EnviroPolitics Blog

EPA pours $128M into environmental justice projects

The EPA chose 186 projects led by community groups and local governments and counts several waste and recycling initiatives among its recipients.

Man wearing a suit speaking into a microphone while seated — EPA administrator Michael Regan has named environmental justice an EPA priority, echoing the Biden administration’s calls to fund more environmental justice projects. The EPA recently awarded $128 million in grant funding for such projects. Kevin Dietsch via Getty Images

By Megan Quinn, Senior Reporter, Waste Dive

The U.S. EPA has announced about $128 million in funding for 186 different environmental justice projects, including some addressing waste diversion, illegal dumping prevention, and community recycling efforts.
Community-based organizations received grants between $150,000 and $500,000 under the Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem Solving program. Local governments received up to $1 million as part of the Government-to-Government funding program.
Grants will fund projects such as recycling dropoff events in Nashville, Tennessee; anti-dumping initiatives in Memphis, Tennessee, and in New Mexico; an SB 1383-related school food waste diversion education program in California; public permitting outreach efforts in New Jersey and other initiatives, according to a project summary.

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Introducing: The NJ-NY, EPA Thriving Communities Tech Center

Do you want to learn how to access and pursue environmental justice funding opportunities, ranging from federal environmental health grants to state workforce development programs and private foundation grants? We can help!

Join WE ACT for Environmental Justice and our partners via Zoom on Monday, October 30 as we launch the New Jersey-New York Thriving Communities Technical Assistance Center. The New Jersey-New York “TCTAC” is funded by the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Energy to provide training and other assistance to build capacity for navigating federal grant application systems, writing strong grant proposals, and effectively managing grant funding.

Monday, Oct. 30, 2023
5:30-7:00 PM
Click Here to Register

Our TCTAC also seeks to build power in environmental justice communities and environmental justice organizations in New Jersey and New York, by building networks and partnerships throughout the region.

At the launch event, we’ll discuss:

The technical assistance resources the TCTAC can provide to your organization or community
Upcoming funding opportunities
Our planned environmental justice and federal grants training
Our vision for building power across the region

Steering Committee Members:

Peggy Shepard, Executive Director, WE ACT for Environmental Justice Alliance
Melissa Miles, Executive Director, New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance
Kim Gaddy, Executive Director, South Ward Environmental Alliance Al Huang, Environmental Justice Director, New York University School of Law Institute for Policy Integrity
Michelle Roos, Executive Director, Environmental Protection Network
Abbe Ramanan, Project Director, Clean Energy Group
Sheila Foster, Visiting Professor, Columbia Climate School
Yogani Govender, Dean of Science and Technology, Inter-American University of Puerto Rico-Metropolitan Campus

Questions? Contact us at ejtctac@weact.org or visit weact.org/tctac to learn more.

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The role of ISRI specifications in promoting recycled materials trade

By Arnulfo Moreno, ISRI Communications Manager

Recycled material trade flows between the U.S. and Canada were valued at more than $8.4 billion in 2022. ISRI Specifications help facilitate trade in recycled materials by providing a common language for buyers and sellers of recycled commodities including ferrous (iron, steel) and nonferrous metals (aluminum, copper, nickel, magnesium, zinc, etc.), electronics, paper, plastics, glass, tire, and rubber. Widespread adoption of the specifications also plays a key role in increasing the use of high-quality recycled materials within the North American supply chains.

These specifications are derived from many sectors of the metals, paper stock, plastics, glass, and electronics industries and are constructed to represent the quality or composition of the materials bought and sold in the industry. The specifications are internationally accepted and are used throughout the world to trade the commodities.

ISRI is hosting a webinar to provide U.S. and Canadian industry participants, government officials, and other stakeholders with more information about ISRI’s new online resource, and encourage the use of the specifications as a trade promotion tool for recycled materials.

The webinar will take place on Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2023, at 1 p.m. The webinar is free for members and non-members. Registration required.

Register

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Wire theft ring, posing as rescuers, steal utility lines in Bucks County

By Dino Ciliberti, Patch Staff

BUCKS COUNTY, PA —Nine people have been charged with stealing Verizon wires from utility poles throughout Bucks County and selling them as scrap, costing the utility company more than $250,000 to replace, authorities said.

Between May and October, the organization, who referred to themselves as the “Get Money Squad,” committed wire thefts in Lower Makefield Township, Upper Makefield Township, Warminster Township, Bensalem Township, and Bristol Township, the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office said.

