Trenton today: Two wind energy bills held, one moved

Offshore wind farm
Two bills designed to encourage the development of wind energy projects off the state’s coast were held today by the Assembly Telecommunications Committee.

A third bill, A-1697 (Wisniewski), providing tax credits for onshore wind energy support facilities in northern New Jersey, was released.

The two bills that were held—A-4128 (Mazzeo) and S-2711 (Smith)—would exempt qualified wind energy projects from the "cost-benefit analysis" that the state Board of Public Utilities has relied on to deny several applications from Fishermen’s Energy to build a wind energy demonstration project off the coast of Atlantic City.

In the audio clip below, you’ll hear Committee Chairman Wayne D’Angelo explain why the two bills were held without discussion. You’ll also hear the only testimony–from the Sierra Club’s Jeff Tittel– on A-1697, the bill that was released.



Related energy and environment news stories:
NJ bills seek to get offshore wind turbines spinning
A first for wind power rises off Rhode Island – CNBC
The Future Of Massachusetts’ Offshore Wind Farm Is Uncertain – NPR
Germany is replacing its nuclear reactors with massive offshore wind farms – Quartz mouse click - left to right  

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'Rent The Chicken'– One eggstraordinary business



Pennsylvanians Phillip and Jenn Tompkins, are crowing about their ‘Rent The Chicken’ business..

It’s one of a flock of new businesses catering to consumers who increasingly demand healthy, locally-sourced food and eggs from humanely-raised hens.

NJTV’s Brenda Flanagan reports from the suburban home of a Chesterfield, NJ chicken renter who’s so enamored of her four hens that she’s decided to buy them outright when the rental agreement ends.


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Recent Blog Posts: 
NJ bills seek to get offshore wind turbines spinning
Chris Matthews smells the blood of Christie in GWB waters   
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'Rent The Chicken'– One eggstraordinary business Read More »

NJ bills seek to get offshore wind turbines spinning


When Chris Christie ran for his first term as New Jersey’s Governor in 2009, he was a big promoter of offshore energy. Since then, his Board of Public Utilities has thwarted repeated proposals by an Atlantic City-focused wind farm developer, Fishermen’s Energy, to construct a test wind farm off the coast of the casino city.

Some of the governor’s environmental critics claim that Christie changed his tune after being invited to dine with the Koch brothers who made their billions in fossil fuel-related industries and ventures and who are major Republican Party campaign contributors.

His defenders say the fact that offshore wind energy remains stalled has more to do with fracking–the natural gas extraction technique that has drastically reduced the cost of that fuel and, with it, the cost of electricity for many NJ businesses that had been paying the highest energy costs in the nation. Wind energy, they claim, would set electric bills spinning in the wrong direction.

Several Democrats in the state legislature continue to push the BPU to sign off on wind power. Tomorrow, the Assembly Telecommunications and Utilities Committee will take up three such bills at 10 a.m. in Room 9 of the State House Annex.

They are:   


A-1697  Wisniewski, J.S. (D-19); Chivukula, U.J. (D-17); Coughlin, C.J. (D-19)
Allows tax credits for development of qualified wind energy facilities in certain portfield sites.

A-4128  Mazzeo, V. (D-2); DeAngelo, W.P. (D-14); Spencer, L.G. (D-29); Singleton, T.
Requires BPU to approve qualified wind energy project and exempts project from cost-benefit analysis –and its Senate counterpart–
 
S-2711  Smith, B. (D-17); Whelan, J. (D-2)
Requires BPU to approve qualified wind energy project and exempts project from cost-benefit analysis. This bill passed the Senate on a 21-15 vote on February 5.
 

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Recent Blog Posts:
Chris Matthews smells the blood of Christie in GWB waters  
Bill raising renewable energy targets clears NJ panel 
NJ’s Senate Environment Committee Monday – May 4  
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NJ bills seek to get offshore wind turbines spinning Read More »

Hard Ball's Chris Matthews smells the blood of NJ Governor Chris Christie in waters under the GW Bridge

The always excitable MSNBC political show host Chris Matthews is again smelling blood in the waters under the George Washington Bridge now that federal prosecutor Paul Fishman has delivered indictments in his investigation of the infamous September 2013 Bridgegate scandal.

On Friday, government witness David Wildstein, who had been appointed to a top post at the NY/NJ Port Authority by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, pled guilty in federal court to arranging the massive traffic jam by closing approach lanes to the bridge in Fort Lee, NJ.  Wildstein admitted that the action was political punishment for the city mayor’s decision not to endorse Christie for re-election.

In addition to Wildstein, U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman has indicted former Christie Administration insider Bridget Anne Kelly and Bill Baroni, a former NJ state senator and Christie appointee to the port authority. Both pled not guilty yesterday and then held separate news conferences. Matthews pounced on a comment from Kelly to question the governor’s assertion that he had nothing to do with the operation.

Last night’s Hard Ball broadcast led with a Bridgegate segment featuring video clips from Baroni, Kelly and Christie, followed by a quick-paced exchange among Matthews and three guests. Steve Kornacki, whose has mastered the art of rapid responses for shows like this, gets in the most lines–not easy to do with Matthews pulsating in overdrive. Former federal prosecutor Paul Butler offered a few cogent observations before being relegated to the role of  bystander,while John Reitmeyer (Bergen Record/NJ Spotlight) got so little time that he must have wondered why he bothered to put on a tie.

The Baroni/Kelly trials could start as early as July which may force MSNBC and FOX political sharpshooters to modify their summer vacation plans. Except for indicted parties–or one who could face future indictment–it should be great fun.    

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Recent Blog Posts: 
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Hard Ball's Chris Matthews smells the blood of NJ Governor Chris Christie in waters under the GW Bridge Read More »

Bill raising renewable energy targets clears NJ panel

OL16Tom Johnson reports in today’s NJ Spotlight:
"In a bid to vault New Jersey back into a leadership role in clean energy, a Senate committee yesterday approved a bill that would require 80 percent of the state’s electricity to come from renewable energy sources such as solar and wind by 2050.
"The legislation (S-2444) significantly ramps up the state’s goal for shifting from fuels that contribute to global climate change and pollution to cleaner ways of producing electricity. Currently, the state has set a target of 22.5 percent of renewables by 2020.
"If the bill wins approval, which even proponents say is unlikely under the Christie administration, it would put New Jersey among those states most heavily rely on renewable energy.
"The question critics have is at what cost to utility customers, who already are burdened by some of the highest electricity costs in the nation. Those same objections were raised last fall when the bill first came up for discussion in the committee. A similar bill is pending in the Assembly."
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Related energy & environment news stories:
Renewable Energy Could Soon Be A Goal, Not A Requirement
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Bill raising renewable energy targets clears NJ panel Read More »

NJ's Senate Environment Committee Monday – May 4


The following energy and environment bills will be considered by members of the
New Jersey Senate Environment and Energy committee at 10 a.m., Monday, May 4:

A-3507  Amends law concerning county and municipal stream cleaning activities.

S-2444  Establishes renewable energy portfolio standards.

S-2615  Provides diamondback terrapins protection as nongame indigenous species.

S-2617  Allows cultivation of commercial shellfish species in certain coastal and inner harbor waters for research and educational purposes.


You can follow along via your computer here.

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