Don’t miss climate news like this Click for updates
If you liked these posts you’ll love our daily 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.
| By Matthew Choi, Politico Morning Energy New Jersey is trying to recreate California’s aggressive framework for electrifying commercial trucks — and in only a fraction of the time, reports Pro’s Ry Rivard. What took California several years, New Jersey wants to emulate in several months, but truck manufacturers are calling it an unrealistic plan that would be ineffective at best and financially punishing at worst. Still, Trenton asserts that ambitious action is necessary to cut down on greenhouse gases and local pollution that causes thousands of hospitalizations per year. And to pull it off would be a huge win for California in leading the national charge to lower vehicle emissions. Related electric truck news: Why the grid is ready for fleets of electric trucks Amazon’s Move to Electric Trucks Is a Very Big Deal What’s cool about Ford’s historic Electric F-150 DOE Announces $162 Million to Decarbonize Cars and Trucks California approved new rules last summer to require big truck manufacturers to sell more diesel-free buses, delivery vans, and semi-trucks. It hopes to force about a third of new trucks to be electric by 2030, with even tougher goals afterward. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection unveiled its own version of the rule this spring and wants it adopted by the end of the year, with gradual increases in electric truck sales requirements starting in 2025. If New Jersey pulls it off, it’ll be a testament to the climate commitment Gov. Phil Murphy communicated when he said in 2017 that the state could become “the California of the East Coast.” |
 New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy. | Noah K. Murray/AP Photo |
Critics say it isn’t enough to mandate electric trucks into the market. Consumers and manufacturers need incentives to cover the significant upfront costs of electric trucks (though the long-run costs in maintenance and repairs are lower than for conventional vehicles). A large proportion of commercial trucks in the state also come from elsewhere, and charging stations aren’t at a scale that could support a mass conversion to EVs. New Jersey is attempting to remedy those concerns. The Board of Public Utilities and Murphy have pushed for more electrification infrastructure, and the state has a $15 million pilot program offering buyers $100,000 per truck. California has been pushing ahead of federal regulations on tailpipe emissions under EPA-contingent waivers allowed by the Clean Air Act, hoping other states will adopt its rules. Mary Nichols, who previously led the California Air Resources Board, said other states signing on to California’s regulation model could help the Golden State make its case to EPA that the trucking industry needs to be pushed into change quickly. “If California is alone against the auto companies in front of EPA in a contentious waiver proceeding, it’s helpful to have other states say we want what California’s got,” Nichols told Ry. Read Ry’s full dive into the New Jersey electric truck push here. (Subscription) If you liked this post you’ll love our daily 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. |
New Jersey: The California of the East Coast? Read More »
By Jennifer Jean Miller, Patch Staff
NEW JERSEY — Are you seeking an outdoor getaway overnight, weekend, or week adventure this summer but want something that’s a step up from camping, surrounded by more of the comforts of home?
Stepping out into the woods or even camping near the beach doesn’t mean you have to rough it.
Many campgrounds these days aren’t just about hitting the outdoors without luxuries.
The camping franchise KOA differentiates camping from glamping, or “glamorous camping,” with the latter having accommodations that are a step up, depending on what you want, whether it’s a private bath, electricity, TV, comfortable furniture, air conditioning in the summers and heat when it’s cooler, kitchenettes, Wi-Fi, restaurants on-site and more.
Deluxe cabins, cottages, teepees, treehouses and yurts – a circular tent – are among some of the more upscale glamping places to stay.
Don’t miss outdoor news like this Click for updates
The New Jersey Campground Owners Association is a resource for campgrounds of all kinds throughout New Jersey, with their website at: GoCampingNJ.com.
Related story: Six suggested hiking spots to explore in PA this summer
Where in New Jersey can a person find a glamping location? Here are just a few of the many glampgrounds in the Garden State:
King Nummy Trail Campground, Cape May – The campground boasts cabins that sleep up to four, with bunk beds, a futon, air conditioning, a mini-fridge, and a private toilet. There’s a charcoal grill, fire ring, porch, and picnic table. Their one-bedroom for up to six guests includes a full-size bed and screened-in porch, as well as a kitchen and private bath with shower. Even their “rustic” cottage for up to four guests, has AC, a porch, picnic table, fire ring, and grill.
