 Hello and welcome to live at 525 on channel 17. My name is Debbie Ingram and I'm the executive director of Vermont interfaith action And we're the organization bringing you this show tonight The title of our show is what you can do about climate change because we're sponsoring an event that we're going to be talking about at Ohavi Zedek synagogue and We'll tell you all about how you can join us. It's on December 12th And what what you'll learn at that event, but first let me just tell you a little bit about Vermont interfaith action If you don't know us we are a coalition of congregations all across the state 42 member and affiliated congregations and we work together to Effect systemic change around issues of social justice over the years We've worked on things like affordable housing and homelessness on health care reform on public education criminal justice reform public transportation and And now we're turning some of our attention to climate change So let me introduce my my guests tonight or have them introduce themselves This is Rabbi Amy Small from Ohavi Zedek synagogue. Hello It's my pleasure to be here. Thank you. And this is Karen Corpman also from Ohavi Zedek synagogue She's a board member both of Ohavi Zedek and of Vermont interfaith action. Hi. Happy to be here as well. Great Thank you very much. So let's let's just start with you Karen and Ask you what what prompted this this event that's coming up on December 12th Basically after the excitement in 2015 and 2016 where the world finally came together and Virtually every country in the world with the exception of two Nicaragua because they wanted something stronger and Syria because it was in the middle of a civil war everybody joined and signed to move in the right direction and the beauty of what they the plan they had was that everybody Made their own goals and did what they could that would fit their country and They then were going to track these and they will and the idea being that as technology improves These and goal these goals will then move forward at a faster rate as Happened with various other things that were done in similar ways Then we elected Trump and President Trump has announced that he's pulling us out of the accord which he can't do until November 2020 So this may or may not come about from or if it does come about it will last only a few months If a different president has a different view the reaction in the states was immediate and Washington State California and New York led the rest of the states and were Alied with people like Michael Bloomberg who was an UN special envoy for climate change and created we're still in Vermont immediately joined it and then I Received the email that you sent that v.i.a. was invited to attend the announcement by Governor Scott and Mira Weinberger to You know come up with our response and our response was essentially to have a summit which was described as a mini Paris where all the businesses all the NGOs the municipalities and the state itself would bring to the table what they could bring to the table and Meryl Weinberger also had a different analogy which is he said this is a lot like a Vermont potluck and What better thing could we have for the religious communities in Vermont to get involved with than a potluck because it's what we do and So the idea here is that we could through the IA host an event that would basically take the message that was at the summit that the state had and Spread it to both the congregations So that they when they're making their plans going forward can consider climate change as they're doing things with their facilities And then in addition the congregants could decide what they can do And we can use the tool that Vermont has created called the dashboard where people can put their commitments in Great, okay, right so both people people can do this both at the individual level make changes in their own their own households Mm-hmm, and we're encouraging people to come from from congregations, but also I guess other organizations too We'd be happy, you know, I think probably like schools and maybe businesses Could take steps as well So yeah, so everybody's welcome to to come and you'll and they'll learn about This the dashboard is part of is that part of the state's plans? It's part of what the state put together and it's a way that you can put the commitments in and the idea of it is If you see your neighbor putting something in you might say, you know, I can do that too and The same with municipalities where when they see each other doing things They can follow or they could call up and say you had this in a year ago. Did it work? and So I mean there could be a lot of synergies in people seeing what other people are doing and it could create momentum Great, great. Excellent. All right, good well Rabbi Amy, I'd like to turn to you and Can you tell us a little bit more about why the by the synagogue? Thought that this was something that was important to follow up on and what the purpose of this is from the From your point of view. Well, we're very concerned about climate change and from a religious perspective there are a few things more urgent than this and that is preserving God's creation and There's a rich tradition within our with within Jewish texts But I know many of our faith traditions as well that speak to The glory and grandeur of creation as coming from God that it is given to us as a gift But it's a gift on loan We don't get to use it up consume it and leave nothing left but rather to enjoy it and to leave it for the next generation and so this this feels like a very powerful religious issue and even While we know that as a religious community and as our various religious traditions will support and even as people in Vermont know that this is a Calling to us Not everybody's on board yet so we thought that if the religious communities could motivate people and Help them give them tools then we could actually be part of the solution right so So other other congregations them will be will be in attendance. Is that right? Yes Part of our goal in bringing VIA into this was so that we could spread it with everybody in the Vermont community Who it would like to attend and is able to attend and there will be a series of clergy speakers We have besides myself the Unitarian pastor We have six different religious traditions that will be speaking Unitarian Congregational UCC Catholic and Lutheran so so our goal is to demonstrate that this is not a Jewish issue. It's not a Christian issue. It's not a specific Denominational issue. This is a human issue each one of our religious tradition speaks to it So the clergy that are going to be part of this panel will be able to represent that from our own text And we hope that people from all across the religious spectrum will join us Yes, great sounds sounds good And that is something that VIA tries to do is to show the the similarities between all of our different faith traditions because as we as we know we People of faith have sometimes not behaved well in trying to work together with one