Trump again proves the kind of ‘environmentalist’ he is

Despite his repeated claim (I’m an environmentalist), President Trump solidified his administration’s anti-green stance yesterday with the appointment of a noted climate denier to serve as the Justice Department’s top environmental attorney.
Marianne Lavelle and John H. Cushman, Jr. report
for Inside Climate News:
Jeffrey Bossert Clark
Jeffrey Bossert Clark, a lawyer who has repeatedly challenged the scientific foundations of U.S. climate policy and was part of a legal team that represented BP in lawsuits stemming from the nation’s worst oil spill, the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster, was nominated by President Donald Trump on Tuesday to serve as the Justice Department’s top environmental lawyer.
Clark, a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of Kirkland & Ellis, has represented the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in lawsuits challenging the federal government’s authority to regulate carbon emissions. In court he has repeatedly argued that it is inappropriate to base government policymaking on the scientific consensus presented by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
“When did America risk coming to be ruled by foreign scientists and apparatchiks at the United Nations?” Clark demanded in a 2010 blog posting on the EPA’s endangerment finding.
Clark was prominently involved in industry challenges to the EPA’s “endangerment finding” that set the scientific basis for all subsequent attempts to regulate greenhouse gases, including from autos and industrial sources. It was a demonstration of opposition to the underpinnings of the whole Obama administration regulatory approach to carbon dioxide, which were consistently upheld by the Supreme Court.
One of the legal briefs he signed is such a comprehensive compendium of thoroughly debunked denial of the scientific consensus that it stands as a classic of the genre, replete with condemnations not just of the EPA but of the IPCC, whose work the petitioners tried to persuade the court to rule out of bounds. A series of podcasts and papers he has written on The Federalist Society website continue his arguments against the endangerment finding and climate science more broadly.
“He has a long history of opposing climate action for corporate and ideological clients,” said David Doniger, who heads the climate and clean air program at the Natural Resources Defense Council, after learning of Clark’s nomination.
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Move along, nothing to see in NJ primary election results

Phil Murphy, Democratic winner
Kim Guadano, Murphy’s GOP opponent

As usual in primary elections, New Jerseyans voted the party line, choosing Wall Streeter Phil Murphy and Christie’s #2, Kim Guadagno. Losses mean veteran legislators John Wisniewski and Ray Lesniak won’t return to Trenton in January.


Lee Keough reports for NJ Spotlight:

Democrat Phil Murphy, a 59-year-old former Goldman Sachs executive will square off this November against Republican Kim Guadagno, the 57-year-old Lt. Gov. to Chris Christie, in this year’s gubernatorial contest. The vote turned out to be an easy win for the regular county political organizations, as both Murphy and Guadagno were clear favorites of their respective political machines.


“The walk-away from this election is the importance of political parties in New Jersey,” said Brigid Harrison, professor of political science and law for Montclair State University. “Primary voters vote the line here.”

Gubernatorial_primary_results_-_2017

Murphy beat five other candidates, two of whom were well-known state legislators, Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D-Middlesex) and Sen. Ray Lesniak (D-Union), along with a well-heeled undersecretary of the Treasury in the Clinton administration, Jim Johnson.


With 99 percent of the vote tallied, Murphy had 48 percent of the Democratic ballots. Both Johnson and Wisniewski each had 22 percent of the vote, with Johnson squeaking by Wisniewski by 1,000 votes to come in second. Lesniak came in fourth with 5 percent of the vote, followed by relative unknowns Bill Brennan (2 percent) and Mark Zinna (1 percent.)


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Is it time to say goodbye to Styrofoam containers?


They keep your coffee and Chinese takeout hot but they’re an environmental nuisance. One New Jersey lawmaker thinks it’s time to follow New York City’s lead and ban–at least in public schools and state colleges–the use of Styrofoam containers. 


Scott Fallon reports for The Record:


Styrofoam has long been used as a lightweight, easy-to-hold hot food container found everywhere from Chinese food joints to supermarket buffets.

But the container has also become the worst form of litter – the kind that spreads everywhere and never goes away.

Polystyrene foam doesn’t biodegrade. It can break into small pieces and is transported far distances by wind or water. And while it is recyclable, only a few towns will pick them up curbside and most recycling centers won’t accept food containers.  

With New York City poised to ban these containers after battles with the plastics industry, efforts are underway to curb their use in New Jersey, including a bi-partisan bill that would ban them from public schools and state colleges.


[Ed: View a copy of the bill, A-4013, here]

“The negatives are pretty obvious with these containers,” said Assemblyman Troy Singleton, D-Burlington, who drafted the bill. “It’s something that we don’t need. There are plenty of other alternatives.”

A few New Jersey municipalities have gone further and banned foam containers. This includes Jersey City, Rahway and Secaucus, which passed the bans in 2011 after complaints of foam containers polluting the town’s Hackensack River waterfront.

Dart Container Corporation, one of the biggest manufacturers of polystyrene products, has fought vigorously against New York City’s ban and tried to persuade Secaucus to retract its ban.

“You sit at these town council meetings and what’s getting said is wildly inaccurate,” said Michael Westerfield, a spokesman for Dart, which is based in Michigan. “The number one misconception is that foam is not recyclable. It’s absolutely recyclable.”


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Energy, enviro bills up for votes in NJ Assembly – June 8


The following bills are scheduled for Assembly floor votes on Thursday, June 8, in Trenton:


A-772  Andrzejczak, B. (D-1); Diegnan, P.J. (D-18);
Land, R.B. (D-1); Benson, D.R. (D-14); Holley, J.C. (D-20); Mukherji, R. (D-33)
Establishes process for recovering cost of caring for
domestic companion animals involved in animal cruelty violations.  Related Bill: S-1168
     
A-1069  Bramnick, J.M. (R-21); Burzichelli, J.J.
(D-3); Munoz, N.F. (R-21)
Requires DEP to establish “private wildlife
habitat certification program”; creates affirmative defense against
municipal nuisance ordinances for properties certified under the program.  Related Bill: S-1151
      
A-1351  Spencer, L.G. (D-29); Eustace, T. (D-38)
Amends law concerning application, sale, and use of
fertilizer to exempt organic fertilizer from certain requirements.
     
