More than two dozen state leaders have prepared a plan to help next administration get right to work cleaning up New Jersey’s environment
Tom Johnson reports for NJ Spotlight:
Within his or her first 100 days, New Jersey’s next governor should undertake bold new steps to address climate change and significantly reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, a diverse group of state leaders urged yesterday.
The actions include incorporating climate-change impacts into state planning and rulemaking — a difference that would for the first time monetize the social cost of carbon. It is a tool clean-energy advocates and health experts have long argued is needed to more accurately assess the cost of fossil fuels and benefits from carbon-free energy.
The far-reaching recommendations, embracing many of the steps detailed in a recent report, range from much-debated policies like rejoining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative to factoring climate-change impacts into state funding decisions.
Significantly, the list of leaders reaching a consensus on the suggested policies include former Govs. James Florio, a Democrat, and Thomas Kean, a Republican; Kathleen Ellis, a former gubernatorial advisor; and Dennis Bone, the former CEO of Verizon New Jersey. They are among two dozen dignitaries who signed a letter. Not all endorsed the actions suggested, but agreed the next governor should consider these steps.
“We are a group of individuals who share a similar commitment to advancing sound climate-change policy in New Jersey because we believe that doing so will contribute to global efforts to address changing climate conditions and will also bring public health, economic, environmental, community development and other benefits to the Garden State,’’ the letter said.
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