Electric car makers turn to Congress as tax credits dry up

Electric carmakers turn to Congress as tax credits dry up
Miranda Green reports for The Hill:
The future of electric cars is in Congress’s hands, with lawmakers divided over whether to extend a popular tax credit.
Electric car manufacturers are only allowed to offer a federal tax break on their first 200,000 vehicles sold under a 2009 law, and many are now hitting that cap, most notably Tesla.
That’s setting off a fight in Congress, where Democrats are eager to extend the breaks and help the growing electric car industry but Republicans hope to end what they see as an unnecessary subsidy.
“It’s crazy that we might allow the electric vehicle tax credit to run out just as the American electric vehicle market is starting to gain a foothold,” said Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), who leads a group
    of senators who introduced a bill last week that would lift the cap.

The bill, called the Electric Cars Act of 2018, is backed by Sens. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Kamala Harris(D-Calif.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.), among other Democrats.
It would extend the 2009 tax credit that helped popularize plug-in electric cars in their nascent days until December 2028.
Lawmakers are feeling intense pressure from the electric car industry to extend the 2009 tax credit.
Tesla and General Motors (GM), who are front-runners in the U.S. electric car manufacturing industry with their Model S and Chevrolet Volt vehicles, respectively, are already feeling the constraints of the cap.
Tesla announced in July that it hit its 200,000-car threshold and will start phasing back the $7,500 federal tax credit it can offer to buyers. It’s reported that GM will also hit the cap by the end of this year.
“There are projected to be over 7 million electric vehicles on our roads by 2025, and I will keep fighting in Congress to promote electric vehicles and other innovative technologies that reduce the impact of global warming and strengthen our economy,” Cortez Masto said in a statement.
A similar bill was introduced in the House in June by Reps. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) and Jackie Rosen (D-Nev.) and backed by 14 other Democrats.
Most supporters of the two bills hail from California, a state that is both Tesla’s hub and on the front lines of promoting renewable energy.
The bills to extend the tax credit also have broad support among electric car manufacturers. Automakers new to the electric car industry, like BMW and Mercedes-Benz, are poised to benefit in the short-term with Tesla and GM running out of credits. But overall there is a belief that the industry needs the tax breaks extended to keep growing.
“Electrified vehicles are a small but growing segment of our business in the U.S. so, yes, BMW does support the legislation,” said Kenn Sparks, a company spokesman.
“Electro-mobility will continue to grow in significance. In the next seven years, by 2025, BMW Group will offer 25 fully-electric and plug-in hybrid models in our worldwide lineup.”
Neither bill, though, has a Republican co-sponsor.

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With plastic bag fee vetoed, NJ lawmakers now seek a ban


Tom Johnson reports for NJ Spotlight:

The state is looking to adopt one of the nation’s most far-reaching bills to address pollution caused from plastic waste.

New Jersey lawmakers have drafted a bill to ban single-use carryout plastic bags but now want to extend the prohibition to plastic straws and polystyrene food containers.
The legislation, up for consideration in committee tomorrow, also will impose a 10-cent fee on paper bags. That step, in concert with the ban on plastic bags, will encourage consumers to switch to reusable bags and more environmentally friendly alternatives, according to proponents.
The fee on paper bags is double what shoppers would have had to pay under a bill vetoed last month by Gov. Phil Murphy. That measure would have imposed a nickel fee on both plastic and paper single-use bags.
In rejecting the legislation, Murphy said it did not go far enough in addressing the threats posed by plastic bags, which frequently litter the landscape, harm wildlife, and foul state waterways.
The proposal reflects versions of several bills pending in the Legislature for months, which emerged from a legislative hearing this summer on pollution problems caused by the proliferation of plastics. The imposition of a 10-cent fee on paper bags has made bans on plastic bags more effective where they have been imposed, according to Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club.
California and Hawaii have imposed statewide bans on plastic bags; some cities in the Garden State have banned them as well, including Jersey City and Hoboken.
“If this bill passes, it would be the most comprehensive in the nation,’’ said Kelly Mooij, a vice president of New Jersey Audubon. “In one fell swoop, we would be addressing all the major causes of plastic pollution.’’

