Jewish agency offers bonus to staffers buying hybrid cars: Being true to a creation-care tradition

The American Jewish Committee has announced a program that will offer its employees bonuses of up to $2,500 for buying or leasing a hybrid car.

“Everyone has a role to play in reducing our oil dependency from hostile nations. These are simple steps we are taking,” said spokesperson Kenneth Bandler, who recently wrote an op-ed article in the New York Times about his driving an electric car for three years.

Executive Director David A. Harris announced the program as “integral to AJC’s long-term commitment to developing a serious energy policy in the U.S.”

The organization employs about 200 people in the United States and about 300 abroad. So far, no employee has taken advantage of the program.

The program comes on the heels of the Vehicle and Fuel Choices for American Security Act, a bill that promotes improving the technology in hybrid cars, which the AJC supports.

“It is important that we act in a fashion that is consistent with our traditions,” said legislative director Richard Foltin. “Certainly [we have] the obligation to be good caretakers of the earth that we’ve been given by the Creator.” –Religion News Service