EnviroPolitics Blog

Using social media to help kill an offshore wind project

From Rowan Today

Leading up to November 2023, when Danish offshore wind energy (OWE) firm Orsted decided to pull out of two major projects off New Jersey’s coast, there was broad statewide support for the initiatives.

But popular support for the projects, which had been as high as 80 percent among New Jersey residents in 2019, eroded in the intervening years, and a change in sentiment likely driven by social media contributed to Orsted’s decision to back out, a Rowan University researcher has found.

Dr. Alison Novak, an associate professor in the Department of Public Relations and Advertising within the Ric Edelman College of Communication & Creative Arts, believes the change in public support, which she said is now about 50 percent among all New Jersey residents and as low as 40 percent along the coast, was directly affected by X (formerly Twitter), and the ability for its users to interact with others around the world.

Writing in the journal Qualitative Research Reports in Communication last month, Novak found that the platform’s nature, which connects users through simple hashtags, enabled New Jerseyans to adopt a “globalization lens” in which they could study OWE projects elsewhere and compare them to those that were projected off the East Coast.

Based on an analysis of nearly 5,000 tweets, Novak found that many New Jersey X users became disheartened by various narratives, including that OWE companies overpromise and underdeliver in the construction of offshore windfarms, and that conservative positions often pushed by beachfront homeowners swayed public opinion against the projects.

“Users go online to negotiate the value of the proposed projects,” Novak said. “They want to know not just how this will impact my life but my children’s lives.”

Novak said conservative arguments related to the construction of wind farms, in particular that vessels used to scout locations and build towers, painted a false narrative that whales would be killed. Though the narrative was untrue, Novak said, it took hold.

Concerns about how the windmills will look, that they will negatively affect the aesthetics of the shore, were also distorted by conversations on Twitter, as were concerns about noise and how much the wind farms would ultimately reduce residents’ bills.

All of which weakened arguments for the projects, in particular how green energy initiatives like wind offset the use of planet-warming fossil fuels and that green energy projects produce good paying, long term jobs, Novak said.

The results of her study, conducted between 2020 and 2022, appeared in the article “Global discourses of protest and support of offshore wind energy,” April 17.

“I think the anti-wind group became a lot more active and better funded since 2020 (and that affected public opinion),” Novak said.

Novak, an expert on political strategic communication, digital media policy, and digital activism, said in addition to aesthetics, noise, and concern for marine life, opposition to the projects played upon homeowner fears that the windfarms could result in falling values for beachfront properties.

“It’s about a loss of agency, that the government, and international corporations like Orsted, were taking something away,” she said. “It’s a classic American discourse that draws on a very conservative talking point that goes back to the Revolution.”

Novak said that while Orsted reps were somewhat elusive about why the company decided to pull out, experts widely believe that concern about future state politics played a role. The current government, led by Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, supports offshore wind energy, but future administrations, particularly those led by Republicans, may not, she said.

If you liked this post, you’ll love our daily environmental newsletter, EnviroPolitics. It’s packed daily with the latest news, commentary, and legislative updates from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, Delaware…and beyond. Please do not take our word for it, try it free for an entire month. No obligation.

Using social media to help kill an offshore wind project Read More »

Largest NJ water utility looking to raise its rates

By Ry Rivard, Politico

Four months after New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy signed a law allowing a new kind of surcharge on water bills, New Jersey American Water is asking for regulatory approval to raise the typical customer’s bill by $2.50 a month. The new law created the Resiliency and Environmental System Investment Charge Program, which allows private water and sewer companies to request rate increases to pay for system resiliency, environmental compliance, safety, and public health expenses.

The charges, which are capped by law at 5 percent of a utility’s total annual revenues, were criticized by the state’s ratepayer watchdog because they can be requested outside of the typical rate case.

New Jersey American, the state’s largest water provider apparently is the first utility to request an increase under the new law in a mid-April filing that is now pending with the Board of Public Utilities. The surcharge would be phased in.

In total, the increase would generate $205 million for the company through 2027 for upgrades that will, among other things, help cope with emerging contaminants like PFAS, which are subject to new and more stringent federal regulations, and build a resilient system to deal with “climate variability.”

“This regulatory tool enables utilities to invest more quickly to comply with changing environmental regulations while spreading the costs into smaller, incremental charges,” New Jersey American spokesperson Denise Free said in a statement.

Largest NJ water utility looking to raise its rates Read More »

Calling All New Jersey Freshwater Anglers

The second of two virtual 2024 Freshwater Fisheries Forums will take place Thursday, May 16 at 7 p.m. Registration is required.

Come and share your views and recommendations for the future of freshwater fisheries in New Jersey and learn about current research, management, and fish culture activities!

The forum’s topics include:

Lake Trout/Landlocked Salmon Update
2023 Coolwater Sampling Results
Trout Program Considerations
Freshwater Fishing Education Programs

The presentations will be followed by an open public question period.

You can join the virtual meeting from a computer, tablet, or smartphone, or by telephone.

REGISTER NOW for the MAY 16 FRESHWATER FISHERIES FORUM

If you liked this post, you’ll love our daily environmental newsletter, EnviroPolitics. It’s packed daily with the latest news, commentary, and legislative updates from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, Delaware…and beyond. Please do not take our word for it, try it free for an entire month. No obligation.

