Plastic bags are piling up. This plan will force us to change our behavior
News Article • 10/11/2018 • by Ed Potosnak at NJ.com
Every day, it seems like another company is announcing that it's taking up the fight on plastic pollution.
Just the other day, the world's largest seafood restaurant company, Red Lobster, announced it will phase out plastic straws. The restaurant chain joins a long list of institutions -- Starbucks, American Airlines, even the city of Seattle -- that are addressing our pervasive single-use plastic problem.
The reality is apparent: single-use plastics are an environmental nightmare, and it's time for New Jersey to lead America in eliminating single-use plastics.
New Jersey residents alone use 4.4 billion plastic bags annually, the effects of which are not hard to see. Plastic bags caught in trees, rolling down highways, doomed to persist in our waterways and green spaces for centuries.
Currently, in New Jersey, local municipalities are leading the way in curbing plastic pollution -- Longport, Ventnor, Hoboken, Jersey City, and several others have passed ordinances reducing plastic in some way, either through fees or outright bans.
Now, it's time for the state to act.
New Jersey League Of Conservation Voters Statement On Fair Lawn Superfund Site Remediation
Press Release • 10/5/2018
"The Fair Lawn Well Field site, full of volatile organic compounds, is within 300 feet of several family homes and borders the Passaic River, which is considered one of the most polluted stretches of water in the nation. Protecting our drinking water and the health of our families should be a top priority of every elected official, and today Congressman Josh Gottheimer, through his leadership, exemplified just that. New Jersey has a long and troubling legacy of industrial pollution, and in order to protect the health of our communities, we must ensure that polluters are held accountable. In the face of a growing anti-environmental movement at the federal level, we commend the EPA and Congressman Gottheimer for fighting for the public health and safety of New Jersey’s families."
New Jersey LCV Statement on Governor Murphy's Stronger and Fairer NJ Economic Plan
Press Release • 10/1/2018
"Since Governor Murphy first announced his vision of achieving 100% clean energy by 2050 at New Jersey LCV’s endorsement event, his administration has been working tirelessly to achieve it. The Governor’s announcement today of his Stronger and Fairer NJ Economic Plan makes it clear we no longer have to choose between the environment and the economy. New Jersey LCV looks forward to working with the administration and the legislature to create good, local jobs in the solar and wind economy and make New Jersey the greenest state in America."
Ban bags and straws? N.J. proposal would be the strictest in the nation
News Article • 9/27/2018 • by Michael Sol Warren at NJ.com
The governor wanted more, and that's exactly what lawmakers are trying to deliver.
After Gov. Phil Murphy vetoed a bill that would've created a five-cent sales tax on plastic and paper disposable bags and calling for stricter measures, lawmakers are back with a new proposal aimed at cutting back on plastic waste in the Garden State.
The proposal would ban stores from handing out single-use plastic shopping bags, plastic drinking straws and polystyrene food containers (like foam takeout clamshells) from being used in New Jersey. The bill would also create a 10-cent fee on single-use paper bags, which would finance a new "Plastic Pollution Prevention Fund."
The bill was advanced out of Senate environment committee on Thursday with a four-to-one vote.
....
The proposed 10-cent fee on paper bags would send five cents back to the store operators. The remaining money would go to the newly created fund. The New Jersey League of Conservation Voters, a supporter of the bill, praised the paper bag fee.
"Paper bags are extremely resource-intensive and, in the U.S., we use over 10 billion per year. That results in thousands of acres of trees cut down, over 1,300 acres just from New Jersey's paper bag consumption," said Ed Potosnak, the executive director of the NJLCV. "This fee is essential to drive the behavioral change we need - and that's to use reusable bags."
To read the full article, click here.
NEW JERSEY LCV, ED POTOSNAK STATEMENT ON S2776 PROHIBITING SINGLE-USE PLASTIC AND POLYSTYRENE
Press Release • 9/27/2018
TRENTON, NJ- Ed Potosnak, executive director of New Jersey League of Conservation Voters, released the following statement regarding S2776, concerning single-use carryout bags, polystyrene foam food service products, and single-use plastic straws:
Energy Master Plan Committee holds hearing on clean transportation
News Article • 9/20/2018 • by Andrew Schmertz at NJTV
A new poll sends a strong message to policy makers. Fully two thirds of voters surveyed for a new Fairleigh Dickinson University poll do not view natural gas as clean energy — that’s a 23 percent increase since 2016. It also shows three-quarters want New Jersey to achieve a goal of 100 percent of renewable energy by 2050. The state’s enlisting the public in crafting its new energy master plan at a hearing that drilled down on transportation technology. Andrew Schmertz has this report on Peril and Promise: The challenge of climate change.
By 2025, one in seven cars on New Jersey’s roads must be zero-emission electric vehicles. A government commission known as the Energy Master Plan Committee heard from a range of groups Thursday on how to meet that goal, which some say has been stalled since the 2004 Clean Car Program passed.
NEW JERSEY LCV STATEMENT ON NJBPU'S DECISION TO OPEN LARGEST OFFSHORE WIND SOLICITATION IN THE COUNTRY
Press Release • 9/17/2018
TRENTON, NJ- Ed Potosnak, Executive Director of New Jersey League of Conservation Voters, released the following statement today on the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities’ unanimous approval to open an application window for 1,100 megawatts (MW) of offshore wind capacity:
“Thanks to the BPU vote today, New Jersey is one giant step closer to becoming the greenest state in America. Offshore wind is a renewable energy that reduces pollution and creates good local jobs. There is no time to waste in order to achieve the Governor’s goal of 100% clean energy by 2050, and the BPU is working hard to ensure New Jersey is fully taking advantage of its offshore wind potential.”
Testimony on Energy Master Plan, Reducing Energy Consumption
Testimony • 9/17/2018
TYPE: Regulation/Rulemaking
NUMBER: N/A
DESCRIPTION: Recommendations for Reducing Energy Consumption for the Energy Master Plan
POSITION: N/A
TO: Board of Public Utilities
Testimony on AR138, Designating Rancocas Creek as National Water Trail
Testimony • 9/17/2018
TYPE: Legislation
NUMBER: SCR121
DESCRIPTION: Urges US Secretary of Interior to designate Rancocas Creek as National Water Trail
POSITION: Support
TO: Senate Energy & Environment Committee
Testimony on A4417, Limiting greenhouse gas emissions under Global Warming Response Act
Testimony • 9/17/2018
TYPE: Legislation
NUMBER: A4417
DESCRIPTION: Revises 2050 limit on statewide greenhouse gas emissions
POSITION: Support
TO: Assembly Environment and Solid Waste Committee