The evidence indicates some of those charged even posed as members of a search party looking for children swept away during the deadly July flash flooding in Upper Makefield, just so they could steal more wire.

The joint investigation found the group took advantage of the tragedy because of the size of the wire in that location and because they knew law enforcement would be overwhelmed with rescue efforts.

On Thursday, eight of the nine defendants were arrested for a variety of crimes that included corrupt organizations, criminal conspiracy, theft, receiving stolen property, theft of metal, dealing in proceeds of unlawful activity, criminal mischief, criminal use of a communication facility, and disruption of service.

Read the full story here

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Is the environment losing its political cachet in New Jersey?

Murphy administration’s aggressive clean-energy push a negative factor?

Aug. 15, 2016: A lift boat, center, that serves as a work platform, assembles a wind turbine off Block Island, R.I.

By Tom Johnson, NJ Spotlight

For many years, the environment enjoyed broad bipartisan support among the public and those elected to shape policies. Yet, amid a worsening climate crisis, that support appears to be wavering in New Jersey.

In this fall’s election, with all 120 of the state’s legislative seats on the ballot, there is mounting speculation whether the Murphy administration’s aggressive push to clean energy could be a significant factor in a handful of closely contested districts. And not in a positive way.

“It is the first time I can recall, in my memory, the environment has been shown to be a negative in legislative elections,’’ said Jeff Tittel, a longtime environmentalist and native of New Jersey.

Whether this trend is enough to end the Democrats’ long control of the Legislature remains to be seen, but as policies to implement the shift to green energy move closer to reality, they have triggered a surprising pushback not only from residents but also from politicians on both sides of the aisle.

The opposition centers on some of the key initiatives identified as the focus of the state’s clean-energy goals: offshore wind farms off the coast; phasing out the natural gas used to heat homes; and finally, a proposal to ban the sale of new gasoline-powered cars in New Jersey beginning in 2035.

“It is too much, too fast and no one has put a price tag on what it is all going to cost,’’ said Sen. Anthony Bucco (R-Morris), who added “many folks see Gov. Murphy’s Energy Master Plan as extreme.’’

Top Democrats grow wary about unanswered questions on offshore wind

But clean-energy advocates dispute support for the environment is fading, insisting climate action remains strong despite a well-funded campaign by the fossil fuel industry.

“The environment has become more partisan,’’ acknowledged Doug O’Malley, director of Environment New Jersey. “Whether it is electric vehicles or offshore wind, there is always a push from the right to muck up the issues,’’ he said. “Bringing change is hard. This is not going to happen overnight.

Read the full story here

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Ford Says U.A.W. Strike is benefitting Tesla and Toyota

Mr. Ford, the executive chairman of Ford Motor, said nonunion automakers would make gains against Michigan automakers because of strikes by the United Automobile Workers union.

*“Ford’s ability to invest in the future isn’t just a talking point,” William Clay Ford Jr. said. “It is the absolute lifeblood of our company. Credit…Carlos Osorio/Associated Press*

By Neal E. Boudette, New York Times Oct. 16, 2023

The month-long strike by the United Automobile Workers and the union’s demands for substantial pay and benefits increase the risk of damaging the U.S. auto industry, hurting its ability to compete against nonunion foreign rivals, the executive chairman of Ford Motor said on Monday.

The fight should not be seen as the U.A.W. against Ford, or its crosstown rivals, General Motors and Stellantis, said William C. Ford Jr., the great-grandson of the company’s founder Henry Ford, noting that at times U.A.W. officials have referred to the automakers as the union’s “enemy.”

“It should be Ford and the U.A.W. against Toyota, Honda, Tesla, and all the Chinese companies that want to enter our home market,” Mr. Ford said at the company’s Rouge plant in Dearborn, Mich.

“Toyota, Honda, Tesla, and the others are loving the strike because they know the longer it goes on, the better it is for them,” the executive chairman said. “They will win, and all of us will lose.”

Mr. Ford’s remarks alluded to a period several decades ago when the U.A.W. won increasingly rich contracts that were later seen by many industry experts as having hobbled the three Michigan automakers in the face of competition from Japanese and European carmakers. Ford came to the brink of collapse, and G.M. and Chrysler — now part of Stellantis — had to seek bankruptcy protection after the 2008 financial crisis.

Read the full story here

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