Environmental Coalition-Led Ballot Question Approved, Creates ‘Lock box’ for Pollution Settlements
Press Release • 11/8/2017
TRENTON – Voters provided permanent relief to communities harmed by industrial pollution on Tuesday by approving an environmental coalition-led ballot question that prevents money earmarked for environmental restoration from being raided by Trenton lawmakers.
With 99 percent of the vote counted, the measure passed 69-31 percent.
“By approving ballot question 2, voters created a ‘lock box’ for these funds, ending the irresponsible budgeting practice of Trenton politicians stealing the money from polluted communities to plug holes in the state budget,” said Ed Potosnak, executive director of New Jersey League of Conservation Voters, which led the effort to get the question on the ballot.
Victims, Advocates Demand Action on Climate 5 Years After Sandy
Press Release • 10/31/2017
ASBURY PARK, NJ – A resident who lost his house during Superstorm Sandy, local officials who led their community’s recovery, and activists who know New Jersey is as vulnerable today as it was five years ago rallied at the Paramount Theatre on Sunday to demand immediate action on climate change.
The Superstorm Sandy event – Hands Across the Boards: 5 Years After Sandy – was organized by the New Jersey League of Conservation Voters Education Fund to commemorate the lives, properties, and businesses lost, and to draw attention to ongoing recovery work and lack of preparedness for the next major storm.
What Victims, Advocates, Elected Officials Are Saying 5 Years After Sandy
Press Release • 10/31/2017
“Across New Jersey and the region today, we remember Hurricane Sandy’s devastation and impact on our families as clearly now as we did five years ago. While we are reminded there is still much work to be done in recovering from the last storm and preparing for the next, we should also recall how people across New Jersey came together in an inspirational display of community to help those in their time of need. I am honored to stand with those communities today, five years later, and for as long as needed until all New Jerseyans are fully recovered.” – Sen. Cory Booker
“Without strong action on climate change, we will see increased frequency and severity of storms like Sandy that leave devastation in their wake. The tragic consequences of inaction on climate change are currently on display in Puerto Rico, where the effects of Hurricane Maria have left many of our fellow citizens there without electricity and clean water. The U.S. has a responsibility to lead on this issue and I want to thank the New Jersey League of Conservation Voters and so many New Jerseyans for their commitment to addressing climate change.” – Rep. Frank Pallone, US Congress, 6th District
Conservation Voters Victory Fund Announces $40K Mail Push for Sen. Bateman (UPDATED to include complete mail program)
Press Release • 10/27/2017
TRENTON – The New Jersey League of Conservation Voters Victory Fund today announced that it is investing $40,000 between now and Election Day to help Kip Bateman, one of the Senate’s biggest environmental champions, across the finish line in the 2017 16th District Senate election.
The money is being spent on a targeted mail campaign urging swing voters to support the Republican incumbent who has voted to protect drinking water supplies, permanently ban fracking in the Delaware River Basin, and preserve open space.
Conservation Voters Victory Fund Announces $200K Get-Out-the-Vote Push to Support Phil Murphy Before Election
Press Release • 10/17/2017
The New Jersey League of Conservation Voters Victory Fund today announced plans to invest $200,000 between now and Election Day to help Phil Murphy across the finish line in the 2017 gubernatorial race.
The money is being spent on digital ads and a targeted mail campaign contrasting Murphy’s commitment to a 100 percent clean energy New Jersey, protecting drinking water, and holding corporate polluters accountable with the horrendous record of the current administration of Chris Christie and Kim Guadagno, which includes environmental rollbacks, inaction on climate change, and giveaways to big business.
New Jersey League of Conservation Voters Announces Legislative Endorsements
Press Release • 10/12/2017
TRENTON – The New Jersey League of Conservation Voters (New Jersey LCV) announced its legislative endorsements on Thursday, a bipartisan list that includes a record 38 candidates.
