Republican State Senate candidate Diedre Paul is headed to court tomorrow in a bid to force her running mate, QAnon supporter Robert Bedoya, off of the ballot.
Bedoya filed with 126 signatures — 26 more than the number required — but Paul says that just 39 of them are invalid. A review of Bedoya’s petitions by the New Jersey Globe shows that he is vulnerable to a challenge.
A Fort Lee Republican county committeeman and former school board candidate, Bedoya’s business card carries the QAnon acronym, WWG1WGA — “Where we go one, we go all” — and lists him as an “Assemblyman-elect”
A Republican source in Bergen County said that Paul is mounting the unusual petition challenge to her running mate because she is taking a principled position in refusing to run with Bedoya. Paul, a veteran of several political battles, has put her principles ahead of the party before.
If a judge tosses Bedoya from the ballot, it will leave Republicans with one candidate instead of two in the 37th district. The GOP can nominate someone through a write-in vote if that top vote-getter receives at least 100 votes.
NEW YORK (March 30, 2023) – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced it will award $3 million for New York to plan innovative strategies to cut climate pollution and build clean energy economies across the state.
Earlier this month, EPA announced the availability of the funds, which represent the first funding going to states, local governments, Tribes, and territories from the Climate Pollution Reduction Grants (CPRG) program created by President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act. Later this year, EPA will launch a competition for $4.6 billion in funding to implement projects and initiatives included in the plans. New York will be eligible to receive that implementation funding because it has opted in to receive the planning grant.
New York is among the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico that are eligible to receive $3 million each in EPA Climate Pollution Reduction planning grant funds. New York will use the funds to augment climate planning in collaboration with municipalities statewide and to conduct meaningful engagement with communities, including overburdened communities. throughout the state.
New York State’s Climate Act passed in 2019 is among the most ambitious climate laws in the nation. New York State’s nation-leading climate agenda calls for an orderly and just transition that creates family-sustaining jobs, continues fostering a green economy across all sectors, and ensures that at least 35 percent, with a goal of 40 percent, of the benefits of clean energy and energy efficiency investments are directed to disadvantaged communities.
Guided by some of the nation’s most aggressive climate and clean energy initiatives, New York is on a path to achieving a zero-emission electricity sector by 2040, including 70 percent renewable energy generation by 2030, and economywide carbon neutrality by mid-century. New York’s participation in the CPRG program will support its ongoing efforts to reduce economy-wide greenhouse gas emissions and ensure all communities equitably benefit in the clean energy transition.
About the Climate Pollution Reduction Grant Program
The CPRG planning grants will support states, territories, Tribes, municipalities, and air agencies, in the creation of comprehensive, innovative strategies for reducing pollution and ensuring that investments maximize benefits, especially for low-income and disadvantaged communities. These climate plans will include:
Greenhouse gas emissions inventories;
Emissions projections and reduction targets;
Economic, health, and social benefits, including to low-income and disadvantaged communities;
Plans to leverage other sources of federal funding including the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act;
Workforce needs to support decarbonization and a clean energy economy; and
Future government staffing and budget needs.
Next Steps
This funding for climate planning will be followed later this year by a national grant competition for $4.6 billion in implementation grant funding that will support the expeditious implementation of investment-ready policies created by the CPRG planning grants, programs, and projects to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the near term. Through the CPRG program, EPA will support the development and deployment of technologies and solutions that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and harmful air pollution, as well as transition America to a clean energy economy that benefits all Americans.
By summer 2023, EPA Regional Offices expect to award and administer the funding agreements once all legal and administrative requirements are satisfied.
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Construction industry leaders have attacked a recent study promoted by environmentalists that pushed a green energy alternative to NJ Transit’s controversial plan to build a fossil fuel power plant for its train lines.
The study, released earlier this month, argued that a hybrid renewable energy microgrid is feasible to help power NJ Transit’s power needs during an unexpected outage from a major storm or other disruption, as opposed to the fossil-fuel-burning power plant in Kearny that the agency is currently considering.
“Environmentalists lack the basic understanding of construction around these types of projects,” argued Greg Lalevee, business manager for International Union of Operating Engineers Local 825, in a letter to NJ Transit President and CEO Kevin Corbett.
The Transitgrid project has become a flashpoint of controversy since the idea was born years ago. NJ Transit developed the idea as a way to increase resilience on its train lines after they were unable to operate for days due to Superstorm Sandy in 2012. The agency has received approval for a federal grant to cover the majority of project costs.
