|
|
December 6, 2002/Tevet 1 5763, Vol. 55, No. 15
What would Moses drive?
Jews, Christians join in call for smaller cars
JOE BERKOFSKY
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
NEW YORK - Rabbi Jerome Epstein owns a Buick, but he's going automobile shopping this week.
"What I'm looking for is a small car," Epstein says.
As he wanders the wilderness of car dealerships, Epstein might wonder, what would Moses drive?
Epstein, executive vice president of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, the movement's congregational umbrella group, is among Jewish and Christian leaders and organizations aiming to steer the United States away from its dependence on foreign oil and put the brakes on Americans' penchant for gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles.
Officially called the Interfaith Climate and Energy Campaign, the effort by four dozen leaders and groups has won major media coverage, thanks largely to the evangelical Christian motto, "What would Jesus drive?"
On the Jewish side, fueling the push are the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life, together with leading rabbis and organizations such as the American Jewish Committee, Hadassah, the Jewish Council of Public Affairs, the Jewish Theological Seminary, the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association and the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism.
On Nov. 20, campaign members delivered petitions to the heads of the Big Three automakers in Detroit, urging tighter fuel economy standards in new cars as a "moral imperative" that would heighten national security and reduce pollution from fossil fuels.
Rabbi David Saperstein, director of the Religious Action Center, told the CEOs of DaimlerChrysler, Ford and General Motors that nearly all the cars Detroit is producing "are poisoning the air, warming the air, punishing the poor, weakening America's security by dependency on foreign oil, jeopardizing the future of our children" and "just plain violating the covenant with our Creator."
Coalition members maintain that there's a direct connection among SUVs, national security and global warming.
Mark Jacobs, executive director of the Jewish environmental group COEJL, says 52 percent of U.S. oil is imported from places such as Saudi Arabia and Iraq.
That means "U.S. foreign policy is significantly shaped by Saudi oil and some of the same nations that support terrorism," Jacobs says. "The quickest way to increase our security is to lessen our reliance on foreign oil."
Yet Jacobs and Sharon Bloome, national board chairwoman of COEJL, insist they're not urging people to boycott car companies or even trade in their Lincoln Navigators for Honda Civics.
Instead, "we are trying to initiate a new conversation about cars that takes into account the moral choices car makers make when choosing to produce vehicles, and the choices people make when purchasing them," Jacobs says.
|
