The current U.S. "drill and burn" attitude toward meeting energy needs increases dependence on repressive regimes for fuel, provides continued funding to hostile governments and exacerbates the ill effects of global warming. This approach jeopardizes our physical, economic and environmental security. But there is a better way.

On Friday, June 13, 2003 John Podesta, former White House Chief of Staff and League of Conservation Voters board member, visits Michigan to discuss a better vision for our energy and environmental future. He will present this year's Milton Alexander Memorial Lecture following Temple Beth El's Friday evening Shabbat service, which begins at 7:30 PM and is open to the public. Temple Beth El is located on the northwest corner of Telegraph and 14 Mile Road in Bloomfield Hills.

Podesta's speech will explore the positive impact that an energy policy built on conservation, energy efficiency and renewable energy would have on the global environment and on U.S. and international security.

Podesta's dedication to public service and environmental protection spans 25 years, including time spent as a trial attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice's Land and Natural Resources Division. Later, as Chief of Staff to President Clinton from October 1998 to January 2001, Podesta was influential in setting the administration's course on foreign and environmental policy as well as economic and trade issues. He also served on the National Security Council.

Podesta led the Clinton Administration's successful effort in Congress to substantially increase funding for land conservation and research, development and deployment of energy conservation, technologies and clean energy sources. And he played a key role in protecting more land in the lower 48 states than any administration since Theodore Roosevelt's.

Known for his straight talk, acerbic wit and political instinct, he also advised the president on government information, privacy, telecommunications security and regulatory policy. He is a professor of law at the Georgetown University Law Center.

The Michigan Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life (MI-COEJL) sponsors this event through a grant from the Max M. Fisher Jewish Community Foundation, the Milton Alexander Foundation and Temple Beth El. It is free and open to the public. For further information, contact MI-COEJL at (248) 642-5393 or mi-coejl@jfmd.org.