Early June marks the start of blueberry season in Hammonton, NJ, which locals have dubbed the Blueberry Capital of the World. Members of the Consalo Family Farm, in business since 1927, are working seven days a week on their 1500-acre property to get their berries to market.
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A coal barge heads up the Ohio River from the Kentucky’s Hugh L. Spurlock Generating Station, a 1.3-gigawatt coal power plant. (Jeff Swensen/Getty Images)
On Wednesday, the U.S. EPA proposed repealing Biden administration rules that limit toxic pollutants and planet-warming emissions from coal and gas plants nationwide. These plants “do not contribute significantly” to “dangerous” air pollution, the EPA claimed — something that many, many studies have shown isn’t true. Power plants are the second-largest source of carbon emissions, and they’re responsible for a lot of health-harming pollutants like sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and mercury, too.
When the Biden administration first announced the rules last year, the EPA estimated they would stem 1.38 billion metric tons of carbon pollution through 2047. That’s the equivalent of taking 328 million gas cars off the road for a year, and amounts to an estimated $370 billion in climate and public health benefits.
Those benefits would’ve helped communities surrounding gas and coal plants around the U.S., according to the Sierra Club’s Trump Coal Pollution Dashboard. For example, Montana’s Colstrip 3 plant would have to reduce its toxic pollution under the Mercury and Air Toxics Standard, while a slew of plants across the Midwest and Southwest would have to install carbon-capture systems or shut down under the greenhouse gas rules.
The changes will allow coal plants around the country to keep burning. In North Dakota, some state officials are celebrating what they say is a big step toward protecting jobs and the coal industry. But in Georgia, health advocates and scientists warn the preservation of coal plants in their state will fall hard on vulnerable communities, especially those surrounding the facilities.
Still, none of this is set in stone. The EPA’s proposals are vulnerable to several legal pitfalls, including challenges involving the Clean Air Act, the agency’s insistence that power plants don’t produce “significant” emissions, and the health, economic, and other costs of increasing pollution, E&E News reports. Analysts with TD Cowen expect the EPA to finalize the rules by early next year, but say legal challenges and uncertainty will continue through all of 2026.
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Suspended or floating aquaculture systems utilize hanging bags, cages, and/or floats on or near surface waters. Photo Credit – Lisa Calvo
By the New Jersey Senate Democrats
TRENTON – The Senate Budget and Appropriations has advanced legislation sponsored by Senators Bob Smith and Linda-R-Greenstein which would require the promotion and advertisement of aquaculture products that are produced in the state as part of the Jersey Fresh program.
“New Jersey has a vibrant and growing aquaculture industry which deserves just as much support as our other food production industries,” said Senator Smith (D-Middlesex/Somerset), Chair of the Senate Environment and Energy Committee. “This bill will ensure that they are a part of our state’s efforts to promote other locally grown and harvested products and, in doing so, help to ensure the industry can continue to thrive, create jobs, and feed New Jerseyans.”
The bill, S216, would require the Department of Agriculture to develop and implement, as a part of the already existing Jersey Fresh program, a program to advertise and promote aquaculture products produced in the state, such as fish and shellfish.
“Aquaculture is a part of New Jersey’s heritage, and I am glad that over the past two decades the industry has been revitalized and is once again thriving,” said Senator Greenstein (D-Middlesex/Mercer). “By promoting aquaculture as part of our Jersey Fresh program, we can better support the industry’s growth and make sure New Jerseyans are aware of their local foods.”
Additionally, the legislation would provide an annual appropriation of $25,000 to effectuate the advertisement and promotion of New Jersey’s aquaculture projects. This appropriation would be in addition to any other funds appropriated or allocated to the Jersey Fresh program.
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The New Jersey DEP says its proposed NJPACT REAL rules will lessen the dangers of flooding like the Atlantic City street scene above. Shore businesses say it’s overkill.
By Bill Barlow, Atlantic City Press
The public comment period ended last year, but a war of words continues on proposed rules for New Jersey coastal development, designed to respond to a warming planet and rising sea levels.
A coalition of environmental organizations wants to make sure Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy gets the controversial rules in place as proposed by the end of his term and cited the potential for significant cuts to disaster response under President Donald Trump as adding to the urgency.
In a May 29 letter to Murphy, signed by the leadership of 16 New Jersey groups, they cited the work that went into the NJPACT REAL rules, developed by the state Department of Environmental Protection after a 2019 executive order from Murphy.
“These rules have been developed for more than four years with input from a wide range of stakeholders, including municipalities, advocates, scientists, and planners,” the letter reads. “They represent the best available science and standards to help New Jersey prepare for the future that is already upon us — one marked by rising sea levels, worsening storms, and growing threats to our communities.”
Short for NJ Protecting Against Climate Threats Resilient Environments and Landscapes, is different from local construction codes or federal flood zones because the rules look at projected future impacts from climate change.
As proposed, the rules would apply to new construction or substantial improvements, not to exiting structures. Homes, hospitals, businesses and critical infrastructure would need to be built taller, among other changes proposed.
The rules create an inundation risk zone, addressing the risk to homes and infrastructure from more frequent flooding, as well as adjusting coastal flood hazard areas and encouraging nature-based solutions, such as favoring living shoreline projects over extending seawalls.
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On a recent weekday morning in Narberth, young parents nursed babies outside of coffee shops and local stores swung open their doors for customers. The 4,400-resident borough’s downtown corridor was quiet and charming — a trademark of the Main Line that has drawn suburban dwellers and visitors for decades.
In Narberth and its neighboring Main Line communities, stakeholders in recent years have pushed to embrace transit-oriented development, a model that encourages building retail, restaurants, offices, residential buildings, and parks in a walkable environment, close to public transit. In Narberth and Lower Merion, this has meant proximity to SEPTA’s Paoli/Thorndale Line and the four bus lines — the 44, 52, 103, and 106 — that run through the area.
Such revitalization efforts have helped bring multifamily housing and new businesses to Ardmore. In Narberth, the planning commission last month heard input on various transit-oriented development possibilities. In Malvern, also along the Paoli/Thorndale line, mixed-use development has brought in a “mini renaissance.”
Advocates say transit-oriented development has brought diversity, density, and economic vibrancy to formerly exclusive and sleepy downtown corners.
Yet potential cuts to SEPTA would mean the elimination of the Paoli/Thorndale Line, which has stops in many Main Line towns, and of all four bus routes that service Lower Merion and Narberth. With key train and bus routes on the chopping block, questions loom over the future of development in communities that have bet on building around transit.
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Cape May County’s iconic Grassy Sound Fishing Pier is back and better than ever — just in time for the summer season.
County Director Len Desiderio and the Board of County Commissioners will cut the ribbon on the newly rebuilt pier at 10 a.m. Friday, June 13. The ceremony will take place at 13 Old North Wildwood Blvd. East, next to the Grassy Sound Marina in Middle Township.
The beloved fishing and crabbing spot had been closed for nearly three years due to safety concerns. In 2024, county commissioners approved a rehabilitation project not to exceed $2.98 million.
The new pier features a rebuilt bulkhead, lighting upgrades, better parking, new signage, and improved ADA access — while keeping the tradition of free public fishing and crabbing alive.
Built on the remains of the original Grassy Sound Bridge, the pier has served as a community hub for local anglers and families for generations.
Middle Township, which has leased and managed the site since 2007, will continue to provide maintenance under a Shared Services Agreement with the county.
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