EnviroPolitics Blog

If you can’t stand the heat, stay off the beach

New Jersey is warming faster than any other state in the Northeast, officials say. But water quality is excellent, welcoming the state’s annual horde of shore visitors

*The ocean horizon is clear on Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Long Beach Township, N.J. (AP Photo/Wayne Parry)*

Heading into the long Memorial Day weekend, which marks the unofficial start of summer, New Jersey’s environmental officials had some good news for beachgoers.

“Our water quality along our coastal communities is excellent and ready for our visitors,” said New Jersey Commissioner of Environmental Protection Shawn LaTourette.

LaTourette spoke at the release of the annual “State of the Shore” report in Asbury Park Thursday after an early morning observational flight along the coast. DEP officials began testing water at the state’s ocean beaches, lakes and rivers in mid-May and will continue to do so until mid-September.

But LaTourette also raised warnings about the impact of climate change on public health.

“As we head out to enjoy our beaches or our lakefronts and our rivers, it’s important to remember that last year was the hottest year on record,” LaTourette said. “And we expect more extreme heat to exacerbate health conditions.”

LaTourette said the state is working on an extreme heat action plan as climate change is bringing more flooding and high temperatures to the Garden State. Hurricane season is also expected to break records this year.

New Jersey is warming faster than any other state in the Northeast, according to scientists with the New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium, a collaboration of academic institutions and organizations that research and monitor the marine environment. New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium publishes the annual report.

Click to read the full story

If you liked this post, you’ll love our daily environmental newsletter, EnviroPolitics. It’s packed daily with the latest news, commentary, and legislative updates from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, Delaware…and beyond. Please do not take our word for it, try it free for an entire month. No obligation.

If you can’t stand the heat, stay off the beach Read More »

More deceptions from the fossil fuel industry

By DESMOG

DeSmog continues to reveal more deceptions by the fossil fuel industry from a trove of documents released during last month’s congressional probe of the industry. And in a major development this week, leaders of the probe called on the Department of Justice to investigate Big Oil’s decades-long climate disinformation campaigns and take any necessary legal action, much as the government did with the tobacco and pharmaceutical industries.

We’ll keep our eyes on developments for you as more and more internal records are released.

DeSmog’s Cartie Werthman delved into the congressional-probe documents to show greenwashing at work. While ExxonMobil touted carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects in numerous ad campaigns, internal documents show that behind the scenes, the company actually saw a “limited” role for the technology to combat climate change.

“In 2018, while ExxonMobil was employing advertising firms to loudly tout their CCS efforts as evidence that ExxonMobil is participating in the energy transition in good faith and that CCS was an extremely valuable tool to mitigate climate change, they internally believed CCS to be a mediocre-at-best contributor to carbon sequestration,” Lindsey Gulden, a data scientist formerly employed by ExxonMobil who reviewed the internal documents, told DeSmog.

Exxon’s role in greenwashing carbon capture comes as no surprise. This week, the only climate scientist on the company’s board is stepping down with nothing to show for broader hopes that she would make the company rethink its climate approach. Our story reignites debate about the role of a scientist on the board of a major oil company with a legacy of spreading science denial and ignoring internal expertise.

More deceptions from the fossil fuel industry Read More »

‘Batten down the hatches.’ Nasty hurricane season predicted

NOAA outlook predicts 17 to 25 tropical storms, eight to 13 hurricanes and four to seven “major” hurricanes

By Scott Dance, The Washington Post

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration warned Thursday that the United States could face one of its worst hurricane seasons in two decades as the agency issued its most aggressive outlook ever.

Government meteorologists predicted 17 to 25 tropical storms and said eight to 13 of them are likely to become hurricanes, including four to seven “major” hurricanes. The forecast underscores how record-hot ocean temperatures have increased the risk of destructive weather.

“This season is looking to be an extraordinary one,” NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad said.

Tropical activity could outpace even a record flurry of storms in 2005, perhaps starting earlier and persisting even longer. That May, warm waters across the tropical Atlantic Ocean prompted warnings of an active hurricane season, but the season exceeded all expectations with a record-smashing 28 storms and seven major hurricanes, including Hurricane Katrina.

Click to read the full story

‘Batten down the hatches.’ Nasty hurricane season predicted Read More »

Nippon Steel exec confident in $14.9B takeover of U.S. Steel

By EVAN ROBINSON-JOHNSON, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Despite the uncertainty swirling around a once-in-a-generation steel acquisition that has Japanese investors and the American politico on the edge of their seats, Takahiro Mori remains “excited about the future.”

