EnviroPolitics Blog

Judge orders NY to produce delayed Climate Act regulations

By Dan Clark, Albany Times Union

ALBANY – A judge on Friday ordered New York to produce by February a long-awaited set of regulations intended to drive the state’s mandates for reducing carbon emissions from fossil fuels.

The state’s excuse that doing so would force extraordinary costs on New Yorkers isn’t enough to justify the continued delay of those regulations, state Supreme Court Justice Julian Schreibman wrote.

“Whether (the state Department of Environmental Conservation’s) conclusion is right or wrong, making this judgment is beyond the scope of its authority under the Climate Act,” Schreibman wrote.

The lawsuit was filed by a coalition of advocacy groups, including Citizen Action and Earthjustice, against the agency earlier this year.

“The decision confirms what we have stated over and over: the governor must comply with the climate law,” said Bob Cohen, policy director at Citizen Action of New York. “We are glad to see Judge Schreibman decisively reject Gov. (Kathy) Hochul and DEC’s excuses for delay and their ongoing attempts to derail climate action.”

The regulations targeted by the lawsuit were due from the agency on Jan. 1, 2024. Since that time, one set of regulations out of the three expected from the agency has been drafted and proposed for public comment.

All of them will now be due from the agency by Feb. 6 under the order from Schreibman, who chose the date to give Hochul and the Legislature time to consider a change in the statute that requires the regulations.

The state has argued that the regulations would place a heavy burden on households at a time when the cost of living is already a challenge.

Schreibman wrote that, because the regulations are required by a law approved by the Legislature, the decision to delay their implementation is out of the agency’s hands. That could change with approval from state lawmakers.

“lf legislative action modifies DEC’s obligations under the Climate Act, DEC will act in accordance therewith,” Schreibman wrote.

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Ex-NJ Sierra Club director Jeff Tittel’s surprising message

We just dropped our latest video interview — one you’ll surely want to watch.

For several decades, as director of New Jersey’s Sierra Club chapter, Jeff Tittel scored headline after headline as his environmental organization won a series of significant victories, including the preservation of the state’s vast Highlands area.

In this interview, Jeff recalls how summers at a nature camp as a kid developed his appreciation for nature, and how his parents — both avid hikers — took him along to protest a plan that would have damaged a mountain in neighboring New York state. By high school, Jeff was organizing cleanups and opposing a highway through a forest in Union County, NJ.

We asked him about the method he used to lobby legislators, how he got the media to draw attention to his causes, and why they were so successful.

Many will be surprised to hear Jeff discuss his current disenchantment with the direction of environmental activism, and shocked as he unloads on the state’s Democratic governor and his top environmental regulator.

Check it out here

Also, view our conversation with solar expert Lyle Rawlings, who says he’s uncovered troubling factors behind New Jersey’s soaring electric utility rates.

If you like these interviews, you’ll love our daily environmental newsletter, EnviroPolitics. It’s packed with the latest news, commentary, and legislative updates from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, Delaware…and beyond. Don’t take our word for it. Try it free for an entire month.

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NJ Gov. Murphy’s energy policy scrutinized as his two terms wrap up

By Nikita Biryukov, NJ Monitor

As Gov. Phil Murphy’s time in office nears its end, his renewables-heavy energy goals are receiving mixed reviews.

Though Murphy presided over a broad expansion of solar power in New Jersey, his greater plans to produce thousands of megawatts in offshore wind generation ultimately failed to create any new power, even as some existing power plants were shuttered, reducing the electricity New Jersey sends to its multi-state grid despite increasing generation within state borders.

Murphy’s energy goals were always ambitious. In successive pronouncements, the governor called for New Jersey to draw 100% of its energy from clean sources, first by 2050 and then by 2035. But most of those goals were never memorialized in law. Murphy, a Democrat, is leaving office in January after two terms while the two front-runners to replace him, Republican Jack Ciattarelli and Democrat Mikie Sherrill, pan his energy policies on the campaign trail.

Jeff Tittel is a former longtime director of the New Jersey Sierra Club who has both allied with and criticized the governor.

“He really never did the follow-through. He did the splash, everybody applauded him, and then there was very little follow-through,” Tittel said.

Gov. Phil Murphy, alongside First Lady Tammy Murphy and former Vice President Al Gore, signs an executive order more than doubling New Jersey’s offshore wind goal on November 19, 2019, at Liberty Science Center in Jersey City. (Photo by Edwin J. Torres/Governor’s Office)

The state first solicited bids for offshore wind farms in September 2018, just months into Murphy’s first term. The problems began nearly two years later with the pandemic, when a series of supply chain disruptions spurred by COVID-19 restrictions ballooned project costs.

Ørsted, the Danish wind giant tapped to build more than 3,300 megawatts of offshore generation, pulled back from the projects in 2023, saying supply chain constraints, inflation, and growing borrowing costs made them unfeasible.