Ditch the pup tent. Go ‘glamping’ In New Jersey this summer Read More »
Summer is here in Pennsylvania, and it is peak season out on the labyrinthine network of trails that rope across the state. Here’s a rundown of some of the most beautiful places to get out and wander in the Keystone State.
The Appalachian Trail
As one of the nation’s longest and oldest thru-hiking trails, this Maine to Georgia circuit may seem far-flung and inaccessible. However, one of the most notorious stretches of the AT runs right through the heart of Pennsylvania, within less than a two-hour drive of Philadelphia and much of the suburbs.
It’s notorious because, for those making the long trek up the length of the East Coast, the uneven, hilly, rocky terrain makes for slow and sometimes torturous going. However, for the day-hiker looking to experience a piece of one of the nation’s gems without committing to a months-long journey, there are several highlights along the route.
Related: Ditch the pup tent. Go ‘glamping’ In New Jersey this summer
One of them is doubtlessly Pine Grove Furnace State Park in Cumberland County. Located at the northern tip of the Blue Ridge Mountains, the parkland and trail are buffered by a large swath of majestic state forest land. The sense of wilderness is complete. And the Appalachian Trail cuts across the middle of it.
The first hiking museum in the United States — the Appalachian Trail Museum — is also located within the park.
Delaware Water Gap
The Appalachian Trail continues at a northeast angle and ultimately bisects another of the region’s natural treasures — the National Park Service’s Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area — along the Delaware River on the border with New Jersey.
While the AT itself is plenty spectacular here, running along the Kittatinny Ridge and crossing footbridges high over wide-open gorges, some of the most unique day hikes are to be found in the dells and small valleys heading away from the river. Dramatic canyons and paths lined by creeks and waterfalls are abundant here; one of the most majestic is the route along Dunnfield Creek.
Pennsylvania’s Grand Canyon
Pine Creek Gorge on the Allegheny Plateau is sometimes referred to as the “Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania” for its sweeping views and majestic, leafy valleys. Colton State Park and Little Pine State Park are nearby and offer camping, while much of the region is protected as part of Tioga State Forest.
For hikers, one of the most scenic routes is the Turkey Path, accessible from Leonard Harrison State Park. It winds past waterfalls and all the dramatic vistas for which the area is famous.
Wissahickon Valley in Philadelphia
A few steps from any trailhead in the Wissahickon, and you instantly forget that you are actually within the city limits of one of the major metropolitan areas on the East Coast. Dense woods line either side of the meandering Wissahickon Creek.
Don’t miss outdoor stories like this Click for updates
Six suggested hiking spots to explore in PA this summer Read More »
The United States and Mexico are tussling over their dwindling shared water supplies after years of unprecedented heat and insufficient rainfall.
From The Conversation
Sustained drought on the middle-lower Rio Grande since the mid-1990s means less Mexican water flows to the U.S. The Colorado River Basin, which supplies seven U.S. states and two Mexican states, is also at record low levels.
A 1944 treaty between the U.S. and Mexico governs water relations between the two neighbors. The International Boundary and Water Commission it established to manage the 450,000-square-mile Colorado and Rio Grande basins has done so adroitly, according to our research.
That able management kept U.S.-Mexico water relations mostly conflict-free. But it masked some well-known underlying stresses: a population boom on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border, climate change and aging waterworks.
Related environmental news stories:
Many reservoirs in the West are at or approaching historic low levels
As scorching as it’s been, a new heatwave is building across the West
1944 to 2021
The mostly semiarid U.S.-Mexico border region receives less than 18 inches of annual rainfall, with large areas getting under 12 inches. That’s less than half the average annual rainfall in the U.S., which is mainly temperate.
