In June I travelled to spend religious holidays with my relatives, the youngest of whom is starting to walk. She will grow up with fuller consequences of what America does about climate now.
A second reason for my trip was to lobby our Congress.
“The Lonely Man of Faith” by Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik portrayed Adam in Genesis 1 striving for mastery through science and technology, while in Genesis 2 he seeks redemption, meaning, and covenantal community. These two Adams are in everyone. Ignoring Adam the Second is “self-mutilation,” wrote Mathew Rose in the essay, “A Rabbi for Christians,” First Things, February 2024.)
Today many Americans lack the communal settings that build trust and social capital. Their “self-mutilation” produces deaths of despair. A conservative Jewish or Christian response seeks to form cultures that promote marriage, family, religious community, and face-to-face civic participation for the common good.
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks reminded us that the covenantal understanding of America’s founders came from the Hebrew Bible. A free society is a moral achievement which does not come automatically. How timely is this message!
The people of Israel, newly freed from Egypt, cried for food. God provided bread from heaven. After covenanting at Mount Sinai, the people again cried to God, this time because they were bored with manna. They had not changed.
Leading adaptive change is more difficult than providing technical solutions. Moses faced denial, anger, and blame. Only the generation after him entered the Promised Land.
Let’s connect the foregoing thoughts to the common good. I bring American democracy, fairness, free markets, fossil fuels, and carbon pollution into conversation with spirituality.
Burning coal, oil, and gas has brought us longer lifespans on average, larger population, upward social mobility, medical breakthroughs, useful consumer products, and leisure. It has also brought us pollution, extreme inequality, destruction of ecosystems, and global warming, with many adverse weather and health effects.
Many cities recorded all-time high temperatures in 2023. The cost of home insurance spiked in places due to weather-related risks. Billion-dollar weather events in America, adjusted for inflation, rose from 3.3 per year during 1980-1989 to 22.0 annually in 2021-2023. Conversely, increased wind and solar power from 2019 to 2022 produced $249 billion in climate and air quality benefits in the U.S
Global warming only became controversial in the 1990s when the time had come to do something about it. Several interested parties sought to delay action by promoting doubt about facts.
Almost all climate scientists agree that fossil fuel combustion, deforestation, and unsustainable agricultural practices are responsible for more than 100% of overall warming since 1850, because without human activities the earth would be cooling now. Sun activity has decreased since 1970, volcanic eruptions cool the planet, orbital cycles are toward cooling, and natural cycles redistribute energy without changing average global temperature.
This scientific consensus is certain beyond a reasonable doubt. Canny opposition to climate action has shifted to arguing that it is too difficult to change our behavior.
Most Americans are worried about climate change. They want to help fix the problem but are confused about that is true, who to trust, and what to do.
We already have the right values for action. As I write, the effects of hurricane Beryl are evident in much of the country. During hot, sticky weather I cannot walk outside much of the day or sleep much of the night. Wanting to protect our children and the places where we live in is common sense. “Love your neighbor as yourself” is biblical. Connecting to our Adam the Second, pursuing meaning and covenantal community, is very Christian and very Jewish.
Markets function best when they reflect true cost, which includes cleaning up a mess. Trade and the power of the American market are some of the best tools we have to reduce global carbon emissions.
An important thing we can do is to bring more people into climate conversation. We should tell our legislators that we support climate action.
Aside from the U.S. Congress, I propose concurrent action at the local level. Let’s talk and listen to our neighbors, to remove the false impression that few people care about our changing climate. More of us could join civic organizations. An inspiration for action is the American heritage of freedom, democracy, and civic virtue, starting at the local level.
For a Christian, Jew, or the many religious Americans, it will be natural to act within one’s congregation. Energy efficiency measures, installing rooftop solar, planting trees, and collective action toward the common good help build the culture that will support our necessary national energy transition. Shared respectful conversation and action will support our Creator’s mandate to both work and protect the earth (Genesis 2:15).
Jon Olson is a retired epidemiologist living in Simsbury. He volunteers for his church and for the nonpartisan Citizens’ Climate Lobby.