“I don’t care about the noises or criticism, because I’m very confident that our deal is the best,” he said Wednesday during a lengthy sit-down interview with the Post-Gazette.

Mr. Mori is the Nippon Steel executive charged with landing the $14.9 billion takeover of U.S. Steel, first announced in December, which has attracted sharp rebuke from all levels of government, and continued barbs from a union unswayed by the Japanese steelmaker’s overtures.

During a wide-ranging conversation, Mr. Mori addressed the political challenges to sealing the deal and shed new light on the negotiations so far. He also divulged details on talks with the Japanese government and discussed how relocating Nippon Steel North America’s headquarters from Houston to Pittsburgh will benefit the state economy.

The move isn’t just symbolic, Mr. Mori said.

“We have eight companies in the United States, and [Nippon Steel North America] is a holding company. That means all the federal taxes are currently going to Texas, but now are coming here.”

Mr. Mori said he personally offered that incentive to Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.

“‘Can you commit it,’ he asked me, and I answered, ‘Yes, I’m the man that determines such kinds of things,’ ” Mr. Mori said. “He appreciated that.”

Click to read the full story

Nippon Steel exec confident in $14.9B takeover of U.S. Steel Read More »

Biden releasing 1M barrels of NJ gas to lower summer pump prices

By Nicole Rosenthal, Patch Staff, May 22, 2024

NEW JERSEY — The Biden administration plans to sell one million barrels of gasoline from two reserves — including one in New Jersey — in order to lower gas prices for American motorists ahead of the summer, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

New Jersey’s own Port Reading reserve will be supplying 900,000 barrels of fuel, with Maine’s South Portland reserve providing the additional 98,824 barrels. The gasoline sale is intended to create a bidding process that ensures fuel will be sold at competitive prices at local retailers ahead of the July 4 weekend.

“The Biden-Harris Administration is laser focused on lowering prices at the pump for American families, especially as drivers hit the road for summer driving season,” U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm said in a statement. “By strategically releasing this reserve in between Memorial Day and July 4th, we are ensuring sufficient supply flows to the tri-state and northeast at a time hardworking Americans need it the most.”

Bids for the sale are due by 11 a.m. Central Time on May 28. All revenues from the sale will be deposited to the U.S. Treasury. The fuel transferred or delivered on or before June 30, ensuring U.S. drivers have access to competitive prices at the pump.

Click to read the full story

Biden releasing 1M barrels of NJ gas to lower summer pump prices Read More »

Big Pharma reps get close look at horseshoe crabs spawning in NJ

Conservationists urge companies to drop testing method that uses crab blood

By Jon Hurdle, Contributing Writer, NJ Spotlight News

Officials from five major pharmaceutical companies met at a Delaware Bayshore house to hear how they can help save the horseshoe crab and to watch the annual spectacle of spawning horseshoe crabs and migrating shorebirds along a remote part of the New Jersey coastline.

The gathering on Tuesday, at Reeds Beach, Cape May County, was the first time that pharmaceutical industry officials trekked to the rural bayshore to discuss the arguments for dropping a testing method that uses the blood of horseshoe crabs, and to walk the beaches where the crabs spawn and thousands of birds feast on their eggs for a couple of weeks each spring.

Advocates for the protection of both horseshoe crabs and red knots hope that the combination of chemistry and conservation will persuade the officials to recommend the companies switch from the crab-based LAL reagent most use now to a synthetic substance called rFC when testing for endotoxins in medical products.

An industry-wide switch away from the crab-based reagent would end a significant source of demand for horseshoe crabs. That would give the ancient creatures a better chance of fully recovering from a drastic over-harvest in the late 1990s and early 2000s, when they were taken from bay beaches in huge numbers by the commercial fishing industry, which uses them for bait. The over-harvesting caused the population of red knot, a federally threatened shorebird that depends on the crab eggs, to crash, raising fears the bird would go extinct unless its favorite food source.

Click to read the full story

Big Pharma reps get close look at horseshoe crabs spawning in NJ Read More »

If you can’t stand the heat, stay off the beach

New Jersey is warming faster than any other state in the Northeast, officials say. But water quality is excellent, welcoming the state’s annual horde of shore visitors

More deceptions from the fossil fuel industry

‘Batten down the hatches.’ Nasty hurricane season predicted

NOAA outlook predicts 17 to 25 tropical storms, eight to 13 hurricanes and four to seven “major” hurricanes

Nippon Steel exec confident in $14.9B takeover of U.S. Steel

Biden releasing 1M barrels of NJ gas to lower summer pump prices

Big Pharma reps get close look at horseshoe crabs spawning in NJ

Conservationists urge companies to drop testing method that uses crab blood

Subscribe For Latest Updates