Senator Lautenberg to retire when his term ends in 2015

US Sen. Frank Lautenberg

Sen. Frank Lautenberg will retire at the end of his term in 2015 rather than seek reelection at age 90 next year, The (Bergen) Record reports.

“Lautenberg, who was elected to a record fifth term in 2008, broke the news to his staff this afternoon. Newark Mayor Cory Booker has already formed a committee to explore a run for the seat. Rep. Frank Pallone, D-Long Branch, also is a potential candidate.

“I will be traveling to my hometown of Paterson tomorrow to announce that I will not seek re-election in 2014,” Lautenberg said Thursday.

“This is not the end of anything, but rather the beginning of a two-year mission to pass new gun safety laws, protect children from toxic chemicals, and create more opportunities for working families in New Jersey. While I may not be seeking re-election, there is plenty of work to do before the end of this term and I’m going to keep fighting as hard as ever for the people of New Jersey in the U.S. Senate.”


The white-haired Democrat, whose energetic strides through the halls of power belied his status as the Senate’s oldest member, is serving his fifth term. His service has not been consecutive. He retired at the end of his third term in 2000 but said he regretted the decision as soon as he made it. But he got a second chance when Democrats tapped Lautenberg to replace his former colleague, the ethically tainted Sen. Robert G. Torricelli, on the 2002 ballot. Lautenberg easily won that race and was reelected in 2008 by the biggest margin of his career.

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Our most recent posts:
Fracking debate continues where no fracking’s likely
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Senator Lautenberg to retire when his term ends in 2015 Read More »

Fracking debate continues where no fracking’s likely

Fracking opponents at a 2012 rally in Syracuse. – Dick Blume (Post-Standard)  

It’s a real stretch to argue that fracking, the high-pressure, water-and-chemical method of coaxing natural gas out of reticent, underground shale deposits, is likely to be tried anytime soon in New Jersey. But that doesn’t stop the state legislature from debating it. Frequently.

The official reason yesterday was A-567, a bill before the Assembly Environment and Solid Waste Committee that would impose a permanent ban on fracking in New Jersey.

If that sounds familiar, it’s because the legislature passed a similar bill during the last session. Governor Chris Christie let it go through but only after lawmakers agreed the governor’s conditional veto that turned the ban into a one-year moratorium. During that year the state Department of Environmental Protection was to complete a study of the issue.

Guess what? Time’s up. The DEP has not finished a report and both fracking opponents and supporters were back in the Legislature yesterday re-arguing their respective cases.

Tom Johnson summarizes the hearing today in NJ Spotlight.

Following the hearing, we asked committee chairwoman L. Grace Spencer why she voted for the ban. Click the arrow in the audio player below to hear what she said.

If you cannot see the audio controls, listen/download the audio file here

We’ll have audio interviews with advocates on both sides of the fracking issue in our next EnviroPolitics Podcast. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher or BeyondPod.

Related environmental news stories:

Anti-fracking campaign ads drill Governor Cuomo
No fracking for shale gas in Germany any time soon


***********************************************************************************************************For thorough coverage of environmental news, issues, legislation and regulation in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, try a FREE subscription to EnviroPolitics, our daily newsletter that also tracks environment/energy bills–from introduction to enactment  **********************************************************************************************************


Our most recent posts:
No misprint: Pa enviro group praises Gov. Corbett-twice
NJ energy and environment bills in committee – 2/11/13
Repackaging solid waste industry news as entertainment
As blizzard approaches, NJDEP issues wastewater alert
EPA extends comment date on Gowanus Canal cleanup
How to pay to preserve what open space New Jersey has left

Fracking debate continues where no fracking’s likely Read More »

No misprint: Pa enviro group praises Gov. Corbett-twice

What’s going on here? Has the fracking fluid seeped into Pennsylvania’s drinking water?

In their latest e-newsletter, Session Daze, the environmental organization, PennFuture, said something laudatory about Republican Governor Tom Corbett. Not once, but TWICE.