The 1940s, however, were a time of unusual water abundance on the treaty rivers. When American and Mexican engineers drafted the 1944 water treaty, they did not foresee today’s prolonged megadrought.
Nor did they anticipate the region’s rapid growth. Since 1940 the population of the 10 largest pairs of cities that straddle the U.S.-Mexico border has mushroomed nearly twentyfold, from 560,000 people to some 10 million today.
This growth is powered by a booming, water-dependent manufacturing industry in Mexico that exports products to U.S. markets. Irrigated agriculture, ranching, and mining compete with growing cities and expanding industry for scarce water.
Today, there’s simply not enough of it to meet demand in the border areas governed by the 1944 treaty.
Three times since 1992 Mexico has fallen short of its five-year commitment to send 1.75 million acre-feet of water across the border to the U.S. Each acre-foot can supply a U.S. family of four for one year.
In the fall of 2020, a crisis erupted in the Rio Grande Valley after years of rising tensions and sustained drought that endanger crops and livestock in both the U.S. and Mexico.
In September 2020, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott declared that “Mexico owes Texas a year’s worth of Rio Grande water.” The next month, workers in Mexico released water from a dammed portion of Mexico’s Río Conchos destined to flow across the border to partially repay Mexico’s 345,600-acre-foot water debt to the U.S.
Frustrated farmers and protesters in the Mexican state of Chihuahua clashed with Mexican soldiers sent to protect the workers. A 35-year-old farmer’s wife and mother of three was killed.
Mexico also agreed to transfer its stored water at Amistad Dam to the U.S., fulfilling its obligation just three days before its Oct. 25, 2020, deadline. That decision satisfied its water debt to the U.S. under the 1944 treaty but jeopardized the supply of more than a million Mexicans living downstream of Amistad Dam in the Mexican states of Coahuila and Tamaulipas.
The U.S. and Mexico pledged to revisit the treaty’s Rio Grande water rules in 2023.
The drought dilemma on the Colorado River is similarly dire. The water level at Lake Mead, a major reservoir for communities in the Lower Colorado River Basin, has dropped nearly 70% over 20 years, threatening the water supply of Arizona, California, and Nevada.
In 2017, the U.S. and Mexico signed a temporary “shortage-sharing solution.” That agreement, forged under the authority of the 1944 treaty, allowed Mexico to store part of its treaty water in U.S. reservoirs upstream.
If you liked this post you’ll love our daily 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.
US-Mexico relations strained by ‘megadrought’ along the border Read More »
By Diana Leonard, Laris Karklis, and Zach Levitt Washington Post
Reservoir levels are dropping throughout the West, as the drought tightens its grip on the region and intense summer heat further stresses both water supply and the surrounding landscape. Many reservoirs are at or approaching historic low levels due to lackluster rainy seasons combined with increasing temperatures due to climate change.
The drought crisis is perhaps most apparent in the Colorado River basin, which saw one of its driest years on record, following two decades of less-than-adequate flows. The nation’s largest reservoir, Lake Mead near Las Vegas, is at its lowest level since the lake was filled after the construction of the Hoover Dam in the 1930s; it currently sits at 1,069 feet above sea level, or 35 percent of its total capacity. It supplies water to Arizona, Nevada, California, and Mexico.
Related environmental news stories:
As scorching as it’s been, a new heatwave is building across the Western U.S.
Further upstream, Lake Powell, which feeds Lake Mead, is at only 34 percent of its total capacity. By next spring, Lake Powell is projected to hit its lowest level since it was filled in 1964, possibly jeopardizing its ability to generate power.
Amid a warm spring and early-season heat, mountain snowpack never made it into rivers and reservoirs — it simply seeped into bone-dry soils or sublimated directly into the atmosphere. This kind of reduced runoff “efficiency” is expected in a warming climate, and it contributed to the quickly intensifying drought this year in California and other states.
“The reservoir levels in the second year of this drought are what they were during the third or fourth year of the previous drought,” said Jay Lund, a professor and water resources expert at the University of California at Davis.
If you liked this post you’ll love our daily 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.
