Climate change is one of the top concerns for American Jews, and fossil fuels are the main culprit behind accelerating it. Still, according to a 2022 report by climate change nonprofit Dayenu, many Jewish institutions who have pledged to combat climate change have invested over $3.3 billion in fossil fuels, raising questions about the best way to cultivate change: divestment or pushing for change from the inside.

“Jewish values compel us to confront the climate crisis with bold action,” Rabbi Jacob Siegel, Dayenu’s climate finance advisor and policy associate, told eJewishPhilanthropy. For Dayenu, divestment is the only moral option for Jewish organizations, shifting investments to clean energy such as wind and solar power. Last year, the group supported the Reform movement and two Oregon federations in pulling out of investments in fossil fuels.

While divestment — also known as the run strategy — “might have a moral component… as an economic strategy [it] is not an effective strategy,” Paul Ferraro, Bloomberg distinguished professor of human behavior and public policy at Johns Hopkins University, told eJP. Instead, greater change can be made from the inside, through pressing the boards of companies to make changes or investing in environmental organizations. The problem is, oil investors rarely use their influence to push for change.

The process will take time. Fossil fuels are “not going away tomorrow,” Jeff Freedman, a researcher at State University of New York at Albany’s Atmospheric Sciences Research Center, told eJP. “It’s going to take 20 to 30 years plus, at least, for us to transition off of fossil fuels. And probably we’ll be using fossil fuels in one way or the other through the end of the century.”

While many states, such as Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont and Virginia, have cut down their greenhouse gas emissions from power plants by 50% through the state-level Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, weaning themselves off fossil fuels and to renewable energy, the effort is a long-term one.

Creating the infrastructure needed to rely on 100% renewable energy will take until at least 2040 in New York State, 2050 in the nation, Freedman predicts, and even then, you will need a reserve of fossil fuels in place, around 5% of energy created, for periods when renewables can’t meet the demand.

“We are encouraged to see how the landscape of corporate responsibility is evolving,” Rachel Siegal, chief development officer of Adamah, told eJP, about Jewish philanthropists who make or have made money off fossil fuels, but donate to nonprofits combating climate change. “The transformation to a sustainable, low-carbon future will require collaboration across industries,” she said, and this includes those still invested in fossil fuels.

In addition to the philanthropic organizations whose holdings are invested in fossil fuels, several prominent Jewish family foundations are based on oil and gas drilling. This includes the Schustermans, Kaisers and Berens, among others. 

Freedman said that these organizations should nevertheless be encouraged to help in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and commended when they do. “How many foundations are playing an active role in combating climate change?… You have to be able to work with groups that may be on the other side, or the dark side, but are willing to say, ‘We recognize the problem, and we’re not like the Exxons of the world, we’re not like other large-scale oil and gas companies in the world that refuse to recognize this problem.”

Dayenu holds that change can’t be made by insiders, Siegel said, pointing specifically to BP and Shell, which both stated they were investing in green energy and then reneged, and Exxon, who attempted to sue shareholders who advocated to speedily cut emissions.  

“Decades of this shareholder advocacy with fossil fuel corporations has proven to be a dead end,” he said. “Some advocate for continuing to invest in fossil fuel companies because these companies claim they are pivoting to renewables, but this is classic greenwashing. Despite fossil fuel companies’ messaging, oil and gas company spending on renewables is less than 5% of total capital expenditure and has been that low for years. The numbers indicate that when it was profitable and politically expedient to do so, fossil fuel companies named future aspirations to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and promised to invest more in renewables. As soon as energy prices rose, these climate commitments evaporated.”

There is also concern that if foundations rooted in fossil fuels invest in environmental nonprofits, they will stifle the environmental organizations agenda.

“One does have to be aware of that,” Freedman said, “whether there is some kind of subtle pressure, or whether it’s self-imposed.” Agencies could fear upsetting investors and self-censor. “You’re certainly not going to go out of your way to criticize those people. It’s not necessary. I think you can certainly criticize the industry without going after particular individuals, unless those particular actors or individuals are actively engaged in making the argument that it’s not a threat to society.”

In the end, Jewish individuals and organizations invested in fossil fuels should be making plans to divest because they are going to have to eventually, he said. Solar is less expensive than ever, and fossil fuel stocks are underperforming. The world, he said, is going green.

“The demand for oil and gas has pretty much peaked,” Freedman said. “The writing is on the wall.”