another, but That's something we're trying to change and something that we do I think we do quite well and And apply to our social justice issues here here in the state and no question about it And and in fact as much as via is the model for how all of our religious communities can work together on issues that we care about So too is vermonta model politically. We have a republican governor the democratic mayor of the city of berlington They are working together on this. There are no partisan lines here This is for us a human issue and we can demonstrate how you don't need to be in your own corner When it comes to this issue, but rather to be united together Absolutely. Yes, we can be proud of that. Yes, we can be definitely So um karen can you tell us a little bit more about maybe what some specific things are that on the dashboard or things that people Might be able to do Basically what we have is what we're going to do is we're going to give people as part of The on one side it'll be a commitment card of what they can commit to on the other side We're going to provide information including two links to the dashboard One link will take you to where you can register as a residence and On the same link it has something you could click on which gives you A three page checklist explaining different things that could be possibly done And so this provides you a bunch of things that you can say are you know, that doesn't quite work for me This one does but at any rate they would have that the other thing we would do is we would Be on the back of it as part of the information part putting in The organizations that provide either tools or our advocacy groups So that people can have One piece of paper they can take home They could fill out the one side saying i'm committed to be involved and then to check how they're going to be committed On a really high level at the top, but then turn turn it over And have some information that helps them go about doing it. The other thing is After the main event, we're going to have refreshments because we always have refreshments and At the same time we will have tables where We are asking groups that are either Providers of information to help on various issues or our advocacy groups if they would like to man tables We've put some feelers out. We've gotten some yeses, but Anybody who wants if they can sense Could we have it sent to the IA if somebody is interested who's listening and Wants to be involved in it and we'll get back to you and You know you can have a tape. Yes, great great. Yeah, and some of the some of the names we've talked about are vermont interfaith power and light right, um efficiency vermont The chitin and waste because of composting which gets rid of a lot of methane gas um And then for average 350 350 is an advocacy group and v perg Which is another advocacy group um And we have one person who's an expert on solar and so he will have some information on that Great great excellent So if I may first of all in naming a few of the religious communities who will be speaking That was not to say that everybody isn't part of this But that just happens to be the panel we were able to put together This is for everybody and speaks to everybody So forgive me if I've left somebody out only because we couldn't have every single religious community represented In that in that particular moment But I want to say that this is the first night of hanukkah December 12th And for us that's a perfect match because hanukkah is called the festival of lights And here we are thinking about what does it mean to use electricity and to And to warm our homes and our businesses and our synagogues and our churches and our mosques And so for us that goes together. This is where we think about what is the the oil that's going to be used To make that happen So to conclude the program we will light the hanukkah lights together And we have special treats in our in our um In our food that we'll have that are special for hanukkah as well that we'll share That's really uh really something that i'm looking forward to because it does really make it a more meaningful Um connection between the the faith and and what we're trying to do in a in a practical way and um, yes Yeah, that'll that will be be very nice very special So glad you're able to do that So, um, let's talk a little bit more about why um You know why states and cities feel they Need to to do this the the paris climate accord you gave us some good background on that um before and Some of my knowledge of it actually comes from uh watching the documentary that al gore did about the an inconvenient sequel Because they really showed how how difficult it was you you mentioned that in your opening remarks about how hard it was But i know you've had a real passion for this for for a long time Could you could you share with us a little bit more of the the history of the movement? Your passion for it. Well, um I was probably more involved intellectually and politically than I was in any of the advocacy groups on it So what I actually know more about is um the history of the um Efforts made by you know of the two people that are political Obviously the two are al gore and john carrey who did an amazing amount of the Lift in getting it to happen Al gore after he lost the presidency even though he genuinely got more votes and really won for it But at any rate he Never got he never got inaugurated as president But he then went out and then a year later came back with the documentary that you spoke of and I think that was what Really changed it into a political issue for most people Although not to the extent that you could actually I mean it was it was really Something that more people said they were interested in but every time you had a survey and you'd go and say what are the three things that you Will determine your vote it was never one of them and it probably still isn't Because there are other more pressing needs that people usually mention But at any rate it changed it so that people took it as an issue then um with When um secretary carrey became secretary he had gone to Talking to president obama before he you know became secretary Indicated he wanted climate change to be his issue as women's and children's issues were hillary's issues in that context and He had been involved in it. He and gore had been he had gone He was on the same committee where gore had the early senate hearings gore had done some hearings actually in the in the house of In the house before he became senator, but um Then When he became secretary he basically Had all of these contacts because he had gone to all the summits And so he worked with the chinese and uh where it was able to get the agreement With the u.s. China agreement which then led to getting similar agreements at lima, which was before Paris and so then at paris you had basically this Whole new definition that people instead of having one set of rules for States You know for countries to abide by each country put their own goals in and the thing that is good about that is Every in