by Susie Davidson

Advocate Correspondent

On May 17, the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life (COEJL), in collaboration with other Jewish organizations and over 30 community groups, will testify before the Natural Resource Committee in support of the Environmental Justice Designation Bill (S.1145).

"A Jewish Call for Environmental Justice", citing the Leviticus 19:16 passage "Neither shall you sit idly by the blood of your neighbor", outlines an effort to give a legislative voice to communities disproportionately affected by environmental hazards. The bill would designate areas with high minority populations and unusually high pollution concentrations, such as Roxbury, New Bedford, Chelsea and Lawrence, as "Areas of Critical Environmental Justice Concern". Under this new classification, these communities would be closely studied for social, economic and environmental indicators and subsequently protected from further contamination.

S.1145, An Act to Establish an Environmental Justice Designation Program, states its purpose as follows: "The proposed bill views the human population as the "critical resource" that needs to be protected, establishing a program to identify and designate Areas of Environmental Justice Concern — communities where a concentration of polluting uses or facilities degrade the environment and impact public health."

Incinerators, bus depots, landfills, hazardous waste sites and trash transfer stations tend to be localized in communities of color. As a result, Roxbury’s asthma rates, for example, are 6 times the state average, and children in Pittsfield playing around the Housatonic River have 200 times greater than the EPA’s "reasonable" risk for liver, nervous system damage and developmental abnormalities.

This bill is the latest initiative in COEJL’s continuing effort, through advocacy, education and outreach, to preserve the planet and protect its inhabitants. In keeping with the Judaic edict of environmental stewardship and ethical action, this national group, which operates under the auspices of the Jewish Community Relations Council, is coordinated in the Boston area by Judy Lehrer, a crusader for social and environmental change. Her past COEJL involvements have included the refurbishing of "fish ladders" in the Charles River and improving energy efficiency programs for area synagogues as well as helping to promote nature walks, Shabbats in the Woods, workshops, trainings and speaker engagements.

JCRC executive director Nancy Kaufman salutes COEJL’s powerful work: "Through education and activism, Boston COEJL is helping to improve the environment, whether by building ladders in the Charles River or by building bridges between Boston Jewish community and the environmental movement."

S.1145 was one of five issues presented by over 400 people on March 21 to legislators as part of Jewish Community Advocacy Day. COEJL urges concerned citizens to write or call their Representatives and Senators and express their support for COEJL’s effort to pass S.1145. Legislators’ names and numbers can be accessed by calling 617-722-2000 (Representatives) or 617-722-1455 (Senators), or at www.vote-smart.org/index.phtml