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Rutgers launches underwater robot to travel globe

A team from Teledyne Marine testing the Redwing Glider. Redwing may become the first autonomous underwater glider to circumnavigate the globe. Photo by Teledyne Marine — *A team from Teledyne Marine is testing the Redwing Glider. Redwing may become the first autonomous underwater glider to circumnavigate the globe. Photo by Teledyne Marine*

By Barbara Moran, WBUR

An underwater robot launched from Woods Hole on Friday, embarking on a scientific quest to become the first autonomous vehicle to circumnavigate the globe.

If successful, the five-year journey could open new opportunities for long-term ocean research.

Leslie Ann McGee, chief innovation officer at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, said the technology could be most helpful for studying under-sampled areas, such as the Southern Ocean.

“The most exciting for us is to prove that you can send an autonomous vehicle almost anywhere you want under the ocean,” McGee said. “It’s really amazing.”

The torpedo-shaped glider named “Redwing” will measure water depth, temperature, and salinity, and send data back in near-real time. It will also carry a device to detect tagged fish in the open ocean, which could shed light on the migration patterns of marine animals.

The glider has sensors that measure how salty the ocean water is, how warm it is, and how deep it goes. These measurements will help scientists understand how the ocean moves and how it affects the atmosphere.

The information will help scientists predict hurricane intensity, ocean heat waves, and changes in marine life.

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Major Flooding Expected For Much Of The Evening Commute

A slow-moving coastal storm is set to swamp the Northeast corridor during the evening drive, with flooding, powerful winds, and dangerous surf likely along the coast

By Joe Lombardi, Jackson Daily Voice

AccuWeather meteorologists said that prolonged northeast winds and astronomical high tides will fuel widespread coastal flooding and significant beach erosion from North Carolina to New Jersey through Monday night, Oct. 13. High tides are running 1 to 3 feet above historical averages through Monday night, according to AccuWeather.

“The highest tides and worst of the coastal flooding along the Jersey Shore are expected Monday afternoon,” AccuWeather Lead Hurricane Expert Alex DaSilva said. “Gusty winds from the northeast can push in tremendous amounts of water into bays and inlets.

“This storm may create some of the highest tides that the Northeast has seen in more than a decade. Some beaches may be completely underwater as this storm passes off the coast. This storm may not have a name, but it is causing some serious problems and disruptions along the coast.”

Rainfall from the Nor’easter will reach 2 to 4 inches from far eastern New Jersey to northern Massachusetts, with local amounts up to 8 inches in spots.

Read the full story

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James Franklin’s $50M buyout turns some heads at Penn State after recent cost-cutting, including several campus closures

One affected by its commonwealth campus closures says the university has misplaced its priorities

By Maddie Aiken, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Fired Penn State football coach James Franklin’s nearly $50 million buyout is equivalent to about six years of budget at the university’s New Kensington campus, said English professor Andrea Adolph.

That stings, as Ms. Adolph and many of her branch campus colleagues brace for the upcoming closure of seven commonwealth campuses, including the New Kensington, Fayette, and Shenango locations in Western Pennsylvania, which were announced earlier this year as the university looks for ways to cut costs amid enrollment shifts.

To Ms. Adolph, Sunday’s firing of the football coach — and the hefty pay he is now owed — are evidence that Penn State leaders have misplaced priorities.

“That kind of payout is just ridiculous,” she said. “It’s another wild, ‘let them eat cake’ [m

On Sunday, university leaders fired Mr. Franklin after three consecutive losses, including two to unranked UCLA and Northwestern. During his 12-year tenure in Happy Valley, the coach had an overall record of 104-45, but went 4-21 against teams ranked in the top 10.

Despite being fired, Mr. Franklin is still owed more than $49 million per his contract — the second-biggest buyout in college football history after former Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher’s $76 million buyout, ESPN reports.

The role of college sports as a recruitment tool, revenue generator, and cost center has long been debated in university circles, but the size of the Penn State contract buyout stands out nationally.

And the big buyout is turning some heads in light of the Pennsylvania university’s controversial belt-tightening actions in recent years.

‘It was time’: Penn State players and fans react to James Franklin’s firing (Philadelphia Inquirer)

James Franklin’s $50M buyout turns some heads at Penn State after recent cost-cutting, including several campus closures Read More »

Judge orders NY to produce delayed Climate Act regulations

Ex-NJ Sierra Club director Jeff Tittel’s surprising message

NJ Gov. Murphy’s energy policy scrutinized as his two terms wrap up

Rutgers launches underwater robot to travel globe

Major Flooding Expected For Much Of The Evening Commute

A slow-moving coastal storm is set to swamp the Northeast corridor during the evening drive, with flooding, powerful winds, and dangerous surf likely along the coast

James Franklin’s $50M buyout turns some heads at Penn State after recent cost-cutting, including several campus closures

One affected by its commonwealth campus closures says the university has misplaced its priorities

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