Rutgers gets a not so five-and-ten-cent climate grant

  Kresge’s 5&10-cent employees in the 1900s                         

A public-private alliance at Rutgers University that seeks to build climate change preparedness in New Jersey is getting a two-year $400,000 grant from
The Kresge Foundation.

The award is being made to the
New Jersey Climate Adaptation Alliance (NJCAA), an initiative of the School of Environmental and
Biological Sciences and the Edward
J. Bloustein School of Planning
 and Public Policy at Rutgers.

In a news release announcing the grant, the university says the alliance was “formed in response to the work of a diverse group of stakeholders who came together in November 2011 at Rutgers University to participate in the conference “Preparing New Jersey for Climate Change: A Workshop for Decision Makers.”


It describes the NJCAA as a “network of policymakers, public and private sector practitioners, academics, and NGO and business leaders designed to build climate change preparedness capacity in New Jersey.”


“The funding from The Kresge Foundation will help the Alliance develop important public policy recommendations for state and local climate change preparedness that will serve as a model outside of New Jersey,” said Robert M. Goodman, executive dean of Rutgers’ School of Environmental and Biological Sciences. “These recommendations will also help identify and facilitate emerging innovative projects and partnerships that address key gaps in climate change preparedness.” 


The NJCAA will study the impacts of precipitation, temperature, storm surge, sea-level rise, drought, inland flooding and temperature extremes on six targeted sectors: agriculture, built infrastructure, coastal communities, the natural environment, public health and society, and water resources.


A conference on Climate Change Preparedness in New Jersey: Leading Practices and Policy Priorities, is planned for May 22, 2013, at Rutgers’ Cook Campus Center. The conference will identify efforts underway in New Jersey to prepare for climate change impacts as well as about the leading practices outside New Jersey and the state and local public policies that will enhance New Jersey’s preparedness for climate change.


See the full news release here. 

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‘Radio Times’ examines NJ chemical train derailment

The Philadelphia-based NPR-radio program Radio Times today examines the Nov. 30 freight derailment in Paulsboro, NJ that sent four tank cars carrying toxic vinyl chloride into the Mantua Creek.

The event  has raised questions about railroad safety, regulations regarding the shipment
of hazardous materials, and the responsibilities of freight railroads to maintain and inspect their rail lines.   





Show host Marty Moss-Coane will ask if this train derailment was avoidable and what lessons it
offers for the future as we increasingly rely on the freight railroad system
throughout the U.S.?  

Joining her to answer questions about this accident
and the safety and regulation of freight railroads are Philadelphia Inquirer
reporter Paul Nussbaum and Penn State professor Peter Swan.


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New Jersey Assembly energy, environment bills – Dec 10

NJ Assembly Agriculture Chair
Nelson T. Albano

The Assembly Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee is scheduled to meet at 2 p.m., Monday, Dec. 10, in Room 14 of the State House Annex, to take testimony and vote on:
A-329  Dancer, R.S. (R-12); Conaway, H. (D-7)
Authorizes prescribed burning in certain circumstances.
    
A-1538  Burzichelli, J.J. (D-3); McHose, A.L. (R-24)
Authorizes deer hunting with firearm on Sundays on
private property.

(View entire bills by clicking on bill numbers) 
     


A-2930  Wagner, C. (D-38); Eustace, T.J. (D-38);
Wisniewski, J.S. (D-19)
“Blue Acres Floodplain Protection Bond Act of
2012,” authorizes bonds for $100 million, and appropriates $5,000.  Related Bill: S-1919
A-3019  Wilson, G.L. (D-5); Lampitt, P.R. (D-6)
Authorizes public schools to serve to students certain
produce grown in community garden.
     Dec 10, 2012  – Posted: Assembly Agriculture
and Natural Resources


******************************************************************************
   Assembly Environment
Chair L. Grace Spencer 
Also meeting at 2 p.m.,next door in Room 9, the 
Assembly Environment and Solid Waste Committee
will take testimony and is expected to vote on: 
A-1154  Lampitt, P.R. (D-6); Vainieri Huttle, V.
(D-37)
Requires BPU to establish Energy Efficiency Leadership
awards program.
     

The committee will hear (but take no vote) on:
A-1912  Rumana, S.T. (R-40)
Requires State to use pervious concrete whenever
appropriate.
    



                       You can follow both committee meetings live (or later in archived broadcasts). 








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Is PA Gov. Corbett lottery privatization outcome rigged?

A firm hired to advise Gov. Tom Corbett’s administration in its pursuit of privatizing the Pennsylvania Lottery management is no stranger to the company interested in taking
over the lottery, the Patriot-News reports.

“The state’s financial adviser, Greenhill & Co., worked on the $576 million sale of the Camelot Group to its present owner, the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, in 2010.

 “One of Camelot’s companies, Camelot Global Services PA, was the only firm to submit a bid to take over running the state’s $3 billion-plus lottery enterprise for the next 20 to 30 years.

“Now both Greenhill, which has a financial incentive in its contract if the lottery’s management goes private, and Camelot stand to make millions if Corbett signs the privatization deal.”

Read the full story here.

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Promising news for dead-in-water offshore wind in NJ

The developer of a proposed offshore wind transmission backbone is looking at putting a manufacturing facility in the port of Paulsboro, a move that might bolster New Jersey’s efforts to become the hub of the offshore wind sector along the Eastern Seaboard, NJ Spotlight reports.
“We’re committed to working in New Jersey,’’ said Bill Wall, director of marine operations for Atlantic Wind Connection. The Google-backed proposal intends to establish a 300-mile-long transmission system to serve offshore wind farms.
There are a lot of big “ifs” associated with the proposal, including whether the state can come up with a workable funding mechanism to help offshore wind developers line up financing for their projects. Still, the AWC statement is the first time anyone has publically vowed to build a manufacturing facility for offshore wind in New Jersey.
The Christie administration and lawmakers have proposed developing 1,100 megawatts of generating capacity from wind farms off the Jersey coast, but the efforts have been mired in bureaucratic delays at both state and federal levels.


Read the entire story here. 

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Facebook using up more time? This cheat sheet may help

Spend a lot of time on Facebook?  More time than ever? You’re not alone. Here’s a cool cheat sheet that provides a bunch of  shortcuts to save you time. Our thanks to Jason Springer at JRS Strategies, LLC for bringing it to our attention–yes, on Facebook of course.   

Get the full cheat sheet from mycleveragency here

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