that their elected representatives meet the moment and go big on climate. With the Jewish new year approaching, Jews will gather to publicly sound the Shofar as part of Dayenu’s Hear the Call campaign, offering a clarion call to action for leaders to pass the climate investments we so desperately need.”