Category — Environment

I am, to be clear, an abolitionist on the residential automobile. The kind of society we need to create is a radical, almost incomprehensible reversal of Jeffersonian America.

Long-term, there is no other way, and long-term is a lot shorter-term than we would like to think.

Never the less, there are some obvious shorter-term alleviations that we should be able to force Congress to pass right now. In an email, Set America Free writes,

The way to break OPEC’s stronghold over our economy argues Robert Zubrin is for Congress to pass a law requiring that all new cars sold in the U.S. be “flex-fueled,” capable of running on any combination of gasoline or alcohol fuels: Such cars already exist - two dozen different models of flex-fuel vehicles (FFVs) are being produced by Detroit’s Big Three this year - and they only cost about $100 more than identical models that can run on gasoline only. But this constitutes only about 3 percent of the new-car market. Within three years of such an Open Fuel Standard, there would be 50 million cars on American roads capable of running on alcohol fuels. Under those conditions, fuel pumps dispensing alcohol would be everywhere - creating, for the first time, an effectively open market in vehicle fuels, and competition for OPEC oil.

I am a public transit fanatic, particularly on rail, and I like the (newly revamped and expanded) site Jspot generally, and enjoy Rabbi Jill Jacobs’ posts specifically.

Which is why it is so bizarre that Rabbi Jacobs can be so wrong about something we both agree on passionately.

Rabbi Jacobs writes in “Subway rage, “

“I’m a huge fan of all subways, but particularly of the New York subway system;”

Me too! Here, I expect Rabbi Jacobs to launch into the brilliance of our express trains (we invented them!) and how other Americans need to learn to live without a car like we do.

Instead, Rabbi Jacobs writes,

unlike many other places, where it’s easy to avoid encountering anyone of a different race, ethnicity, or socio-economic class, the city forces people of all walks of life into close contact with one another through the shared experience of the subway commute.

With all due respect, Rabbi Jacobs, who cares? We have an emergency situation where we are running out of cheap oil, we are destroying the earth, and you are focusing on the cheap thrills of diversity?

“A public space is defined as a place that’s open to all people–you can’t lock out the homeless, the smelly”

It is, in fact, the homeless who represent exactly what Jeffersonian America is afraid of. The most responsible thing NYC could do for the good of the country is rid our subway of the homeless. I would call in the goons tomorrow for that reason alone. And you could figure out what to do with them instead of abusing our subway system which is for commuters.

There are sites and groups that only champion social justice and rarely tackle economic justice. To be fair, this is not true of Jspot, and it is not true of Rabbi Jacobs. However, I feel this post represents which is given greater weight, and why this is misguided.

You have to feel bad for the Jewish Press writers. Some (by no means all) of them are actually lucid. Some of them secretly read real periodicals…not like the Jewish Press. But these Jewish Press writers service the heimeshe velt. You know…ignoramuses. So how do you call for your predominantly moronic fundamentalist readership to take a more responsible energy policy?

Shlomo Greenwald writes on The Jewish Press Blog,

We know what owing favors to Arab countries in the Middle East often means–sacrificing America’s strong support of Israel. Now what would happen if this year sales for cars that get better gas mileage increase 3 fold or more? And what would happen if 100,000 Jews this year bought or leased a hybrid or otherwise more fuel efficient vehicle? The trend would be off and running, those kinds of cars would start becoming more mainstream, and sales would increase next year, as well.

I’m not suggesting anyone spend more than he can afford. But if you can afford it, wouldn’t it be another great way to help support Israel?

Notice how tentative Greenwald writes…only IF you can afford it…no call for mass transit, no call for increased legislation in such matters, or federally sponsored research and development…just a call for maybe getting a hybrid…IF you can afford it. For popularity purposes.

I suspect it is possible Greenwald knows and accepts exactly how bad things are because of our oil addiction…but he has to appease his tax-hating Republican Frum-mobile gas guzzling readership that hates anything “liberal.�?

Look how Greenwald subtly suggests the frummies should reconsider their anti-intellectual stand against anything environmentally inspired. He tries to pull a Jedi mind trick.

“It seems to me that an increasing number of Orthodox Jews would scoff at requirements or incentives for automakers to create cars with better gas mileage, or for measures to ensure alternative fuel sources. Indeed, at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit taking place now, environmental concerns are the hot topic.�?

Did you see that “indeed�? pivot? Go, Greenwald!

My trip to Amsterdam was, in many ways, both a vindicating and infuriating experience. It suffers from some of the same problems we have in our cities. But it also doesn’t suffer at all from some of the problems we are besieged by.

For years, I have complained that we don’t build better mass transit. And for years I have been told by friends and acquaintances that a mature adult must have a car, and he must designate a good portion of his disposable income and incur debt for this machine and its fuel.

There are 16,000,000 Dutch. And there are 16,000,000 bikes. I can’t help but suspect that Critical Mass was started in part by those who had been to Amsterdam. While certainly not every chapter or participant is riding for the same reason, or even any reason at all, I believe for many, this is a protest of sorts against the preference for and assumed supremacy of the automobile.

The wait for the tram during the day is nominal. The wait even in the middle of the night is not so bad. And Amsterdam is hardly a massive city,

I hope one day we will change our stupid ways, though I have my doubts. But people can only claim that they don’t want to do so. I know now – first hand – that it absolutely can be done.

And it is a beautiful thing.

With Plenty of Environmentally Destructive Plastic Containers

The Orthodox Union is putting their kashrut certification/brand on water, even though we’ve been drinking the stuff for thousands of years without any clerical supervision.

But with water, there is a problem in addition to the unprecedented phenomenon of kashrut supervision on water.

Rachel Biale, of the Progressive Jewish Alliance, wrote on Jewcy that kosher water should be water devoid of the exact behavior of that what the Orthodox Union is endorsing and facilitating. Ms. Biale railed specifically against water that “comes in a disposable plastic bottle,�? as well as which is “sold by a private for-profit company.�?

Unfortunately, the Orthodox Union recently began co-branding kashrut “supervision�? of water for the DS Waters of America, a massive commercial water supplier. And of course, this is only one of the many ever increasing water companies that the Orthodox Union supervises, since you can never be too careful (or pay too little) for water.

What I would ask you (and the Progressive Jewish Alliance) to consider is that in fact, the Orthodox Union, the largest kashrut supervision in the U.S., is acting in a contradictory way to both our faith and our environment in a manner that no other religious organization of its caliber is doing. They are–domestically, at least–the absolute worst religious offender, and they siphon in the name of Judaism.

Before we stand up for what is environmentally sound in the name of Judaism the way Hazon wants, or like like the Progressive Jewish Alliance wants, we need to enforce some basic standards in our own community, who in this situation, include the bottom of the moral barrel.

We need to stop the Orthodox Union from acting in the name of the general Jewish community’s behalf. At the very least, we need to stand up and denounce the Orthodox Union for doing such things in our name. We need to publicly distance ourselves from this dishonorable and irresponsible behavior that boils down to greed.

And one guess what the Orthodox Union uses such money for.

We have a leaky faucet in our house.