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Bordentown’s corrosive water, a link to lead levels?

Experts and documents point toward the corrosivity of Bordentown’s water, potentially contributing to its recent
lead in water issueswater from faucet to glass blue background
Kyle Bagenstose reports for the Burlington County Times: In July 2017, the Bordentown City Water Department, which serves approximately 15,000 people in the city and neighboring Bordentown Township, made a big switch.It began pumping water from a newly drilled well near the Crosswicks Creek, and by the next month the well was supplying the majority of the water in the system, which totals about 1.5 million gallons a day.The change was a major part of a years-long, multi-million dollar effort by the city to address high levels of radionuclides in its drinking water. Since 2009, radium — a naturally occurring contaminant — had been found several times in the city’s drinking water above safety standards put in place by the federal Environmental Protection Agency. The new well is deeper, and lower in radionuclides.But within months of making the water change last year, the city had a new problem on its hands: the toxic metal lead. Water samples taken in November 2017 from 74 homes across the two towns showed that 16 of them, or 21 percent, had lead levels above the EPA’s 15 parts per billion action (ppb) level. The overall rating was 30 ppb, double the EPA’s limit.The system tested again in the first half of 2018, and found 11 of 63 homes above the action level. The overall rating was 43 ppb, or nearly triple the EPA limit.Yet a year earlier, Bordentown didn’t have a lead issue. In the fall of 2016, 30 homes were tested, and none came back above even 5 ppb. The highest amount found was just 1.6 ppb in a home on West Constitution Drive in Bordentown Township. The home was tested again in November 2017 and 3 ppb were found. By May 2018, however, lead in the home’s water increased to 15.4 ppb.Read the full storyLike this? Click to receive free updates

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NJDEP denies permit application for Transco/Williams fracked-gas compressor station, citing “deficiencies”

Fracked gas compressor station proposed for construction in Franklin Twp., NJ





Ashley Jankowski reports for TAPinto.net:

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection recently denied Transco/Williams, the permit application necessary for advancing the construction of the Northeast Supply Enhancement pipeline project.
The Northeast Supply Enhancement project (NESE) is a fracked gas pipeline that would potentially run from Raritan Bay in New Jersey to a pipeline offshore of the Rockaways in Queens, New York. It is an expansion of the preexisting Transcontinental Gas Pipeline, which brings natural gas from as far south as the Gulf Coast of Texas up to the New Jersey and New York region.
The $1 billion project includes the highly controversial construction of a compressor station on a 52-acre site in Franklin, near State Highway 27 and County Route 518.
In June, Transco/Williams submitted an application to the Division of Land Use Regulation for a series of permits, including a Flood Hazard Area Individual Permit, a Flood Hazard Area Verification, a Freshwater Wetlands Individual Permit, a Waterfront Development Permit, and a Coastal Wetland Permit. This application was first denied on July 18th, and while Transco/Williams reapplied, The Division of Land Use Regulation determined that the application still remained deficient on September 12th.
Citing the NJDEP’s deficiency letter, the New Jersey Chapter of the Sierra Club released a statement condemning the project.
“The DEP has once again found Transco’s application for water permits for their NESE project deficient,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club, in the press release. “This is because it’s a bad project and the applications are incomplete. Now we need to urge the NJDEP to throw out Transco’s application together.”
The New Jersey Sierra Club argues that the proposed compressor station would create detrimental air, water, and noise pollution in its surrounding areas, and that the pipeline poses pollution risks to New Jersey waterways, especially the Raritan Bay.
“This project would cut through the already polluted and sensitive Raritan Bay and the New York Bay,” Tittel said. “It could carry and release contaminated sediment into the environment and both bodies of water and disturb contaminated sites. When you cut through a bay like the Raritan, it has an impact on the fisheries as well as the ecology of the Bay. The fish, plants and other living creatures in the Bay would be threatened by this pipeline.”
Along with a number of other opponents to the project, the New Jersey Sierra Club also asserts that NESE would be a step backward in New Jersey and New York’s respective transitions to renewable energy.
Transco/Williams regarded the deficiency letter as “a normal part of the state’s permit application process” and that it is “common for a permit application [of] this size”.
“We continue to actively collaborate with NJDEP to satisfy its application requirements so that it can be considered administratively complete and processed in a timely manner,” said Christopher L. Stockton, a Williams media representative for Atlantic Gulf and Transco. “In that regard, we plan to file a response to NJDEP’s notification shortly. It is unfortunate that some organizations would attempt to misrepresent what is a normal step in the permit application process.”
A closer look at the deficiency letter shows that the application failed to a number of missing components, rather than proven environmental hazards.
What are the problems with the application?

