Should Jews be involved in climate politics?

As Australia burns with the worst wildfires on record at the start of the fire season, the Prime Minister Scott Morrison has accused detractors of being members of “a climate cult.” When he went to New South Wales to make a public appearance at a fire ravaged town, he was met with expletive-laced heckles and accusations. Mr. Morrison left quickly without saying a word.

Mr. Morrison is also renowned for his stunt of bringing a lump of coal into the Parliament, declaring how safe coal was for the world, hoping his stunt would shut out the facts. These are the new facts: ecologists are warning that entire species may have been wiped out and others nearly so, including 80 percent of the koala population. The first estimate is half a billion dead animals. The locals are left with devastation and long bouts of ineffectual cursing of their government leaders.

In Indonesia, the disaster is devastating floods. In Zambia, it is unusual droughts that are causing hunger and starvation for the first time in memory.

If all of these facts discomfort you, you are a part of the Climate Cult too. Mr. Morrison is wrong though. We are not a cult; we are a global movement. We cross all political ideologies and affiliations, all age, social and economic demographics, and indeed, all borders.

The ONLY barrier to addressing climate change is governments. These politicians purchased and paid for by the fossil fuel industry need to go. We are obligated to lobby our government and to vote for candidates who support climate change legislation.

There is no question, really.