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#BILLYPENNGRAM for 2/16/23 Read More »
By Gloria Oladipo, The Guardian Feb 15 2023 12.18 EST
A ninth dead whale has washed up on the New Jersey coastline, as conservationists and local authorities investigate the causes of an unusual number of such deaths along the US east coast.
The humpback was found in Manasquan, New Jersey, on Monday.
The whale was removed from the beach on Tuesday and taken to the county landfill for a necropsy and to collect tissue samples, a spokesperson for Noaa Fisheries, part of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, told Gothamist.
The whale is one of many recently found dead off New York and New Jersey. At least 10 humpback whales have died in east coast waters in 2023, six near New York and New Jersey, CBS reported.
Related:
North Atlantic right whale necropsy reveals cause of death
A whale beaches in New York’s Rockaways. Why?
Ocean City (Md) cries foul on offshore wind energy amid whale deaths
What’s whacking whales off the New Jersey coast?
Noaa Fisheries is investigating the cause of such “unusual mortality events”, data for which has been collected since 2016.
Conservatives and some conservationist activists attribute the rise in deaths to increasing offshore wind projects, calling on federal authorities to do more to protect the coastline.
But federal officials have pushed back against claims that wind turbines are to blame, saying evidence does not support the contention wind energy projects cause whale fatalities.
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By Megan VerHelst, Patch Staff
NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ — Gov. Phil Murphy on Wednesday announced the state will move up its goal to reach 100 percent clean energy by 15 years — an initiative that will also require new cars sold in the state to be all-electric by 2035.
Murphy made the announcement during a speech at Rutgers University. The decision to move the state’s 100 percent clean energy goal from 2050 to 2035 was among six environmental actions Murphy plans to enact to achieve the “Next New Jersey,” he said.
“These bold targets and carefully crafted initiatives signal our unequivocal commitment to swift and concrete climate action today,” Murphy said in a statement. “We’ve turned our vision for a greener tomorrow into a responsible and actionable roadmap to guide us, and it’s through that pragmatic, evidence-based approach that we will ultimately arrive at our destination.”
Related:
NJ will target 100% clean energy 15 years ahead of schedule
Murphy’s clean-energy plans labeled ‘unrealistic’ by GOP Senate leaders
Murphy signed three executive orders Wednesday aimed at combatting climate change. Among the state’s goal to reach 100 percent clean energy by 2035, one order calls for the installation of zero-emission heating and cooling systems in 10 percent of all low-to-moderate income residential properties by 2030.
Another order calls for the state Board of Public Utilities to research the possibility of a natural gas utility in New Jersey.
The move to require all-electric cars by 2035 is among some of the most aggressive actions taken to tackle climate change in the nation.
In August, California Gov. Gavin Newsom officially banned the sale of new gasoline-powered cars in the Golden State by 2035. The mandate requires all new vehicles to have zero emissions and be free of fossil fuel emissions.
The California Air Resources Board will require 35 percent of new passenger vehicles sold in the state by 2026 to produce zero emissions. By 2030, that number will climb to 68 percent.
Read the full story here
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In NJ, Gov. Murphy calls for all-electric cars,100-percent clean energy by 2035 Read More »
By Matthew Fazelpoor, NJBIZ February 15, 2023, 7:43 am
The Garden State was awarded more than $66 million in grants on Feb. 13 from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to address emerging contaminants in the state’s drinking water.
The funding comes from the EPA’s Emerging Contaminants in Small or Disadvantaged Communities Grant Program via the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). The effort promotes access to safe and clean water in small, rural, and disadvantaged communities while supporting local economies.
What are contaminants of emerging concern?
The $66.1 million the state received was part of a $2 billion round of funding allotted by the EPA, which they said can be used to prioritize infrastructure and source water treatment for pollutants, such as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and other emerging contaminants, and to conduct water quality testing.
