Week’s top environmental and political news: Nov 26-30

Some of the top stories appearing in EnviroPolitics from Nov. 26 -30. Captured from newspapers and other information sources in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York and beyond.

New Jersey Environment
Trump at the dump Donald Trump prides himself on building and acquiring world-class real estate. But on Thursday his stage was decidedly less appealing –a garbage dump in Lyndhurst, NJ. “We will improve it quickly,” said the New York real estate tycoon of the EnCap site in southern Bergen County where he anticipates building and opening a golf course within two years Story

Top court hears NJ, DE border dispute Attorneys for New Jersey and Delaware argue before the U.S. Supreme Court in a case that could determine whether energy company BP can build a liquefied natural gas terminal in Logan Twp., NJ. The dispute centers on an unusual, anachronistic border that gives Delaware some territory on the NJ side of the Delaware River AC Press Inquirer Glouco Times Delawareonline WSJ Law Blog

Waste could light a million NJ homes New Jersey’s garbage, landfill gases and other biomass” – which includes corn, paper, grass clippings and used cooking grease, among others – could one day generate enough electricity to power a million homes and even be used to generate 300 million gallons of fuel for transportation, according to a report released by the state Board of Public Utilities Bergen Record Rutgers report & biomass calculator

Meadowlands developer gets 30-day cleanup extension A troubled $1billion plan to turn landfills into luxury housing and golf courses receives another reprieve Star-Ledger
Bergen Record

More cheers than protests in area eyed for nuke reactor While the prospect of a nuclear reactor might cause an uproar in most communities, it’s largely welcome in a rural
area deep in southern New Jersey Associated Press

NJ seeks power to regulate rail waste facilities Congress and the White House are talking trash over waste dumps that have cropped up near freight-rail tracks in New Jersey
AP Press

New Jersey Politics

Corzine comptroller nominee on hold The nomination of Matthew Boxer to become the state’s first comptroller hits a roadblock amid questions over whether he had a role in payments or promises made on behalf of the governor to the brother-in-law of Corzine’s ex-girlfriend Star-Ledger Bergen Record
Businesses gripe about (lack of) ethics in New Jersey A new study reportsstrong disgust from the business community on how NJ government is run. It recommends several steps for state leaders to take, including a complete pay-to-playban, a uniform ethics code and a bipartisan panel modeled after the federal 9/11 Commission to identify and cure state’s ethical problems Gannett
Giblin’s nephew named in probe State Assemblyman Thomas Giblin’s nephew has been implicated in an alleged kickback scheme as federal authorities continue what sources say is a corruption probe into a union local and the politically active family that has run it for decades Star-Ledger
Pascrell seeks probe of Ashcroft contract NJ congressman asks the House Judiciary Committee to investigate the circumstances that let U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie appoint his former boss, Attorney General John Ashcroft, to a monitoring contract that might be worth as much as $52M Star-Ledger
Suit alleges Doria retaliated against 2 who helped probe Did state Department of Community Affairs Commissioner Joseph V. Doria Jr., as Bayonne’s mayor, arrange for the firing of two employees who aided a probe into corruption? Star-Ledger


Opponents of gay marriage launch all-out NJ campaign A national campaignto block gay marriage came to New Jersey this week as conservative groups beganairing radio ads and bombarded a key lawmaker’s office with as many as 200 phonecalls an hour Star-Ledger


Pennsylvania Environment


PPL to develop renewable energy generating facility at landfill PPL Renewable Energy, a subsidiary of PPL Corporation, will develop and install a 6.4-mw methane-to-electricity generation system at the Community Refuse Service Landfill in Shippensburg
Pocono News

Fuel tax to pay for leaky tanks Anyone fueling up a vehicle in PA soon mayhave to hand over an additional penny per gallon to pay to clean up damage fromleaking underground fuel tanks Evening Sun Senate bill boosts alternate energy A Senate committee approved a bill Tuesday to provide $20M annually in state tax credits for research and development of alternate energy sources Times Tribune

Wave of wind farms A wind farm consisting of 20 turbines to be built in Adams Twp., Cambria County, was issued a DEP permit last week, the latest in a wave of windmill projects spreading across the commonwealth Patriot-News