Calling All New Jersey Freshwater Anglers Read More »

At one sprawling Vietnam market, workers recycle electronic waste that is overflowing landfills

By ANIRUDDHA GHOSAL and JAE C. HONG, Associated Press

HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam (AP) — Dam Chan Nguyen saves dead and dying computers.

When he first started working two decades ago in Nhat Tao market, Ho Chi Minh City’s biggest informal recycling market, he usually salvaged computers with bulky monitors and heavy processors. Now he works mostly with laptops and the occasional MacBook.

But the central tenet of his work hasn’t changed: Nothing goes to waste. What can be fixed is fixed. What can be salvaged gets re-used elsewhere. What’s left is sold as scrap.

“We utilize everything possible,” he said.

The shop he works at is one of many in a market that spreads across several streets filled with haggling customers. Most repair shops are a single room crammed with junked electronic devices or e-waste with tables placed outside. Workers, many of them migrants from across Vietnam, repair or salvage items like laptops, scarred mobile phones, camera lenses, television remotes, even entire air conditioning units. Other shops sell brand-new electronics alongside old, refurbished items.

The bustle is emblematic of a world that is producing more e-waste than ever — 62 million metric tons in 2022, projected to grow to 82 million metric tons by 2030, according to a report by the United Nation’s International Telecommunications Union and research arm UNITAR. Asian countries generate almost half of it.

Click to read the full story

At one sprawling Vietnam market, workers recycle electronic waste that is overflowing landfills Read More »

Who picked up the tab for PA Gov. Shapiro’s sports events?

*PA Gov. Josh Shapiro beats the drum for the Philadelphia Union soccer team*

By Stephen Caruso and Angela Couloumbis, Spotlight PA | May 3, 2024

HARRISBURG — A nonprofit that does not publicly disclose its donors paid more than $12,000 last year for Gov. Josh Shapiro to attend sporting events. The secrecy leaves taxpayers in the dark about who underwrites the outings and what interests they may have in state government policy.

The money also raises questions about whether the Democrat is violating his ban on accepting gifts.

Shapiro reported receiving $12,194.62 from Team PA for “transportation, lodging or hospitality” on his newly filed statement of financial interest. The Harrisburg-based nonprofit bills itself as a public-private partnership to bolster Pennsylvania’s economic development; its “investors” include a cross-section of the state’s top business industries, according to an annual report.

On the form, Shapiro did not describe what Team PA paid for, writing only: “The governor in his official capacity attended various events for the benefit of the Commonwealth to promote Pennsylvania and its economic interests.”

In an email, Shapiro spokesperson Manuel Bonder said Team PA paid for the Democratic governor to attend six sporting events: the 2023 Super Bowl in Arizona and games played by the Harrisburg Senators, Penn State’s football team, Philadelphia Phillies, and Philadelphia Union.

Bonder added that Shapiro was often invited to these games by the teams, and used the time to greet fans, cheer the teams on, and network with business or legislative leaders who were also in attendance.

The money for those tickets came from a little-known fund that Team PA manages called Pennsylvania Growth Partnership, which accepts donations exclusively to promote the governor — and by extension, the commonwealth and its economic health — on a national and international stage.

It’s not publicly known which individuals, groups, or businesses have donated to the growth partnership fund. Nonprofits are required to file detailed annual reports to the Internal Revenue Service that list, among other things, revenue and expense totals. But they aren’t required to make the names of their donors public.

Click to read the full story

Who picked up the tab for PA Gov. Shapiro’s sports events? Read More »

How refinery methane emissions are being hidden from satellites

*Gas is flared at the Ineos-owned Grangemouth oil refinery. Photograph: Murdo Macleod/The Guardian*

By Tom Brown and Christina Last, The Guardian, May 2, 2024

Oil and gas equipment intended to cut methane emissions is preventing scientists from accurately detecting greenhouse gases and pollutants, a satellite image investigation has revealed.

Energy companies operating in countries such as the US, UK, Germany, and Norway appear to have installed technology that could stop researchers from identifying methane, carbon dioxide emissions, and pollutants at industrial facilities involved in the disposal of unprofitable natural gas, known in the industry as flaring.

Flares are used by fossil fuel companies when capturing the natural gas would cost more than they can make by selling it. They release carbon dioxide and toxic pollutants when they burn as well as cancer-causing chemicals.

Despite the health risks, regulators sometimes prefer flaring to releasing natural gas – which is 90% methane – directly into the atmosphere, known as “venting”.

The World Bank, alongside the EU and other regulators, has been using satellites for years to find and document gas flares, asking energy companies to find ways of capturing the gas instead of burning or venting it.

The bank set up the Zero Routine Flaring 2030 initiative at the Paris climate conference to eradicate unnecessary flaring, and its latest report stated that flaring decreased by 3% globally from 2021 to 2022.

But since the initiative, “enclosed combustors” have begun appearing in the same countries that promised to end flaring. Experts say enclosed combustors are functionally the same as flares, except the flame is hidden.

Tim Doty, a former regulator at the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, said: “Enclosed combustors are basically a flare with an internal flare tip that you don’t see. Enclosed flaring is still flaring. It’s just different infrastructure that they’re allowing.

Click to read the full story

How refinery methane emissions are being hidden from satellites Read More »