Below are just a few of the environmental and political news stories for New Jersey, Pennsylvania and beyond that appeared in EnviroPolitics during the week of May 11-15, 2009.
New Jersey Politics
Corzine cuts $150 million more from budget The governor plans several additional steps to close the rest of the $1.2 billion budget gap for the fiscal year Inquirer Bergen Record
Little Delaware suddenly a threat to Atlantic City Delaware’s modest casino industry is about to become a lot more like Atlantic City’s by introducing table games AC Press
GOP candidates for governor debate Republican gubernatorial candidates Christopher J. Christie and Steve Lonegan clashed yesterday over taxes, property-tax rebates, and the question of who would truly rein in state spending in the first formal debate of their party’s primary Inquirer Star-Ledger
Christie remembered for bitter conflicts In 1994, the GOP freeholder primary was so negative that Chris Christie’s rivals filed defamation lawsuits against him. Now, seeking the Republican nomination for governor, he says he’s older and wiser Bergen Record
Funding for defunct food-in-space program questioned Records show much of program’s money paid the salaries of two people — one with political connections and the other a woman who has been dead two years Star-Ledger Bergen Record
New Jersey Environment
PSE&G agrees to pay part of Highlands’ legal costs The energy company agrees to pay some of the legal costs for towns opposing the utility’s massive upgrade of power lines known as the Susquehanna-Roseland project Bergen Record
Utility looks to run gas pipeline through Highlands Another big utility has come to the state with a proposed project that would tear through part of the state’s Highlands region. Tennessee Gas Pipeline wants to dig a 16-mile underground extension through Vernon, W. Milford and Ringwood Star-Ledger
Enviro group sues to overturn housing approval The New Jersey Highlands Coalition says it is suing the state Department of Environmental Protection to block sewer service for the proposed, 185-unit Huntington Knolls housing development in Holland Township, Sussex County Express-Times
$600 million open space bond may go to voters NJ voters may again have the chance to vote on a bond that could help preserve historic sites and open space throughout Bergen and Passaic counties as well as the rest of the state Bergen Record
‘Seven minutes to judgment’ stirs controversy The proposal has caused an unusual split among New Jersey environmental activists NJ Newsroom
Pennsylvania Environment
PUC approves use of chloramines Pennsylvania American Water received approval from the state Public Utility Commission on Thursday to use the disinfectant chloramine at its West Shore water treatment plants The Sentinel
State rejects TVA coal ash Coal ash recovered from a major spill last December at a Tennessee power plant is too contaminated for use in reclaimed coal mines, PA officials say Centre Daily Times
PPL picks route for West End power line A new power line will snake its way through Chestnut hill Township after PPL settled on the route Pocono Record
> PUC: Omission of PPL figures was an oversight Pocono Record
Marcellus Shale plant opens A plant built to process natural gas drawn from the Marcellus Shale formation in southwestern Pennsylvania and northern West Virginia is up and running Times-Tribune
Rendell plan to tax Marcellus shale gas in doubt The red-hot drilling boom set off two years ago by the discovery of a massive natural-gas field more than a mile below Pennsylvania soil has clicked back to a low simmer Inquirer
Leasing a path to solar power Pennsylvania will start issuing rebate checks in July to help homeowners offset the cost of installing solar-powered energy systems, but don’t expect an immediate stampede to plug into the sun Inquirer
Pennsylvania Politics
Convicted former Sen. Fumo allowed to keep property Convicted former state Sen. Vincent Fumo won’t have to forfeit his Philadelphia mansion to the government in the wake of his sweeping corruption case Patriot News
Stupidity is Philly judge’s defense Philadelphia Common Pleas Court Judge Willis W. Berry demonstrated “stupidity” by running a real estate business out of his chambers, but it did not rise to the level that the state should strip him of his robe, his attorney argues Inquirer
Outsider no more, Toomey shoring up status in GOP Bob Asher has spent the past five days telling fellow Republicans what you’d expect from a GOP national committeeman: The state party has good candidates for statewide office in 2010. What’s surprising, though, is who he includes in the mix Morning Call
Philadelphia Mayor and Council reach an accord on tax rise Dropping his push for a steep but temporary two-year increase in property taxes, Mayor Nutter yesterday agreed to back City Council’s proposal for a five-year sales-tax increase to help close Philadelphia’s $1.4 billion budget deficit Inquirer
New York/Nation/World
Gov. Paterson’s solar power plan envisions 50,000 jobs Gov. David A. Paterson will announce today that the state’s two power authorities will purchase up to 150 megawatts of solar power through a program aiming to make the state the nation’s second-biggest solar power producer Buffalo News
Expansion of New York bottle-deposit law faces delay Gov. David Paterson and state lawmakers are seeking to delay the expansion of the state-s bottle-de posit law by at least a month over concerns that bottlers can’t quickly implement the new changes Ithaca Journal
Senator: Study water for drugs U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand called Tuesday for a study to assess potential risks of trace levels of medications that have been found in drinking water supplies across the country Times Union
Lobbyists push for emissions credits Utilities, steelmakers and oil industry lobbyists have tried to ease the pain of President Obama’s push to curb global warming, and they’ve gotten an early return on the millions spent influencing Congress AP
Costly Superfund dredging set for Hudson River People look funny at David Mathis when he takes a dip off his dock in the Hudson River. Health officials have long warned people not to eat fish caught from this stretch south of the Adirondacks and swimming is unthinkable to many Poughkeepsie Journal
Our most recent posts:
For carbon sequestration, it’s test time
USGS report drills into Marcellus Shale concerns
Thousands of climate lobbyists besiege Congress
Alert: NJ’s Licensed Site Professional bill signed
Suburbs still growing but region’s cities are too
———————————————————————————-
Subscribe to EnviroPolitics for environmental and political news
in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York every business day.
PLUS: Proposed environmental regulation alerts
PLUS: Full tracking of environmental legislation
Sign up now – No-obligation, 30 full days Free Trial
