Independent shaking up Jersey’s Governor’s race

In New Jersey, races for governor run the same predictable course.

Democrats and Republicans each choose a candidate. The Democrat gets the support of the teachers, construction unions and enviro groups. The Republican wins the blessing of major business organizations and each gets the editorial endorsements of some of the state’s daily newspapers.

Sure, there are other candidates on the ballot but they represent groups so far out on the fringe that even their relatives have a tough time pulling their lever.

This year is different. Voters will get to select from three credible candidates–Democrat Jon Corzine, Republican Chris Christie, and the Independent Chris Daggett.

And this time, the Independent is not some guy in a tin foil hat. Mr. Daggett has solid experience in government–both at the state and federal level–and has not only won the support of one of the state’s largest environmental organizations, the Sierra Club, but, in a real shocker, also was endorsed over the weekend by the state’s largest newspaper–the Star-Ledger.

An Independent endorsed by the Star-Ledger? Whoa, now that’s big.

Why? Because Independents don’t have a chance of winning.

Why? Because:

1. Voters are most influenced by television ad campaigns.
2. Television ad campaigns are very, very expensive.
3. Independents can’t rely on interest groups to fund ad buys.

The Star-Ledger understands all this, so why would they back the Independent?

Here’s their explanation:

The newspaper’s decision is less a rejection of Gov. Jon Corzine and Republican Chris Christie than a repudiation of the parties they represent, both of which have forfeited any claim to the trust and confidence of the people of New Jersey. They share responsibility for the state’s current plight.

Only by breaking the hold of the Democratic and Republican mandarins on the governor’s office and putting a rein on their power will the state have any hope for the kind of change needed to halt its downward economic, political and ethical spiral.

New Jersey needs radical change in Trenton. Neither of the major parties is likely to provide it. Daggett’s election would send shock waves through New Jersey’s ossified political system and, we believe, provide a start in a new direction.

It would signal the entrenched leadership of both parties — and the interest groups they regularly represent — that an ill-served and angry electorate demands something better.

The lamentable fact is that the two parties are, themselves, little more than narrow special interests. Their competition for short-term political and/or monetary gain has jeopardized the state’s long-term economic health and left it with a tarnished national reputation.

Where the major parties have differed, their differences have been inconsequential. Where they’ve been the same, their similarities have been destructive.

They have contributed equally to gross overspending in Trenton by consistently pandering to the pay, pension and retirement policies demanded by powerful public employee unions. Democrats have financed the spree with tax hikes, Republicans with borrowed money, and both with pension-fund raids.

How do we now signal them that this has got to stop if not by rejecting their anointed candidates? How if not by electing Chris Daggett?

Agree? Disagree? Tell us what do you think in the comment box below. If you don’t see one, click on the tiny ‘comments’ line to open it.

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NJ governor hopefuls on key environmental issues

The (Newark) Star-Ledger got the the state’s three gubernatorial candidates to answer questions on a number of important environmental issues today–from open-space funding and site cleanups to nuclear energy and bear hunts.

Several of the answers are refreshingly specific. You might even find a surprise or two. For example, Republican Chris Christie is the only one of the three to dismiss nuclear energy as a part of New Jersey’s energy-growth picture.

You’ll find the entire Star-Ledger interview here.

As always, we encourage you to share your point of view. Use the comment box below. If one doesn’t appear, click the tiny ‘comments’ line to activate it.

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NJ enviro group backs Christie for governor
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Hate development surprises? Read this.

“Does your project development due diligence checklist include a review of resolutions passed by the Council on Affordable Housing (“COAH”)? If not, your project might be at risk, and you may not discover it until you are ready to start construction.”

That’s the alarm-bell opening paragraph in a bulletin sent by the Gibbons law firm to clients in New Jersey–especially those who have projects in the state’s Highlands region.

The alert, authored by attorneys Douglas J. Janacek and Michael Miceli, both of the firm’s Real Property & Environment practice, goes on to explain:

“Last year, Governor Corzine signed an Executive Order, which required the Highlands Council to cooperate with COAH, the Department of Environmental Protection, and the Department of Community Affairs to, among other things, ensure that municipalities in the Highlands maximize affordable housing opportunities while preserving critical environmental resources, including scarce land, water, and sewer resources, by dedicating those resources on a priority basis to the production of affordable housing.

“In response, the Highlands Council and COAH entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) to “develop a cooperative planning process that will enable each agency to carry out their respective” responsibilities. Regarding the preservation of scarce resources, the MOU required COAH to issue a “scarce resource order” for all Highlands municipalities under COAH’s jurisdiction.

