Global warming melts ice, alters fabled Northwest Passage


Frank Jordans reports for The Associated Press:


More than a century has passed since the first successful transit of the treacherous, ice-bound Northwest Passage by Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen in 1906. Now The Associated Press is sending a text, video and photo team through the passage, where global warming is melting sea ice and glaciers at an historic rate, altering and opening up the Arctic in a way unprecedented in recorded history.

Although the passage presents an attractive shortcut for maritime traffic between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, only a dozen or two vessels attempt to navigate the poorly charted Canadian Arctic Archipelago during the brief summer window each year. Many are sturdy coast guard icebreakers, adventure cruises and thrill-seekers in small, nimble boats hoping to pick their way through fields of floating ice that can easily strand unprepared mariners.


Some also consider the Northwest Passage a future alternative for freighters aiming to save fuel on the route from Asia to Europe, and there have been several test runs over the years. The region has become a magnet for nations wanting to tap into the Arctic’s rich oil reserves and other natural resources and for scientists seeking to understand global warming and its impacts on the sea and wildlife.

The AP is accompanying an international group of researchers for a weeks-long expedition on MSV Nordica, a 27-year-old Finnish government-owned icebreaker, to view firsthand the changes taking place in one of the planet’s most forbidding corners.

This is the first post from the voyage, which began July 5 in Vancouver, British Columbia, entered the passage at the Bering Strait nine days later and ends in Greenland toward the end of July.
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California extends cap-and-trade with some GOP support

California Gov. Jerry Brown. Credit: Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images
California Gov. Jerry Brown has been an outspoken leader on climate change, Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images

Georgina Gustin reports for Inside Climate News:

California lawmakers voted Monday night to extend the state’s signature program for cutting greenhouse gas emissions, furthering California’s leadership on climate change. The bipartisan vote provides what many supporters hope will become a model for tackling global warming as the Trump administration works to unravel federal regulations.

California’s cap-and-trade program—the only one of its kind in the country and the second largest in the world—is the centerpiece of the state’s efforts to reduce carbon emissions. It was established by a 2006 law and launched in January 2013 to run through 2020, but its fate beyond that was uncertain until now.
Monday’s vote extended the cap-and-trade program through 2030, but with a few changes that turned some environmental groups against the legislation. Among them, it allows big polluters to continue buying permits to emit more greenhouse gases and it bars some separate regulations on refineries.
The bill passed the Senate 28-12 and was approved 55-21 in the Assembly, earning the supermajority it needed to pass. It now heads to Gov. Jerry Brown for his signature.

A Rocky Road to Approval

When Brown last week announced the legislation to extend the program, three vocal factions emerged: Republicans pleaded with the governor to back away from the proposal, saying it would hurt California’s economy. Progressive environmental groups—including may representing polluted minority communities—bashed the proposals as a giveaway to polluters, particularly the oil industry. Other influential environmental groups applauded the legislation, saying it represented a reasonable balance that represented the best change for moving the program forward.
“It’s been crazy wheeling and dealing all week,” said Danny Cullenward, a researcher with Near Zero, a climate consultancy based at the Carnegie Institution for Science at Stanford University.
The state’s cap-and-trade program reduces emissions by setting a statewide emissions cap that is lowered over time. Polluters are required to either cut their greenhouse gas emissions by a set amount or buy permits, or allowances, from other companies that successfully cut theirs.
Brown, who is attempting to cement a climate legacy after a long career in politics, spent most of the last week appealing to lawmakers, even attending a committee hearing in the state capital on Thursday where lawmakers pored over details of the bill.
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Pennsylvania may not be able to pay its bills within weeks

Dave Davies reports  for newsworks:

Pennsylvania Treasurer Joe Torsella is warning that state might be unable to pay all its bills in a matter of weeks if the budget standoff in Harrisburg isn’t resolved.
The Legislature has approved $32 billion in spending, but lawmakers and the governor haven’t agreed on a revenue package to fund it.
Torsella has written lawmakers saying the state’s general fund — in effect, its checking account — has been running lower balances as the state’s financial position has weakened.
Torsella said without a realistic revenue package to support the planned spending, the fund will be in the red in eight of the next 12 months.
And, he said in an interview, the trouble will begin soon.
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Christie says airports must enforce Trump travel ban