Specter uses Siemens visit to sell his climate proposal With the U.S. Senate considering several climate bills and an international forum on climate change convening next week, PA Republican Sen. Arlen Specter has been touting his own bill to reduce greenhouse gases Post-Gazette
PPL eyes jump-start power The utility says it doesn’t have enough juice to restart service if it were disrupted by a blackout Times Leader
Penn State gets Critical Zone Observatory Shale Hills in central PA is already a busy area in the university’s managed forest lands, but now a five-year $4.2M National Science Foundation Grant will make it even busier as scientists study how soils form from bedrock and how soil formation affects water movement and groundwater flow to streams PSU
Pennsylvania Politics

A Foxwoods Casino principal sues to regain political access A Blue Bell developer who owns nearly 10 percent of the planned Foxwoods Casino Philadelphiahas asked the state Supreme Court to strike down Pennsylvania’s ban on political campaign contributions by casino owners and executives Inquirer

Rendell yanks penny-per-gallon request on gas sales Governor says his administration would withdraw a request that could have added a penny onto the cost of a gallon of gas to help clean up leaking underground fuel tanks Philly.comPA Supreme Court rejects slots lawsuit Court says a suit seeking to throw out the state slot-machine law has no merit APBig money is rejecting threat to Brady A newcomer considers a primary run against the Philadelphia power Inquirer
New York/Nation/World

Energy competition vs. regulation to spur controversy Influential players in the energy market are preparing for what is likely to be a major fight in the 2008 Legislative session over whether to re-regulate energy costs in New York IthicaJournal.com

After a rough start, Spitzer rethinks his ways NY Times

Coast Guard to test oil from seven ships in spill Newsday

Nobel Prize brings Gore back to White House NPR

Oil spill near Jones Beach draws broad response NYT

Long Island spill source still a mystery LoHud.com

State colleges taking steps to ban Styrofoam LoHud.com

Drought could force shutdown of GA nuclear plants TBJ

Try a no-obligation, 30-day subscription to EnviroPolitics: Free Trial

Week’s top environmental and political news: Nov 26-30 Read More »

More legal support for voluntary cleanups

For years, companies that elected to voluntarily clean up Superfund sites have been at a disadvantage, with legal precedent frustrating their attempts to collect payments from other parties who contributed to the contamination.

But more recent rulings are giving hope to their chances of recouping some of the costs of remediations that often can run into multi-million-dollar figures.

Today’s issue of LAW.com reports on the most recent decision in “3rd Circuit Changes Direction in ‘DuPont’ Environmental Cleanup Case“

More legal support for voluntary cleanups Read More »

More on New Jersey nuclear advocacy

Yesterday, in “Nuclear energy support from a former foe” , we noted how interesting it was to see the environmentalist and Greenpeace founder Patrick Moore supporting the need for nuclear power in an article published in a state business magazine.

What we did not realize at the time, was that the author, Patrick Moore, is (along with former NJ Governor Christie Whitman) a paid consultant to the Clean and Safe Energy Coalition which receives funding from the Nuclear Energy Institute, a trade association of nuclear reactor operators.

This we learned today in Source Watch, a collaborative project of the Center for Media and Democracy.

The fact that Patrick Moore and Christie Whitman are both paid to promote the nation’s nuclear industry does not, in itself, mean that each may not truly believe that New Jersey needs to expand its nuclear-generated electric power capacity. After all, New Jersey currently relies on nuclear power for some 50% of its total energy supply, the state’s energy appetite continues to grow, and the re-licensing of one of its nuclear reactors is under challenge.

But it does raise valid concerns. Being paid to support a cause is not the same as offering your views voluntarily.

Commerce Magazine, where Moore’s article was published, gets credit for noting that he is:

“Co-chair of an industry-funded initiative, the Clean and Safe Energy Coalition, which supports increased use of nuclear energy”

But the use of the term “co-chair” doesn’t give a reader the entire story. “Paid consultant” adds an other dimension that also serves to inform.