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NEW YORK (March 29, 2023) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) seeks public input as it proposes to augment its original plan for cleaning up the Matlack, Inc. Superfund site in Woolwich Township, New Jersey.
A 30-day public comment period for the proposed plan begins March 29, 2023. EPA will host a virtual public meeting on April 12, 2023, at 6:00 p.m. to explain the new cleanup proposal. To attend the public meeting, please register here before the meeting begins.
“EPA is committed to ongoing engagement with communities near Superfund sites,” said Regional Administrator Lisa F. Garcia. “EPA is proposing a new treatment to address an additional source of contamination found at the Matlack, Inc. Superfund site in Woolwich. We invite the public to join us and hear about the new cleanup proposal.”
As a result of past truck maintenance and tanker washing operations at the site, the soil, sediment, surface water, and groundwater are contaminated with volatile organic compounds, which can potentially harm people’s health.
EPA’s proposed cleanup technique for cleaning up the drum disposal area is called in-situ thermal treatment. In situ (or in place) thermal treatment methods remove harmful chemicals in soil and groundwater using heat. The chemicals move through soil and groundwater toward wells, where they are collected and piped to the ground surface to be treated using other cleanup methods. Some chemicals are destroyed underground during the heating process.
Under that plan, EPA will install underground barriers designed to remove volatile organic compounds from the groundwater. As groundwater flows through the barriers, they trap harmful contaminants and also make them less harmful. The treated groundwater flows out the other side of the barriers. EPA will monitor the groundwater beyond the barrier to ensure the success of the barrier technology.
In addition, EPA will remove an area of contaminated sediment along Grand Sprute Run and will remove contaminated soil within a former lagoon area. The sediment and soil will be disposed of at off-site facilities licensed to handle the waste. By cleaning up the groundwater and removing ongoing sources of contamination in the soil and sediment, the cleanup also prevents contaminants from getting into Grand Sprute Run, a nearby stream.
Written comments on the proposed plan may be mailed or emailed to Supinderjit Kaur, Remedial Project Manager, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 290 Broadway – 18th Floor, New York, NY 10007, Email: kaur.supinderjit@epa.gov.
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During remarks at an offshore wind convention Wednesday in Baltimore, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore shared his administration’s new “ambitious, but achievable” goal for turbines off the state’s coast: 8.5 gigawatts of power.
A spokesman for the Democratic governor said he plans to sign the POWER Act, which would mandate the 8.5-gigawatt goal be realized by 2031 if the General Assembly passes it.
Speaking at the International Offshore Wind Partnering Forum at the Baltimore Convention Center, Moore presented himself as a friendly face in Annapolis for offshore wind developers, drawing a contrast with former Gov. Larry Hogan.
“My predecessor took a middle path on this,” Moore said, “making some investments in offshore wind, but not enough to get us to where we need to be. I want to be very clear on this: It has been a long time since I’ve been comfortable being a ‘C’ student. I don’t want Maryland just to get by with passing grades.”
Hogan, the second two-term Republican governor in state history, was criticized for toeing the line on climate policy. Hogan spoke of the need for Maryland to address climate change but vetoed clean energy bills enacted by the legislature, or allowed them to become law without his signature to voice opposition, often citing costs to consumers.
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Bryan Staley of the Environmental Research & Education Foundation and Amy Brittain of the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality mention PFAS in product packaging, such as food wrappers and cosmetics, during a congressional briefing on March 27, 2023. Megan Quinn/Waste Dive
WASHINGTON, DC: The waste industry asked Congress on Monday to intervene on a proposed Superfund update they say could have damaging effects on their ability to safely manage PFAS-containing materials and cost them millions.
At issue is the EPA’s proposed rule to designate two PFAS compounds as hazardous substances under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, known as Superfund. It’s separate from another recent EPA proposal to set drinking water standards for six types of PFAS.
During a congressional briefing on Monday, landfill operators — along with composters, recyclers, water treatment plant operators, and others who consider themselves “passive receivers” of PFAS-containing material — said the inclusion of the PFAS as hazardous under CERCLA could have costly unintended consequences. The National Waste & Recycling Association and the Solid Waste Association of North America hosted the briefing for aides from multiple congressional offices.
The designation of PFOS and PFOA as hazardous substances could mean such facilities would have to start rejecting PFAS-containing material, incur new costs for sorting or processing the material, or face costly lawsuits related to the per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances, they said.
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