Rabbi Jennie Rosenn reacts to the proposal to repeal the Endangerment Finding, which established that greenhouse gas emissions endanger life and safety of people and climate.
The 2009 EPA Endangerment Finding – based on decades of scientific research, academic rigor, and expert analysis – guided the agency to create and implement regulations that saved countless lives.
Repealing this Finding is an assault on everyone in this country who breathes air, drinks water, and eats food nurtured on land. It will result in a future of climate devastation that is more dangerous, dirty, and deadly. And it will decimate Black, Brown, Indigenous, and low-income communities that are on the frontlines of polluting fossil fuel projects.
We call on EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin to stay true to his own Jewish values and desist from repealing this bedrock foundation of climate progress.
Thus far, Mr. Zeldin has pursued the very opposite of the Jewish imperative of pikuach nefesh – taking action to save a life. The EPA’s work for the past 55 years has been nothing less than the protection and sustenance of human life and the ability to thrive l’dor v’dor, from generation to generation.
Mr. Zeldin has turned his back not just on the foundational Jewish value of protecting and sustaining life, but also on honoring truth and recognizing science. Elevating the interests of the fossil fuel industry over human life is utterly antithetical to ensuring a just and livable future for all Americans.