NJ's gubernatorial candidates mum on the environment

Christie & Buono

"The state’s open-space preservation program is broke. Electric and gas transmission projects may soon traverse the New Jersey Highlands and the Pine Barrens, forested land previously set aside for protection. Questions abound on where and whether to pull back from the devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy along the Jersey Shore," environment reporter Tom Johnson writes today in NJ Spotlight.

“Not that many years ago, those issues and others likely would have emerged as top concerns and would have been hotly debated in a gubernatorial contest. Not this year: The economy apparently trumps the environment.

“In the race between Republican Gov. Chris Christie and Democratic challenger state Sen. Barbara Buono of Middlesex County, the environment rarely has been raised as a topic. Silence prevails, though some say the differences between the two candidates on this issue are as stark as they have ever been in a gubernatorial election.”

Why the apathy?  Tom explores some answers in The Sounds of Silence.  

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Fourth NJ legislative hearing today on Sandy recovery

 
Elevated house - Ortley Beach - Aug 2013 - Frank Brilll photo 1 0 00 01-24
EnviroPolitics photo The New Jersey Senate Environment and Energy Committee and the Assembly Environment and Solid Waste Committee are meeting together late this afternoon in Toms River to receive testimony from members of the public and invited guests on the state’s Hurricane Sandy rebuilding and recovery efforts.

It is the fourth and final hearing held jointly by the environment committees to hear from residents, business owners, advocates and others as the one-year anniversary of the storm approaches. Hearings were held on Aug.15 in Atlantic City, Sept. 16 in Jersey City, and September 27 in Trenton.

As was the case for each of the previous hearings, the committees have invited Department of Community Affairs Commissioner Richard E. Constable III and Marc Ferzan, executive director of the Governor’s Office of Recovery and Rebuilding, to speak on the recovery efforts. To date, neither member of the Republican administration of Gov. Chris Christie has chosen to make an appearance before the Democrat-controlled committees, claiming they were too busy with the recovery efforts.

Today’s hearing was scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. in the LMH Room, Toms River Town Hall, 33 Washington Street, Toms River, NJ.

The Senate Committee is chaired by Senator Bob Smith (D-Middlesex) and the Assembly Committee is chaired by Assemblywoman L. Grace Spencer (D-Essex).

Videos and news stories from the previous Sandy hearings:
NJ Sandy stories: Stingy insurers, bungling bureaucrats 
Third NJ hearing today on hurricane recovery problems 
North Jersey also felt Superstorm Sandy’s punch
Lawmakers hear other side of NJ’s Sandy recovery story
New Jersey environmentalists on what Sandy taught us

Fourth NJ legislative hearing today on Sandy recovery Read More »

The liberal Star-Ledger endorses Buono, right? Uh…

There’s been no love lost between New Jersey’s Republican Governor Chris Christie and the state’s leading daily newspaper,The Star-Ledger, since Christie took office.

Chief editorial writer Tom Moran frequently takes the governor to task, with Christie-like bluntness, for a host of alleged shortcomings. Christie, in turn, berated Moran at a news conference and has refused to meet with the paper’s editorial board.

The governor’s supporters had good reason to expect that the Newark-based daily would recommend the election of Christie’s Democratic gubernatorial opponent, Barbara Buono,
in its anticipated endorsement editorial published yesterday 

As expected, the top half of the piece set up readers with observations like these:

"The property tax burden has grown sharply on his (Christie’s) watch. He is hostile to low-income families, raising their tax burden and sabotaging efforts to build affordable housing. He’s been a catastrophe on the environment, draining $1 billion from clean energy funds and calling a cease-fire in the state’s fight against climate change.

"The governor’s claim to have fixed the state’s budget is fraudulent. New Jersey’s credit rating has dropped during his term, reflecting Wall Street’s judgment that he has dug the hole even deeper. He has no plan to finance transit projects and open space purchases now that he has nearly drained the dedicated funds he inherited from Gov. Jon Corzine.

Christie.JPG  Photo: Robert Sciarrino/The Star-Ledger

Then, the paper yanked out the rug, by recommending that voters give the governor a second term.

Why? We won’t spoil it for you. Read the full editorial here and the tirade it set off in the public comment section that followed the endorsement.

Care to voice your opinion on the endorsement? Feel free. Use the opinion box below.


Our most recent posts:
GM’s hopes you’re ready for a new fracking car
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GM's hopes you're ready for a new fracking car

An Impala?  Maybe not what you had at the top of your list. But how about one getting 500 miles-per-gallon?  Oh, so, now you’re interested?