More on New Jersey nuclear advocacy Read More »

Nuclear energy support from a former foe

A national figure, in Commerce, the magazine of the Commerce and Industry Association of New Jersey, writes:

“Independent environmentalists have come to the conclusion that nuclear power’s electricity, produced with virtually zero greenhouse emissions, is critical if we are to overcome the challenge of global warming.”

No surprise there, you say, someone supporting nuclear energy in a business magazine. But, in this case, the author is Patrick Moore, co-founder of Greenpeace and now chairman of Greenspirit Strategies in Vancouver, British Columbia.

In the article, Moore notes that:

“A major new study, conducted for the Nuclear Energy Institute by Polestar Applied Technology, Inc., warns that without nuclear energy, Governor Corzine’s laudable goal of achieving a 10 percent reduction in CO2 emissions by 2015 cannot be met. The same holds true, the report said, for the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) goals, the benchmarks set by the Northeastern states to reduce emissions from the generation of electricity.”

The full article can be found here.

Do you think Moore’s on the right track? Click on the ‘comment’ line below and share your views with all our readers.

Nuclear energy support from a former foe Read More »

New Jersey town doubles its recycling

In one week after joining the much ballyhooed RecycleBank™ program, Cherry Hill, NJ saw the amount of recyclable materials collected more than double, according to program officials.

What motivates such a change? Rewards. RecycleBank measures the amount of recyclables collected at each house and converts the total into RecycleBank Points that can be used for purchases at such national outlets as IKEA, Starbucks, Dick’s Sporting Goods and Whole Foods. In Cherry Hill, the rewards also can be used for purchases from such local merchants as ACME, Norma’s, Erlton Bike Shop and Pat’s Pizza.

A RecycleBank press release claims that, after just one week of participation, there has been a 134 percent increase in recycling rates, with the amount of recyclables more than doubling from about 12 pounds per household to nearly 26 pounds.

Sounds like a program that other towns might want to consider, especially since New Jersey’s recycling rates continue to decline. The state was a national environmental leader back in 1995 when it’s municipal recycling tonnage total hit 45 percent. By last year, it had slumped to 32 percent.

New Jersey town doubles its recycling Read More »

City: Stimulating recycling wouldn’t be fair

Once a national model for municipal recycling, New Jersey has been slipping in recent years, as many towns and counties seem to have lost their environmental zeal for encouraging residents to remove cans, bottles and newspaper from their trash.

But a recent decision by city fathers in New Brunswick, the home of Rutgers, the state university, may signal a new low.

University students, heeding the call to get recycling back on track, petitioned City Hall for additional pickups in two university neighborhoods where recycling bins are often overflowing in advance of the city’s twice-monthly pickup days. Students say people, who otherwise would recycle, are forced to throw their recyclables into the trash.

Are you ready for the city’s response? According to a the Home News Tribune, city spokesman Bill Bray said:

“The city can’t provide any special services or provide any special treatment for any given population. If we were going to institute additional recycling pickups it would have to be citywide and there’s simply no reason for that.”

Oh, really? In other words, if the rest of the town is satisfied with doing less than they can to recycle, then they have, in fact, set the standard for everybody else. And it just wouldn’t be fair for the city to deviate from the norm, would it? Providing added pickup days for those recycling show-offs over at the university would be a “special service.” Downright undemocratic.

In adhering to the lowest-common-denominator approach, the city’s missing a great opportunity to boost its recycling tonnage (and score some great PR headlines) by rewarding those citizens who are willing to do more to recycle.

To be fair, the city notes that it sets no limit on the amount of recyclables it will collect on a pickup day and that those who want to recycle more than what their one-free-bin can hold may purchase additional containers from the Department of Public Works for about $8 each.

One student leader says that’s too much of a burden for undergraduates on a fixed budget.

Well, maybe. But its no more than the cost of a few imported ales. So a student idealist could opt for domestic brews for a bit and then celebrate with the purchase of a nice new 20-gallon recycling bin to hold lots of future empties.

Or some forward thinking, private-sector company in the waste management or recycling business might recognize this for the great opportunity it is and come riding to recycling’s rescue with free cans for all those who promise to fill them.

What do you think? Let us know by clicking on the ‘comment’ line below.

City: Stimulating recycling wouldn’t be fair Read More »