EnviroPolitics Blog

New Jersey utility rate counsel suggests state slow down the pace of offshore wind development

By Tom Johnson, NJ Spotlight

Offshore wind farms in New Jersey should consider scaling back how much new offshore wind capacity is approved next year because economic and financial uncertainties could lead to higher prices, according to the Division of Rate Counsel.

Rate Counsel Director Brian Lipman suggested slowing down the pace of offshore wind development as higher interest rates, supply chain disruptions, and inflationary pressures are causing some developers to seek to renegotiate the contracts they have been awarded to build wind farms.

“This is of great concern,’’ Lipman told the staff of the state Board of Public Utilities Tuesday during a stakeholder meeting. The board was meeting to discuss making a third solicitation for offshore wind projects early next year. Lipman suggested that the board’s staff develop guidelines to prevent after-the-fact increases to contracts awarded to developers.

Ørsted, the developer of New Jersey’s first offshore wind farm about 15 miles off Atlantic City, has acknowledged it is not earning what it expected on its U.S. projects. If the company seeks to renegotiate its contract, it must file a petition with the BPU, Lipman said.

“Ratepayers simply cannot afford drastically higher electric bills,’’ he said. Utility customers already have been hit with steep increases this winter in their heating bills because of the rising costs of natural gas. Monthly bills increased for the state’s four gas utilities from 15% to as much as 24% this fall.

Read the full story here

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Plot disrupted to overthrow German government

From ABC News

The German police have confiscated guns, swords, and night vision equipment and made arrests after they broke up an alleged plot to overthrow the government.

From the New York Times

Far-Right Group Suspected in German Plot Gained Strength From QAnon

The Reichsbürger movement accused of plotting to overthrow Germany’s government picked up momentum from conspiracy theories that grew during the pandemic.

Police officers outside a residence they raided on Wednesday to halt what the authorities said was a plan to storm the German Capitol and execute the chancellor.Credit…Carsten Koall/Getty Images

By Katrin Bennhold and Erika Solomon, New York Times

Published Dec. 8, 2022Updated Dec. 9, 2022, 10:09 a.m. ET

BERLIN — A ragtag band that had been dismissed as wacky and harmless gadflies, the Reichsbürger, or Citizens of the Reich, has tilted at windmills on Germany’s far-right political fringe for decades.

But after the authorities accused members of plotting to overthrow the government and kill the chancellor, a sharply different view of the obscure group emerged Thursday: as a serious terrorist threat, supercharged by conspiracy theories about the coronavirus and vaccines.

Among the 25 members of the cell arrested this week were a judge, a doctor, a cook, a pilot, a classical tenor and three police officers, officials said. At least 15 had links to the military, including former or current soldiers and two reservists with access to weapons. The arrests put Germany on high alert and, after months of surveillance, set off one of the biggest anti-terrorist crackdowns in German postwar history.

Read the full story here

From NBC News

Germany arrests dozens in suspected pot

By Andy Eckardt and Patrick Smith

MAINZ, Germany — Authorities in Germany arrested 25 people Wednesday who are suspected of planning to violently overthrow the government in a far-right extremist plot.

More than 3,000 police officers, including special forces members, made 130 early morning searches across 11 of Germany’s 16 federal states in one of the biggest counterterrorism operations in the country’s history.

Suspects from the so-far-unnamed group include a nobleman with a historic royal title and various armed forces veterans. It is centered on the so-called Reichsbürger, or Reich Citizens, movement, which is motivated by conspiracy theories about the role and the legitimacy of the modern German state.

Read the full story here

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A Bitter Victory

A Bitter Victory Read More »

Environmental bills up for votes in the NJ Senate on November 21, 2022

*Senate Chamber, in session, at the New Jersey Legislative State House*

Senate: Board List For 11-21-22 (Second Revision)

S2619 – Excludes solid waste, recycling, fuel, and certain insurance costs from appropriations cap for certain local units.

S3114 – Eliminates the prohibition on paper bags, and allows packaging options, for certain grocery orders for three years; requires program for disposition of reusable bags; extends timeframe for use of certain bags by food banks and pantries.

S3249 – Amends lists of projects eligible to receive loans for environmental infrastructure projects from NJ Infrastructure Bank for FY2023.

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A1438 – Increases maximum penalty for certain violations concerning asbestos hazard abatement; allocates money from increased penalties to asbestos programs.

S2196 – Increases maximum penalty for certain violations concerning asbestos hazard abatement; allocates money from increased penalties to asbestos programs.

A3444 – Establishes Organic Farming Board in t Department of Agriculture.

S3140 – Establishes Organic Farming Board in Department of Agriculture.

For complete details, log on to www.GovNetNJ.com.
If you have any questions or need assistance, please call 1-800-GOVNET-9.

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‘The public had to know,’ says NJ veterans’ home whistleblower

By BRENDA FLANAGAN, NJ Spotlight News

“The public had to know. This had to be out in the media. And it worked,” said whistleblower Dave Ofshinsky, the former business manager at the state-run veterans home in Paramus.

Ofshinsky contacted news reporters about the chaos, lack of management, and death overwhelming the vets’ home in April 2020, when COVID-19 roared through the facility, killing up to seven residents a day. Ofshinsky said the home needs new management instead of being run by officials from the New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans Affairs.

Some state senators apparently agree and will meet on Monday to brainstorm a solution, said Sen. Patrick Diegnan. “No doubt about it, we need to do the post-mortem, but also more importantly we’ve got to fix this thing and we’ve got to fix it ASAP,” Diegnan said.

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EPA to host Dec. 1 virtual meeting for Allentown (Pa) residents on health risks from ethylene oxide

From the EPA Press Office

PHILADELPHIA (Nov. 18, 2022) — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will host a virtual community meeting for residents of Allentown, Pennsylvania, to share information about health risks from the chemical, ethylene oxide, or EtO. The community meeting will take place virtually on December 1 at 6 p.m. During the meeting, EPA staff will discuss revised risk information related to the B. Braun commercial sterilizer facility, located at 901 Marcon Blvd. in Allentown.

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Later this year, EPA expects to propose an air pollution regulation to protect public health by addressing EtO emissions at commercial sterilizers. EPA is sharing EtO emissions data and information with the public to solicit feedback. The agency aims to improve public understanding of the risk; help states, Tribes, communities and the industry reduce risk from EtO in the near term; and hear input as the agency continues to develop regulations to reduce air pollution from commercial sterilizers.

EPA will be joined by federal and state environmental and health officials to address questions, comments, and concerns from the public, including Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection staff who will discuss work they are doing in partnership with B. Braun to reduce emissions and risk.

A Spanish-speaking interpreter will be available. To register for this virtual meeting, visit:

For more information about the EPA’s efforts to address ethylene oxide.

If you liked this post you will 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. No obligation.

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