A-1698  Dancer, R.S. (R-12)
Establishes certain requirements for a State entity
planting vegetation in certain circumstances; provides for preferences for NJ
businesses providing such vegetation.
      
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Bill monitoring by BillTrak

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A-4484  Eustace, T. (D-38); Quijano, A. (D-20);
Chiaravalloti, N. (D-31); Caride, M. (D-36)
Declares that deed restrictions or agreements that
prevent raising or constructing of a structure to certain flood elevation
standards are unenforceable.  
Related Bill: S-2884
    
A-4540  Muoio, E.M. (D-15); Eustace, T. (D-38);
Kennedy,
J.J. (D-22); Mukherji, R. (D-33)
Requires municipal land use plan element of master plan
to address smart growth, storm resiliency, and environmental sustainability
issues.  
Related Bill: S-2873
     
A-4569  Eustace, T. (D-38); Diegnan, P.J. (D-18);
McKeon, J.F. (D-27); Vainieri Huttle, V. (D-37); Benson, D.R. (D-14)
The “Water Quality Accountability Act”;
imposes certain testing, reporting, management, and infrastructure investment
requirements on water purveyors.
Related Bill: S-2834
      
A-4756  DeAngelo, W.P. (D-14)
Permits solar electric power generation facility
projects not having commenced commercial operation to retain designation
through May 31, 2018 as connected to distribution system.  
Related Bill: S-3181
     
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Bill monitoring by BillTrak

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A-4880  Prieto, V. (D-32); Jimenez, A.M. (D-32)

Amends law to limit DEP’s direct oversight of
remediation of portion of contaminated site under certain circumstances.
      
ACR-192  McKeon, J.F. (D-27); Spencer, L.G. (D-29);
Muoio, E.M. (D-15); Benson, D.R. (D-14); Gusciora, R. (D-15); Conaway, H.
(D-7); Smith, B. (D-17); Bateman, C. (R-16)
Determines that DEP’s proposal to amend septic system
density standards in Highlands Water Protection and Planning Act Rules is
inconsistent with legislative intent.
Related Bill: SCR-148
     
S-2834  Sweeney, S.M. (D-3); Greenstein, L.R. (D-14);
Bateman, C. (R-16)
The “Water Quality Accountability Act”;
imposes certain testing, reporting, management, and infrastructure investment
requirements on water purveyors.
Related Bill: A-4569
      
S-2884  Whelan, J. (D-2); Greenstein, L.R. (D-14)
Declares that deed restrictions or agreements that
prevent raising or constructing of a structure to certain flood elevation
standards are unenforceable.  
Related Bill: A-4484


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Trump advances oil and gas drilling off the Atlantic coast

National Fisheries Service proposing permits for seismic surveys off coast; ‘greens’ say surveys first step to full-throttle drilling

Tom Johnson reports for NJ Spotlight:

The Trump administration yesterday opened a path to drill for oil and gas off the Atlantic coast, a step conservationists thought they had blocked last year.
In a notice to be published today, the National Fisheries Service is proposing five permits to allow companies to conduct seismic surveys with air guns, a technology used to explore for oil and gas.
The use of the air guns, devices that set off blasts as loud as dynamite to survey coastal sediments, has long been opposed by environmental groups who argue it can deafen and harm whales and marine wildlife.
The action by the administration follows an executive order earlier this spring by President Donald Trump, reversing a decision by the Obama administration to block drilling in the Atlantic and Arctic oceans.
“This is the gateway to drilling,’’ said Cindy Zipf, executive director of Clean Ocean Action, referring to the move to allow seismic surveys with the air guns. “It sets the stage for oil and gas drilling.’’
Michael Jasny, director of the Marine Mammal Protection Project for the Natural Resources Defense Council, agreed. “It’s a license for energy companies — in their relentless drive for more fossil fuels — to devastate marine wildlife. Scientists warn that seismic activity alone could drive the endangered North Atlantic right whale to extinction,’’ he said.
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Please fence me in, sing farmers on preserved NJ farms

The New Jersey Department of Agriculture today announced that the State Agriculture Development Committee (SADC) has approved $456,122 in cost-sharing grants to help 32 farmer applicants purchase and install deer fencing on preserved farms to protect their crops. 

“Deer damage is a major problem for farmers across the
state, so we were very pleased to offer this new deer-fencing program,” Agriculture Secretary Douglas H. Fisher said in a news release. 
Image result for deer fencing on New Jersey farms photosThe grants will help fund the installation of 35 miles of
deer fencing to protect more than 1,700 acres of preserved farmland. Most of the
approved deer-fencing projects are in high deer-density areas and 96 percent of
the crops to be protected are the highest-value crops (vegetables, orchards and
nurseries).

The matching grants will fund 50 percent of the costs for fencing materials and
installation. The other 50 percent will be paid for by the farmer. The maximum
grant award is $200 per acre of preserved farmland owned or up to $20,000 total.
The grants will be funded from a portion of the SADC’s State farmland
preservation monies allocated to promoting stewardship activities on preserved
farms. The funding is subject to appropriation by the Legislature.

The SADC administers New Jersey’s Farmland Preservation
Program and promotes innovative approaches to maintaining the viability of
agriculture. To date, more than 2,400 farms covering approximately 226,000
acres have been preserved under the State Farmland Preservation Program.
  

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