reality it makes it a complete lie that the president Had to pull us out because we were being treated wrong We said our call and the different and we also could change it You know, but so it was totally political red meat to The people he had believing him that it was not a good deal But the thing is when doing it They pulled in the cities They pulled in the states the tech companies all of them had representation in paris and in particular among the cities mayor blumberg As the un special envoy had worked with our state department And they pulled all the cities together the big cities together and internationally And they had a few conferences the idea being that Every city spends a lot of money trying to do things And some paths are paths that go nowhere So the idea was It would be good if they all got together and said we did this and here's how it worked We did this and it didn't work Because it was as important to know what didn't work as it was to know what did work, which I'm stealing that quote from bloombergs Had He also The state department also made sure that all of the u.s tech companies All of whom have a vested interest in being in this big huge market Of new technology that's going to replace the fossil fuels and The the Tech companies wanted to be there They Were excited to be called in and have a place at the table and they did and they were at paris And as you saw in the gore movie there were times where some of the countries were actually influenced by people who were tech companies saying we can help you on this and You know because for many companies the the problem was It will you know they they don't have a lot of resources And if it was going to cost a lot more to do clean energy than dirty energy, they weren't Able to do it. So that was why the Some of the state the the wealthier countries were actually funded Efforts so that some of the countries that were third world countries could be assisted But in addition to that you had independent things done by companies. I see right, okay Well, I'm bringing up the whole business aspect of it. You know, I've heard from different sources that That there are a lot of Ways that our economy will be boosted by by these renewable energy Pursuits and and jobs will Will be will be created So we're kind of losing out on that and pulling out of the accords as well as well, but Rabbi, I know you know a lot about this subjects as well. Do you think that that Just our cities and states being able to implement certain changes. Will that actually will that Really make a difference or do we need the federal, you know, the federal support? Well, I'm not giving up on the federal support But the the the fact of the matter is that most of the work gets done by the folks That's us the people and By laying the groundwork in towns and cities in small communities and and growing it And making the network rich and connected. We can affect what should be done by the federal government by doing it from the ground up Well, and that's really a metaphor for For the way VA does our work, right? I mean, we're a grassroots organization And that's exactly what we believe in as well is that top-down solutions are not What we're after it's talking to the people on the ground people who Who are affected directly by issues and and having the Confidence in them that they understand what solutions need to to Come about in order to to fix these problems. That's right. Yeah The other thing is you have one example Where during the george w bush years where It wasn't possible to have a federal Effort to do a cap and trade on carbon. You have all of the northeast states That join something called reggie, which is essentially a cap and trade. Vermont actually gets Money from other states because we've gone faster in cutting our carbon Then we were required to under the models and so other states that traded off Moving as fast as they were supposed to You know instead paid Vermont to you know, because we didn't use ours Interesting. Yes. Yeah. Yeah, great well I'm so grateful to Javi's attic for sponsoring this event and we're really looking forward to it and I certainly want to encourage folks who are watching us today to To come out and and participate and see and hear from Some of our guest speakers. We're hoping that that the mayor will be able to come right? We're not We're hoping yet, you know according to his schedule, but we we will definitely have folks from Burlington Electric has been has been really kind of a pioneer in this. Yeah, and um, jennifer green is Definitely going to be able to come. She is somebody who I believe she's in Uh, the mayor's office and she's but she's located at Burlington Electric because The mayor has put Burlington Burlington Electric at the front of the effort and Burlington Electric has basically Uh, accomplished basically had Burlington become I think the first city in the united states that was actually Uh totally renewable energy If not the first it was one of the very first and Major accomplishment and the city itself Intends to try to move to net zero Overall, which is really much much broader and much more difficult and it will be a very daunting challenge Yes. Yes. Well, and I want to offer some kudos to other parts of the county as well because I for instance don't live in in burlington My my electric carrier is from my electric co-op and they've they've also created a very user friendly website that helps me to track, you know when my Usage is is greater than it is and you know at other times and so I can do things like you know program my My heating and you know for like the times when I'm not in the house and you know reduce my consumption that way and And look at all kinds of other other things You know regard to my electricity and set up timers and and that kind of thing So, um, and I know I'm sure the green mountain power is probably doing the same kind of thing So for you know our other chinton county residents who might be watching this they're you know, they're there's there's a lot of They don't have to that's right. That's right. This is regional Yes, and as yes as we said for all of romanta. I think it's doing you know, it's doing a really good job so um, so uh, just to recap again then the um Uh The event will be on tuesday december 12th, which is the the first night of harika and uh, that will start at 7 30 um go until about 7 30 to 9 p.m And uh refreshments will be will be provided. Absolutely, right and when we'll have many organizations Uh besides for monitor faith action will be their tabling and providing information for people to Uh to be able to figure out how they can be more personally involved You know at different levels whether it's uh advocating for changes in the legislature or Or are doing other other kinds of things around their their homes or their organizations or their congregations So great. Well, thank you so much for being here and thank you We hope that everybody uh everybody comes out and look forward to it. Thanks very much for tuning in and We'll see you again in a in a month or so