Here’s the deal. GM announced yesterday that it will build a Chevrolet Impala sedan that can operate on either regular gasoline or compressed natural gas (the fuel that comes from all those fracking wells in Pennsylvania, Ohio and maybe, someday, New York) and travel up to 500 miles between fill-ups.

Forbes reports:
The Impala’s bi-fuel powertrain is engineered to switch seamlessly from CNG to gasoline, which should reassure consumers worried about finding a place to refuel. For business fleet customers, whose drivers return to a central location, CNG refueling shouldn’t be a problem. GM did not announce the new car’s price, which is likely to be higher than the standard gas model, but savings at the pump could offset that extra payout quickly.

The 2015 Impala can run on natural gas or regular gasoline

Natural gas produces about 20 percent less carbon dioxide than gasoline-powered cars, according to the California Air Resources Board. It is also significantly cheaper. CNG sells for an average of $2.11 per gallon of gasoline equivalent, and as little as $1 in some parts of the country. The national average for unleaded regular gasoline is $3.36.
For those in states like California, Oklahoma and Utah who have been converting older vehicles to CNG for years, the new bi-fuel Impala offers an opportunity to upgrade to a modern vehicle with navigation, Bluetooth and advanced safety systems. Said Eric Ibara, another Kelley Blue Book analyst: “There is a lot of buzz around CNG right now. With more infrastructure, I wouldn’t be surprised to see an increasing number of CNG vehicles on the road.”
Some environmental-minded folks will be hesitant to drive a vehicle that depends on a fuel that comes from fracking wells that many blame for air and water pollution. But CNG vehicles emit lower levels of air pollution than regular-gas vehicles and, at least in this case, promise to be much more energy efficient.  Would you consider buying a car like this? Share your thoughts in the box below.  

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Residents sue FirstEnergy over coal-ash impoundment

Little Blue Run coal-ash impoundment – Beaver County Times photo

Nearly 60 West Virginia residents are suing FirstEnergy, claiming that Little Blue Run,
the company’s 1,700-acre impoundment in adjacent Beaver County, Pa is to blame for groundwater pollution, consistently wet yards, shifting home foundations, and mold on
their properties.
Nearly 60 landowners in Hancock County, W.Va filed a October 10 in the U.S. District Court in Wheeling, W. Va., against the Akron-based company on claims of negligence, reckless conduct, trespass and creating a nuisance, the Beaver County Times reports.

The impoundment, which straddles two states, is located in Beaver County, Pa., and Hancock County, W.Va. It has served as the disposal site for Shippingport’s Bruce Mansfield coal plant, which has produced 550,000 tons
of fly ash and 98,000 tons of bottom ash per year since 1974, when there were no requirements for lining such an impoundment. 

The lawsuit says the unlined impoundment has leaked arsenic and other substances into groundwater, and the air has been polluted by “noxious odors” from hydrogen sulfide. Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection officials have said in the past that sulfate, sodium, calcium, magnesium, chloride, arsenic, selenium and boron have been detected in groundwater near the impoundment.

Today’s issue of EnviroPolitics will carry dozens of stories like this one.  
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Hear what brought Tony Russo back to New Jersey

Tony Russo may be new to the position of Executive Vice President – Government Affairs and Communications – at the Commerce and Industry Association of New Jersey, but he is anything but new to environmental regulations and legislation in the Garden State.

Tony has been actively involved for more than 20 years in shaping environmental policy. He started out with the NJDEP and expanded his knowledge by working for two private consulting firms and then, most notably, for the Chemistry Council of New Jersey. After a stint spent learning how lobbying works in D. C., he’s returned to Trenton where he directs CIANJ’s government relations office.


In our newest EnviroPolitics Podcast episode, Tony recalls the path he’s followed to his new position. He discusses why he returned to New Jersey from Washington, what his new job is all about, some of the special events the CIANJ offers, and what environmental issues its members find to be of paramount importance.

If you have an interest in the environment, politics, trade associations, business or lobbying, you’ll enjoy this episode. Click the triangle inside the circle below to launch the interview.

Tony is the first of what we hope will be a long line of energy and environment experts with whom we’ll be speaking in future episodes of the EnviroPolitics Podcast. Is there someone you’d like to hear us interview?

Send your suggestion(s) in an email to Editor@EnviroPolitics.com

For more information like this, try a FREE, 30-day subscription to EnviroPolitics. 
Our daily newsletter also tracks NJ & PA legislation—from introduction to enactment 

Our most recent posts: 
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North Jersey also felt Superstorm Sandy’s punch    
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Hear what brought Tony Russo back to New Jersey Read More »