Governor lambastes Democratic-controlled Legislature for bill that would allow Port Authority employees to sidestep ban

newark airport


Matt Katz reports for WNYC:


Praising President Donald Trump’s travel ban as an effective public safety measure, Gov. Chris Christie vetoed a bill that would have prohibited airport employees from enforcing restrictions on certain travelers from Muslim majority nations seeking to enter the United States.
The bill approved by the Democratic-controlled legislature would have forbid employees of the Port Authority — which operates Newark Liberty, JFK, and LaGuardia airports — from providing “aid, resources, assistance, or support to any federal employee” enforcing the Trump travel ban. In order to become law, a similar measure would have had to be signed into law in New York, which jointly runs the Port Authority with New Jersey.
Pending a final Supreme Court ruling later this year, a modified version of the travel ban is in effect — travelers must have a “bona fide” connection to the U.S. if they come from one of the six affected countries.

Read the full story here


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Lawmakers: Public cut out of Christie’s $300M renovation

Boarded-up windows at NJy Statehouse, in Trenton, N.J. (Photo: Mel Evans, AP)

Michael Catalini reports for The Associated Press:


TRENTON – Gov. Chris Christie’s administration sought to borrow hundreds of millions of dollars to renovate New Jersey’s deteriorating statehouse four months before the project was authorized, cutting out the public in a process a bipartisan group of lawmakers describe as “rigged,” according to interviews and documents.

The Christie administration put out a request for proposals for a finance company to sell bonds to rehab the dilapidated building in December and selected RBC Capital Markets in January, months before an April meeting of a joint legislative-executive branch committee that approved the project, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press through a records request.


The Republican governor says that everything was done legally and has defended his handling of the sweeping project to renovate the executive wing of the building — part of which dates to the 18th century and has flaking paint, duct-taped skylights and inadequate fire safety devices.

There is little prospect for stopping the project, which could end up costing nearly a half-billion dollars and has drawn concerns about transparency and a lawsuit from Democrats and Republicans. A Superior Court judge ruled last month that the lawsuit was moot since the bonds to pay for the project had already been sold.



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Will Frelinghuysen’s Gateway support get him re-elected?

Will congressman’s lead on regional rail project appease constituents who face the loss of their health care coverage under the Republican repeal of ACA that he supported?

Rodney Frelinghuysen. Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call
Christian Hetrick writes in Observer:
The Gateway project would get $900 million in federal funds next year, including money for a much-needed new tunnel under the Hudson River, under a House transportation spending plan unveiled Tuesday by Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-11).
As chairman of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, Frelinghuysen has significant sway over where the federal government spends its money and his announcement Tuesday shows he is willing to leverage that power for one of the most important infrastructure projects in the region. 
Frelinghuysen’s announcement — committing $900 million for a major transit expansion that had been in doubt — also comes after a controversial vote he cast for President Trump’s American Health Care Act earlier this year.
Frelinghuysen has two declared Democratic challenger (and others are on the fence) in what’s shaping up to be a competitive congressional race next year.
The U.S. Department of Transportation appropriations bill for fiscal 2018 will include $500 million in “rail state of good repair grants” and $400 million for building a new tunnel to connect New Jersey to New York City and replacing the Portal North Bridge over the Hackensack River, 
Frelinghuysen’s office said in a news release. In addition, a significant portion of $328 million in funding for Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor would be used to support the Gateway projectA House subcommittee is scheduled to consider the bill Tuesday night.
“I am especially pleased that more than $900 million will be allocated to the Gateway program in the New Jersey-New York area in this legislation,” Frelinghuysen said in a statement. “Rebuilding the Hudson Tunnels is of vital importance to my home state of New Jersey and our region.”
The cost of building a new Hudson River tunnel and repairing the existing one was pegged at nearly $13 billion last week, according to a report from federal and state officials. Meanwhile, New Jersey commuters are expecting a “summer of hell” as Amtrak repairs tracks at New York Penn Station after three derailments there in four months led to significant delays.
Several Democrats are lining up to challenge Frelinghuysen, who was first elected in 1994 but who has rarely faced serious opposition. National Democrats see an opening to flip the seat and have made the district a top priority in the 2018 midterms.
Assemblyman John McKeon, a Democrat who is considering a run against Frelinghuysen, said Frelinghuysen “has many more billions to go to make amends” for his support of the American Health Care Act.
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