Since the green group is more inclined to find fault with Corbett’s policies–especially his hear-no-evil, see-no-evil stance on the natural gas drilling industry–it’s worth noting that PennFuture itself isn’t quite as doctrinaire.

Here’s proof:

The education of Tom Corbett?

In last year’s budget, Gov. Corbett proposed permanently eliminating funding for the Keystone Recreation, Park and Conservation Fund — the state’s flagship conservation program — and Pennsylvania’s nationally recognized farmland preservation program. Fortunately, after a tremendous outcry from citizens and conservation and farming organizations statewide, funding for both programs was unanimously restored in the House.

Afterward, Gov. Corbett began praising Commonwealth investments in state parks and other public lands as he traveled the state. And this year, Corbett proposed increasing funding for farmland preservation by $10 million and even highlighted the idea during his budget address.

Some might see these actions as hypocritical. We prefer to see them as personal and political growth, stemming from Corbett’s interactions with Pennsylvanians throughout the state, and their love and support for Penn’s Woods. Now, if only he could understand that the proper level of financial support for our public lands should not be solely dependent upon extraction of the resources under those lands, or impacting the health of the forests that populate its surface

and here…

Loosening Grover’s leash on Harrisburg

Nobody elected Washington-based anti-government zealot Grover Norquist to run Pennsylvania, and Norquist clearly doesn’t care about Pennsylvania’s environment, our quality of life, or the safety of our roads, bridges, or public transportation. Norquist is on record for wanting to shrink the size of government so it can be “drowned in a bathtub.” But all this hasn’t stopped dozens of Pennsylvania politicians from genuflecting before this poobah despite their constituents’ wishes, even checking in with Norquist to make sure votes or proposals are acceptable.

 Gov. Corbett signed the Norquist “no-tax” pledge as a candidate for governor, and has generally toed the line during his first two years in office. Some say that the convoluted county option drilling impact fee under Act 13 was created in order to appease Norquist, and even then Norquist said it was a “tax.”

Norquist will now proclaim that Corbett is raising a tax by uncapping the Oil Franchise Tax. Good for Corbett. Grownups in Pennsylvania need to do what is best for Pennsylvania, and sometimes that means creating new revenue and making new investments.

Maybe we’ll live long enough to one day read the New Jersey Sierra Club saying something nice about Republican Governor Chris Christie. Right. Hey, bartender, pour us another one of those hydrofracturing highballs.

***********************************************************************************************************
For thorough coverage of environmental news, issues, legislation and regulation in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, try a FREE subscription to EnviroPolitics, our daily newsletter that also tracks environment/energy bills–from introduction to enactment
************************************************************************************************************

Our most recent posts:
NJ energy and environment bills in committee – 2/11/13
Repackaging solid waste industry news as entertainment
As blizzard approaches, NJDEP issues wastewater alert 
EPA extends comment date on Gowanus Canal cleanup
How to pay to preserve what open space New Jersey has left
Jersey oysters rebound–all plump, sweet and briny good

No misprint: Pa enviro group praises Gov. Corbett-twice Read More »

NJ energy and environment bills in committee – 2/11/13


The New Jersey Assembly’s Environment and Solid Waste Committee meets today at 2 p.m.
to consider the following bills:

A-567  Wagner, C. (D-38); Gusciora, R. (D-15);
Vainieri Huttle, V. (D-37)  
Prohibits drilling technique of hydraulic fracturing.
Related Bill: S-246
      
A-922  Riley, C.M. (D-3); Moriarty, P.D. (D-4)
Requires certain notifications upon sale of property
where private well is treated by point of entry system.
     
A-936  Riley, C.M. (D-3)
Requires certain notifications, and provides for
guaranteed NJ Spill Compensation Fund coverage, upon sale of property where
private well is treated by point of entry water treatment system.
Related Bill: S-576
   
A-1312  Greenwald, L.D. (D-6); Lampitt, P.R. (D-6)
Requires report and public hearing prior to DEP
recommendation of site for inclusion on Superfund list.
    