Related:
Study Finds PFAS At 95% Of Surveyed Landfills
Some States Not Waiting On Feds To Address PFAS
‘Unprecedented’ PFAS Drinking Water Standard is under review in PA
Gov. Phil Murphy said that the allocation demonstrates a shared commitment to clean water and healthy environments, thanking the state’s congressional delegation for their efforts to help secure the funding.
“New Jersey can now double its efforts to protect our children and families from emerging contaminants like PFAS,” said Murphy. “These efforts will prove especially vital for our state’s rural and underserved communities, which deserve equitable and reliable access to safe water regardless of their zip code.”
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NJ receives $66M in federal funds to combat emerging contaminants in drinking water Read More »
By Michelle Lewis, Electrek
Wind turbine giant Siemens Gamesa announced on February 13 that it’s going to build a large offshore wind nacelle factory in New York State – giving the fledgling yet mushrooming US offshore wind industry yet another boost.
A nacelle is the housing on top of a wind turbine’s tower that contains the rotor and generator. It contains all the major components, including the gearbox, control electronics, and braking system.
New York State Offshore Wind Energy Projects
Ørsted and Eversource are going to use Siemens Gamesa wind turbines when they build the 130-megawatt (MW) South Fork, New York’s first offshore wind farm, and also the 924 MW Sunrise Wind, which is also in New York.
The factory will be sited at the Port of Coeymans, a fairly new marine terminal on the Hudson River, about 10 miles south of Albany. It will result in a $500 million investment in the region and will create around 420 direct jobs and a large number of indirect jobs.
The factory is subject to the company’s wind turbines being selected in New York State’s third offshore wind auction.
The 3D visualization of the facility is pictured above.
It would supply components for all Siemens Gamesa offshore wind power projects along the US East Coast.
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New York State is getting a big offshore wind factory (maybe) Read More »
Emissions rise from the smokestacks at a coal fired power plant near Emmett, Kansas in September, 2022 Associated Press
By Lylla Younes, Grist
Thousands of employees of the Environmental Protection Agency are lobbying this week for Congress to address staffing issues that they say are limiting their ability to meaningfully carry out the Biden administration’s ambitious climate goals.
Leaders of AFGE Council 238, a union representing roughly half of the EPA’s 14,000-member workforce, said in a memo that non-competitive salaries and a lack of career development opportunities are fueling attrition and overburdening staff. Congress could address these issues by expanding the EPA’s funding in the annual appropriations legislation, which it will write later this year. Failure to do so, the union warned, will jeopardize the implementation of President Joe Biden’s two major legislative achievements — the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law of 2021 and the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.
Union leaders began briefing members of Congress about the situation on Monday, presenting them with a series of demands that include the creation of a more robust promotion structure and the development of a program to support equity and inclusion. Staffers are also planning a rally at EPA headquarters on Wednesday.
Sources familiar with the EPA’s workforce told Grist that the actions on Capitol Hill this week have been a long time coming.
The EPA has spent the past six years embroiled in multiple crises. Hundreds of senior staff members departed after former President Donald Trump rolled back dozens of environmental safeguards, creating gaps in institutional knowledge that continue to haunt the agency today. The COVID-19 pandemic further hobbled enforcement programs, as on-the-ground inspection rates for power plants, refineries, and other pollution sources plunged.
Now, the threat of climate change is expanding the EPA’s mission in a way that Congress could not have imagined when the agency was founded in the early 1970s. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act will require staff members to dole out billions of dollars in grants to state and local initiatives and expand its Superfund cleanup program to protect communities of color living near sites of uncontrolled contamination. The agency will take on these efforts at the same time as it fulfills its regular statutory duties, which include developing complicated new rules to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from power plants and vehicles and increasing enforcement efforts to ensure companies are abiding by those regulations. But staffing levels have not kept up with these expanded duties.
Today, the workforce is around the size that it was under President Ronald Reagan in the 1980s. The AFGE has said that the agency will need 20,000 full-time staff, a 40 percent increase, to carry out the programs it has been tasked with.
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Staffing crisis clashes with EPA’s expanded mission Read More »
