Four cups of wine make Jews very green

The bad news is that human activities have increased the extinction of species to between 100-1,000 times faster than scientists would have expected a generation or two ago. But the good news is that “From the depths of the Pacific Ocean to the mountains of Vietnam, thousands of new plants, animals and fungi were discovered all over the world in 2024.

And the even better news is that in the US, wind energy generation hit a record in April 2024, exceeding coal-fired generation; and the world’s “massive growth in renewables” was mainly driven by economics rather than government policies, as renewables, especially solar were now the cheapest option in almost every country in the world; and deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon dropped to a nine-year low in 2024, falling by more than 30% in the 12 months to July 2024.

The world faced many challenges in 2024, including very dangerous heat waves (the past 10 years have been the warmest 10 years since record-keeping began), and outbreaks of the infectious diseases dengue and mpox. Dengue exploded in the Americas, where countries reported more than 12.6 million cases as of early December 2024, according to the Pan American Health Organization. In 2023, there were only about 4.6 million cases.

Health and economic costs from three toxic chemicals used in plastics is estimated at $1.5 trillion for a single year. The study, published December 16, 2024 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, analyzed data from 38 different countries, representing one-third of the total global population.

Bisphenol A (BPA), commonly found in food packaging, is an endocrine disruptor associated with cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and reproductive disorders. BPA exposure was associated with 5.4 million cases of heart disease and 346,000 strokes, leading to 431,000 deaths.

While climate change is not often pegged as a Jewish issue — unlike, for example, abortion or Israel — a set of poll results suggest concern about climate change is nearly a consensus in the Jewish community. After all drinking four cups of wine is a Jewish duty at the Seder so when global wine consumption was down an equivalent of 3.5 billion bottles in 2023, according to the International Organization of Wine and Vine, Jews were upset.

Already nine years ago, a survey from the nonpartisan group Public Religion Research Institute found that a far larger percentage of American Jews believed that climate change was a concern than Americans as a whole do. At the time, an estimated 8 in 10 American Jews said the planet is facing a crisis or a major problem.

It’s not just that Jews find the climate situation alarming because they tend to be liberal, and that liberals are far more likely than conservatives to prioritize the issue. According to recent polling, Jews not only care about climate — they also seem to prioritize it over almost any other issue.

For example, a 2020 election exit survey of 800 Jewish voters by J Street, a liberal pro-Israel group, found that climate change ranked second after the COVID-19 pandemic among issues determining who they picked in the presidential contest between Donald Trump and Joe Biden

Two subsequent polls added to this impression. In 2021 and 2022, the Jewish Electorate Institute, a group led by prominent Jewish Democrats, conducted national surveys of Jewish voters and found that the top issue they wanted Biden and Congress to focus on was climate change. Voting rights and the economy came in second and third in both cases.

About two years ago, a new group called Dayenu: A Jewish Call to Climate Action launched seeking to harness the overwhelming level of worry American Jews seem to have about how greenhouse gas emissions are wreaking havoc on our weather and oceans.

According to Dayenu’s chief strategy officer, Phil Aroneanu, there has long been a widespread desire among Jews to be much more green as individuals, and to organize as Jews for systemic change.

Margery Cooper, a member of Congregation Beth Elohim in Brooklyn, was inspired to help start one of 80 local Dayenu chapters that now exist around the country and abroad. US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, attends services with Cooper as a fellow congregant at Beth Elohim.