A-1447  Gusciora, R. (D-15); Wagner, C. (D-38)
The “Pesticide Use Reduction Recognition
Act.”
      
ACR-173  Tucker, C.G. (D-28)
Urges carbon monoxide detector installation in all
buildings.
AR-126  Spencer, L.G. (D-29); Oliver, S.Y. (D-34);
Bramnick, J.M. (R-21)
Urges DEP to study and measure methane emissions, and
address prevention, reduction, and beneficial use thereof, especially for
energy.

***********************************************************************************************************
For thorough coverage of environmental news, issues, legislation and regulation in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, try a FREE subscription to EnviroPolitics, our daily newsletter that also tracks environment/energy bills–from introduction to enactment
************************************************************************************************************

Our most recent posts:
Repackaging solid waste industry news as entertainment
As blizzard approaches, NJDEP issues wastewater alert 
EPA extends comment date on Gowanus Canal cleanup
How to pay to preserve what open space New Jersey has left
Jersey oysters rebound–all plump, sweet and briny good
     

NJ energy and environment bills in committee – 2/11/13 Read More »

Repackaging solid waste industry news as entertainment

Can a traditional print publisher covering the waste management industry present stories in a way that the general public might find interesting, maybe even entertaining?

Waste & Recycling News may have discovered the key to reaching its trade audience and the general public. It’s a clever new weekly video called Curbside Live.

This week’s edition covers three stories in less than four minutes.

It wisely leads and ends with stories of general appeal–a potential ban on Styrofoam food containers in New York City and Levi Strauss‘ new Waste Less jeans that use denim made from recycled plastic bottles.

In between, it sandwiches an industry story about Waste Management‘s major expansion via the acquisition of the nation’s largest private recycler, Greenstar Recycling.

The visual report moves so sprightly that the average person won’t even notice that they’re consuming industry news.

In an era of information overload and limited attention spans, video is the way to go.
This trade publisher appears to have cracked the communication code.

We like it. What do you think?  Let us know in the opinion box below. If one is not visible, activate it by clicking on the tiny ‘comments’ link.

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Planning your week ahead? Use Enviro-Events Calendar

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For thorough coverage of environmental news, issues, legislation and regulation in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, try a FREE subscription to EnviroPolitics, our daily newsletter that also tracks environment/energy bills–from introduction to enactment
************************************************************************************************************

Repackaging solid waste industry news as entertainment Read More »

As blizzard approaches, NJDEP issues wastewater alert

With a major snow storm threatening northern New Jersey, where some wastewater treatment plants are still recovering from damage incurred during superstorm Sandy,
the NJ Environmental Protection Department today issued an Enforcement Alert.

The alert advises all New Jersey Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NJPDES) permittees to take the following  precautions.

  1. Update your emergency contact list for internal and external communications 
  2. Test your remote access and communication systems and ensure they are in good  working order 
  3. Place operating/emergency response personnel on call and review emergency procedures 
  4. Provide the NJ State Police with 24 hour contact information for your organization  (operation center) in the event a travel restriction is imposed 
  5. Provide a list of emergency response personnel on 24-hour call to the  licensed operator on duty at the water or wastewater facility 
  6. Ensure that all supplies, including water treatment chemicals and fuels, are fully stocked and secured to the maximum extent possible 
  7. Test auxiliary power sources and generators to ensure they are in good working order 
  8. If applicable, arrange for portable generators for key pumping stations 
  9. Inspect infrastructure and back-ups to ensure they are functioning properly 
  10. Inspect Combined Sewer Systems and ensure that the regulators, screening facilities,  netting and tide gates are functioning properly 
  11. Clear all road storm drains and storm inlets prior to the storm event 
  12. Inspect/assess critical infrastructure for damage after the storm, when you can do so safely 
  13. Carry a fully charged cell phone and be sure everyone on the emergency list has the number, in case the land line is unavailable.  

Read the full alert here.

As blizzard approaches, NJDEP issues wastewater alert Read More »