Wetlands At Work in NJ – An infographic from the NJDEP
Wetlands At Work in NJ – An infographic from the NJDEP Read More »
Defying Trump, NJ bans drilling in state waters along coast
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| Offshore drilling rigs ike this one are banned from NJ waters (Getty Images) |
Brent Johnson reports for NJ.com:
New Jersey has now banned drilling for oil and natural gas in state waters — and taken a step aimed at preventing President Donald Trump‘s administration from allowing drilling farther offshore.
Gov. Phil Murphy signed a bipartisan bill into law Friday that prohibits drilling in the three miles of ocean water that the state controls along the Atlantic coast.
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| NJ Governor Phil Murphy at bill -signing ceremony |
And though the state cannot ban drilling in federal waters, this law also prohibits the state from approving any facilities or infrastructure related to drilling to be built in New Jersey — including pipelines and docks.
Murphy said that will make it “awfully hard” for drilling in wters beyond the Garden State’s jurisdiction.
The move comes a few months after Trump’s administration announced it would open nearly all U.S. water to new offshore drilling to expand the nation’s energy resources.
New Jersey is one of a few states that have been pushing local legislation as a back-door way to stop Trump, a Republican.New Jersey has now banned drilling for oil and natural gas in state waters — and taken a step aimed at preventing President Donald Trump‘s administration from allowing drilling farther offshore.
Gov. Phil Murphy signed a bipartisan bill into law Friday that prohibits drilling in the three miles of ocean water that the state controls along the Atlantic coast.
And though the state cannot ban drilling in federal waters, this law also prohibits the state from approving any facilities or infrastructure related to drilling to be built in New Jersey — including pipelines and docks.
Murphy said that will make it “awfully hard” for drilling in wters beyond the Garden State’s jurisdiction.
The move comes a few months after Trump’s administration announced it would open nearly all U.S. water to new offshore drilling to expand the nation’s energy resources.
New Jersey is one of a few states that have been pushing local legislation as a back-door way to stop Trump, a Republican.
Defying Trump, NJ bans drilling in state waters along coast Read More »
China trash ban is a global recycling wake up call
Ivana Kottasová reports for CNN Money:
Beijing has last year banned the imports of 24 varieties of solid waste, including types of plastic and unsorted paper. On Friday, it extended the ban to dozens more types of recyclable materials, including steel waste, used auto parts and old ships.
The ban has terrible consequences for some places. A town in Australia has been sending recyclable waste to a landfill because it can no longer afford to recycle it.
In the UK, hoards of low-grade plastic have been hanging around in storage, eventually heading for incineration.
The US Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries warned the ban is disrupting global supply chains and may lead manufacturers to use new materials rather than recycled ones.
But experts say the ban has been a massive wake-up call for countries like the United Kingdom, United States, Australia, Japan and others who relied on China to buy and handle their trash from them.
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‘Man the pumps’ to save Miami Beach from a rising ocean?
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| An anti-flooding water pump roars at full capacity at Maurice Gibb Park in Miami Beach due to the beginning of King Tide last October. (C.M. GUERRERO photo) |
Alex Harris reports in The Miami Herald:
Miami Beach’s $500 million attempt to elevate and pump itself out of sea level rise’s path has drawn criticism, but an expert panel concluded Thursday that the city’s doing what it needs to survive.
The question of Miami Beach’s future, whether the community stands a chance in the face of rising seas, was an unspoken theme in every interview the panel held this week, said Mark Osler, a national practice leader in Coastal Science and Engineering with Michael Baker International.
“Our professional opinion is that the outcome is uncertain, and it is in your hands,” he said, to audible gasps from the audience. Osler said the panel believes the city has a future if the public and the government work together on solutions and don’t let up on the push to enact them.
The experts praised the city for “acting with courage” to start construction on the elevated roads and pumps that have left streets dramatically drier after floods — provided, of course, the power isn’t knocked out in a storm.
That’s not to say the island’s engineering-first, green-solutions-never approach drew perfect marks. The experts, a nine-member panel convened by the Urban Land Institute, called for a more comprehensive plan for living with water and increased transparency with the public on what’s changing and why.
The city should embrace more “green” infrastructure, they said, like parks to soak up floodwater and mangroves to lessen wave impacts on the coast, in addition to “gray” infrastructure like elevated roads and sea walls. A group of Harvard graduate students recommended a similar approach last week.
The panel also critiqued the city on water quality, a topic that wasn’t included in the panel’s scope and became a controversial issue following a Florida International University scientist’s discovery that the city’s pumps push more pollutants into the bay.
‘Man the pumps’ to save Miami Beach from a rising ocean? Read More »
Department of Energy Announces $39M for Innovative Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Research & Dev.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced up to $39 million in available funding to support early stage research and development (R&D) of innovative hydrogen and fuel cell technologies. As one component of DOE’s portfolio, hydrogen and fuel cells can enable affordable and reliable energy that enhances economic growth and energy security. The work supported through this investment will address key early-stage technical challenges for fuel cells and for hydrogen fuel production, delivery, and storage related to hydrogen infrastructure.
Anticipated R&D topics include:
Concept papers are due May 7, 2018 and full applications will be due June 12, 2018. More information, application requirements, and instructions can be found on the EERE Funding Opportunity Exchange website.
More information about DOE’s Fuel Cell Technologies Office can be found HERE.
What do Cory’s Booker’s football years tell us about him?
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| Booker still keeps a football in his Senate office in Washington (DAVID SWANSON / Staff Photographer) |
Jonathan Tamari reports in Philly.com about Cory Booker:
On his gleaming resumé, Booker’s college football career stands out as an unusual bullet point.
Unlike at most stops in his life, the onetime Stanford class president, Rhodes scholar, Newark mayor, and political celebrity who became a senator at 44 never achieved star status as a Stanford athlete. He was relegated to the background, a role player on a talented team.
It’s a piece of his biography that has gone largely unexplored as Booker has landed on the shortlist of potential Democratic presidential candidates in 2020. With that possibility comes a new level of scrutiny on Booker’s personal history, as voters seek to understand the experiences that shaped a man who might put himself forward to lead the country.
A look at his four years on the Cardinal football team shows how someone who has enjoyed a rapid rise, whose ambitions seem boundless, and whose political critics accuse him of being more flash than substance handled frustration, disappointment, and a workmanlike grind with little personal glory.
What do Cory’s Booker’s football years tell us about him? Read More »