The U.S. State Department is holding a series of hearings to collect public input into the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, giving citizens an opportunity to contribute in a meaningful way in this decision-making process. On Wednesday, September 28th, one of the hearings will be held in Austin, TX, and religious leaders from different traditions will participate. Some will contribute prayers and readings at our interfaith prayer service at 10:30 a.m. that morning, and some will offer testimony at the hearing.
Because the date of this hearing conflicts with the beginning of the Jewish High Holy Days and marks the first evening of Rosh Hashana, the Jewish new year, the Texas Jewish community's participation will be understandably limited on the day of the hearing. Working with the Jewish community, we offer this statement and invite Texas Jewish leaders to add their names by signing on. Texas Interfaith Power & Light leaders will read and submit this statement at the September 28th hearing on behalf of those who sign on, making it part of the public testimony.
Texas Jewish Leaders’ Statement on the Proposed Keystone XL Pipeline
As Texas Jewish leaders, we encourage our nation’s leaders to create new jobs for Americans and reduce our country’s dependence on foreign oil in ways that protect the health of people, wildlife and the environment. Construction of the proposed 1,661-mile Keystone XL pipeline that would carry bitumen from Alberta, Canada to Houston, Texas would be a harmful step in the wrong direction.
The mining of this kind of oil in Canada’s pristine boreal forests is incredibly destructive for habitat, wildlife and human life—and it significantly increases greenhouse gas emissions at a critical time in our effort to combat global warming. In addition, the proposed Keystone XL pipeline would run through environmentally-sensitive areas in the U.S., including the Ogallala Aquifer. The Ogallala provides 30% of the groundwater for American agriculture—as well as about 80% of the drinking water for people who live within the aquifer’s boundary; an oil spill here would be disastrous.
This evening marks the first day of Rosh Hashana, the Jewish new year, when we celebrate the creation of the world. Our tradition teaches:
When God created Adam, He led him around the Garden of Eden and said to him: “Behold my works! See how beautiful they are, how excellent! All that I have created, for your sake did I create it. See to it that you do not spoil and destroy my world; for if you do, there will be no one to repair it after you.” –Ecclesiastes Rabbah 7:13
Constructing this pipeline would commit our nation to years of increased carbon emissions at a time when it is increasingly clear that global warming threatens to spoil and destroy our world for generations to come. Let us instead work together to find solutions that are healthy for all people and the planet, for there is no one to repair it after us. We urge the State Department and President Obama to deny the request from TransCanada to construct the Keystone XL pipeline.
**********
To add your name to this statement, please click here.