Temple Beth Elohim was a national runner-up in the Energy Efficiency category of the Cool Congregations Challenge. This annual competition is run by Interfaith Power and Light, a national organization that connects communities of faith to combat climate change.

Among the winners and runners-up in five categories, we were the only Jewish congregation and the only Massachusetts congregation of any denomination. We encourage you to visit www.interfaithpowerandlight.org to see what other congregations are doing.

We won this honor by reducing our carbon dioxide emissions by 25% and saving $26,000 per year in energy bills. TBE administration, working closely with TBE Green members, engaged a consultant to change the way our heating and air conditioning equipment is programmed.

For us, this is just the start. We are considering a range of further options to reduce our carbon footprint including additional heating and air-conditioning upgrades, solar panels and increasing our purchases of wind energy.

Further, like many congregations, we are beginning to realize that working within our own walls to reduce climate change, while important, is not sufficient to avoid the most damaging impacts of climate change. Working through organizations such as the Jewish Climate Action Network and Interfaith Power & Light, we can make our voices heard by our leaders at the state and national level.