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Assembly Speaker’s bills address hunger in New Jersey

New Jersey Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin today discussed the hunger gap faced by many families in the state while unveiling a comprehensive legislative bill plan aiming to close this gap, ensuring no one, especially children, go hungry.

Speaker Coughlin said each bill is a meaningful step in addressing broader hunger concerns, such as food deserts, poverty, access to state programs and resources and excessive food waste.

“Too many families in New Jersey have to choose between paying their bills and eating a nutritious meal. In our urban and rural communities, some families live more than a mile away from a supermarket, limiting their access to healthy food options,” said Coughlin (D-Middlesex) after touring the Community FoodBank of New Jersey in Hillside. “These bills not only address the rising number of young children affected by hunger but also the increasing trend of hunger surfacing on our college campuses. We’re improving access to state resources, engaging food banks and bringing together schools and state departments to fight hunger in New Jersey.”

Among the bills in the package is legislation that would establish an “Anti-Hunger” link to be posted on all state government websites, listing all of the state’s food programs including food pantries, shelters and soup kitchens; two bills addressing food insecurity among students on college campuses – The Hunger-Free Campus Act- and reimbursing school districts that purchase NJ grown produce for their school breakfast and lunch programs; and also a measure that would enact the “Food Desert Elimination Act” by establishing incentives to attract and retain qualified supermarkets in the state’s food deserts.

Assemblywoman Annette Quijano, Anti-Poverty Network of New Jersey Executive Director Renee Koubiadis, and constituents actively involved in food banks also attended the event

“One of nearly every six children you see on the playground is facing food insecurity at home. One in every six,” said Quijano (D-Union). “We have to do something to feed families. We have to do something to connect families to programs and give those programs greater resources. Making nutrition programs easier to find and apply for will help put food on the table for many who are currently fighting hunger.”

“Direct legislative action to combat hunger is long overdue in New Jersey,” said Koubiadis, Anti-Poverty Network of New Jersey Executive Director. “I applaud the efforts of the Speaker and Assembly members to turn the spotlight on the hunger crisis being faced in many homes and communities throughout the state.”

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Up for votes in the NJ State Senate on Thursday

The New Jersey Senate will meet at 2 p.m. on Thursday, September 27. Among the bills scheduled for consideration are the following:


S1707 (Oroho / Bateman) – Exempts governmental entities acquiring lands for open space located in a deed-authorized common interest community from paying community fees if, at time of acquisition, the community has never been formed or has been dissolved or discontinued.

S1821 (Singleton) – Establishes a procedure for the removal of certain abandoned water control structures causing property erosion.


S2511 (Madden) – Changes title of DEP “conservation officer” to “conservation police officer.”


A1330 / S2491 (Gusciora / Pinkin / Reynolds-Jackson / O’Scanlon / Gopal) – Directs Dept. of Agriculture to create pilot program to research cultivation of industrial hemp.


Votes to consider adoption of the Governor’s recommendations on the following bills:


S1057 (Van Drew / Gopal / Houghtaling) – Requires EDA, in consultation with Department of Agriculture, to establish a loan program for certain vineyard and winery capital expenses.


A3676 (Mazzeo / Armato / Giblin) – Creates Garden State Growth Zone at Atlantic City International Airport and the surrounding area; adjusts full-time employee designation requirements.

A vote to concur with the Assembly amendments to the following bill:

S2333 (Gordon / Lopez / Benson) – Requires NJT to establish an office of real estate economic development and transit-oriented development; requires an annual report of certain real property information.


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