New Jersey LCV endorsed candidates running in 18 legislative districts, including eight full slates of candidates, two Republicans running in competitive districts, and five newcomers.
“We’re really pleased to support these candidates who have shown deep commitment to the environment and have a solid plan to win their respective elections,” said New Jersey LCV Executive Director Ed Potosnak.
Ballot Question 2: Create a ‘Lock box’ for Pollution Settlements
Press Release • 10/5/2017
TRENTON – Advocates for cities and towns across New Jersey where industrial pollution has contaminated rivers and dumped chemicals in our communities are campaigning for a ballot measure that puts a lock box on settlements meant to restore defiled natural resources.
The advocates held a tele-press conference on Thursday to inform voters about Question 2 on the November ballot and encourage them to ‘Vote Yes.’
“Voting ‘Yes’ on Question 2 will ensure that communities impacted by pollution receive the settlements they are due and that our environment is restored,” said Ed Potosnak, chair of New Jersey Keep It Green, a coalition of more than 150 environmental organizations that is leading the ballot question campaign. “Together we can safeguard legal settlements paid by polluters and ensure they go to restore parks, rivers and streams, fish, wildlife populations, and habitat.”
NJ Conservation Voters Endorses Fulop for Re-Election
Press Release • 10/4/2017
TRENTON – The New Jersey League of Conservation Voters (LCV) on Wednesday announced its endorsement of Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop for re-election.
New Jersey LCV executive director Ed Potosnak said the statewide environmental organization continues to be impressed by Fulop’s commitment to addressing climate change and improving access to parks for children and families living in New Jersey’s second most-populated city.
“New Jersey LCV is pleased to endorse Mayor Fulop for his leadership in the fight against climate change,” said Potosnak. “Fulop was the first mayor in New Jersey to sign a pledge to drastically cut the percentage of the city’s energy produced from fossil fuels, and his administration undertook a citywide greenhouse gas audit to determine where its carbon output could be reduced.”
LCV Launches Digital Ads Holding Frelinghuysen Accountable for Budget Cuts to Environment, Thanking LoBiondo For His Opposition
Press Release • 9/21/2017
TRENTON – One week after the U.S. House of Representatives passed a spending bill that slashes funding for several environmental priorities, the League of Conservation Voters launched a $50,000 digital ad campaign holding members of Congress, including Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R, NJ-11), accountable for his support of the bill, and thanking Frank LoBiondo (R, NJ-2) for standing up to these attacks.
The appropriations bill, H.R. 3354, makes unacceptable funding cuts to the National Park Service, the Land and Water Conservation Fund, and the Environmental Protection Agency while containing a slew of harmful anti-environmental policy riders. The ads are running on Facebook in the members’ districts starting today.
Environmental Advocates & Rep. Watson Coleman Call Out Trump EPA Budget Cuts, As New Analysis Shows Impact on the Delaware River Watershed
Press Release • 8/29/2017
TRENTON – With a deadline for Congress to approve a federal budget approaching by the end of next month, public officials, environmentalists, public health advocates and business organizations joined the call for full funding of EPA to protect the Delaware River watershed around the release of a new report detailing the success of the EPA and the impacts of the Trump Administration’s full-frontal budget cuts on EPA’s mission. The effort was part of a broader effort by the New Jersey environmental community to rally public support to support the mission of the EPA in the face of funding and regulatory rollbacks.
“Rough Waters Ahead: The Impact of the Trump Administration’s EPA Budget Cuts on the Delaware River Basin," issued today by Environment New Jersey Research & Policy Center, examined the impacts of the Trump administration’s proposed budget cuts to EPA water programs on the Delaware River watershed. More specifically, the report found that the EPA has jurisdiction for more than 1,000 pollution permits in the lower Delaware, the proposed Trump budget would slash enforcement by more than 25%, had to take over the clean-ups for 4 Superfund sites in the watershed and millions of dollars of funding to reduce water pollution is still up in the air.