“Outside the rubric of formal rulemaking (and thus, subject to little if any public scrutiny), COAH adopted a resolution implementing a scarce resource restraint on the 51 Highlands municipalities under its jurisdiction (since then, COAH has lifted the restraint on 12 Highlands municipalities that submitted third round housing element and fair share plans; it extended the deadline to submit for certification for the remaining municipalities, but kept the restraint in place for them). The restraint, which impacts developments in the Planning Area and Preservation Area of the Highlands, reserves scarce resources that may be essential to fulfill a municipality’s fair share obligation. It applies to municipal actions associated with development approvals, water allocation, and wastewater allocation.

“What does that mean to you? Essentially, in the affected Highlands municipalities, the restraint becomes an unfulfilled condition precedent to any development approval or construction activity unless the application is exempt or is formally granted a waiver.”

Interested in reading more? You’ll find the entire IN-SITES newsletter article here.

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Hate development surprises? Read this. Read More »

NJ enviro group backs Christie for governor

No that’s not a typo in the headline.

The New Jersey Environmental Federation (NJEF), one of the largest enviro-activist organizations in the state has endorsed not only a (gulp) Republican for governor but (double-gulp) one who served in the federal government under Bush/Cheney.

Yes, we’re talking about Chris Christie.

Surprised? Amazed? And maybe a bit baffled?
We are, too.

It was one thing for the Sierra Club to endorse former NJDEP Commissioner Chris Daggett’s independent campaign for governor. But it’s another for the NJEF, which had originally announced it would make no endorsement in the race, to come out for Christie.

What’s going on? We don’t know. But here’s a theory.

The state’s other big enviro group, the Sierra Club, didn’t just stop with their endorsement of Daggett. Its leader went on, in press release after press release, to rip incumbent Democratic Governor Jon Corzine’s environmental record.

The pounding culminated in the astonishing claim that Corzine is
the worst environmental governor in history.

Whoa! Did they forget all about Christie (Honey, I shrunk the DEP) Whitman and Jim “fast track development” McGreevey?

Is this the same Jon Corzine who the rest of us have seen signing one environmental bill after another? The governor who got out ahead of virtually all other states in setting aggressive goals for greenhouse gas reductions. The guy who has backed cap-and-trade, solar-energy incentives and offshore wind power development?

And, even if the Sierra Club wasn’t satisfied with Corzine’s record, it’s one thing to back another candidate to display your convictions but totally another to flay a sitting governor who just might win re-election. That, we submit, is just plain dumb.

So, our theory continues, rather than risk seeing the governor’s office door slammed on the environmental community for the next four years, it might be a good idea for the other big green group to back the other major candidate…even if he is a Republican friend of Karl Rove.

There’s one tiny weakness to the strategy. Corzine could win.

Then what happens?

The enviros may be counting on the fact that Jon can’t seem to repress a single “progressive” reflex. They may have good reason to suspect that, after a decent interval for sulking, he’ll succumb to let’s kiss and make up.

But what if the governor has been in New Jersey long enough now to adopt a more native political reaction? You know, the one called: Piss me off and see who wins.

Time will tell. In the meanwhile, we thought you might enjoy the Star-Ledger video below.

Even after today’s NJEF announcement, is still a pretty good summary of the New Jersey environmental community’s current political quandry.

NJ enviro group backs Christie for governor Read More »

Want to participate in the next RGGI auction?

Interested in learning about the procedures
and qualifications necessary to participate in the next Northeast and Mid-Atlantic Region RGGI auction to be held on December 2, 2009?

You’ll get a chance to learn all you need in a free webinar that will be presented by the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, Inc (RGGI) from 2 to 3 p.m. on Thursday, October 8.

The on-line seminar, which is open to all, will review the auction format, forms that need to be submitted, and bidder qualification processes. No registration is required. To access the webinar audio, dial the teleconference access number: (888) 875-4624 and enter
the participant code, 555661#.

For more information on the webinar and on RGGI, visit our
Enviro-Business News page.

While you’re there, sign up for free email alerts and consider submitting your own news releases for publication.

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Week’s top environmental news: Sep. 28 – Oct. 2, 2009
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’60 Minutes’ on the problems with coal waste

Lesley Stahl yesterday on 60 Minutes focused on the environmental and human health threats posed by the 130-million tons of ash and other wastes produced annually in the U.S. in the process of burning coal to make electricity.

Environmentalists and others have been pressing to have the material declared a hazardous waste because it contains arsenic,
lead and other toxic materials.

The coal and power industries say such a designation would force disposal costs to skyrocket.

They argue, instead, for other “beneficial uses” of the material, for example, as fill material under golf courses.

In an interview with Stahl, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson says her agency is reviewing a number of factors including “the toxicity of the material and how it is currently managed.”

Jackson said her agency “will make a regulatory proposal no later than December.”

Read the entire story here or watch it below.

Watch CBS News Videos Online

Use the comment box below to share your views on the issue.
If it’s not visible, click on the tiny “comment” line below.

Related:
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