Feds Award $70M to Upgrade Wastewater, Drinking Water Systems
News Article • • by Tom Johnson at NJ Spotlight
The federal government yesterday awarded nearly $70 million to New Jersey to help fund projects to upgrade sewage-treatment plants and drinking-water systems.
The allocation should help finance more than a half-billion-dollars worth of projects through the state’s Environmental Infrastructure Trust, a vehicle set up to help communities fund clean-water projects.
The award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is part of an annual appropriation to help the state raise water quality by improving treatment at wastewater plants and public systems providing drinking water to residents.
The money will help put a dent into one of New Jersey’s most pressing infrastructure needs — upgrading aging sewage-treatment systems and drinking water facilities.
Republican, Democratic Lawmakers Join NJ Enviro Groups to Demand Protection for EPA Funding
Press Release •
MANTOLOKING, NJ – Federal, state and local elected officials joined New Jersey environmental leaders and concerned citizens today at the base of a bridge destroyed by Superstorm Sandy to oppose proposed cuts to the budgets of the Environmental Protection Agency and the Interior Department that would cause deep and lasting harm to our water, air, and land. Speaking with one voice, lawmakers from both parties called on the Republican-controlled House of Representatives to reject the FY18 budget unless it contains full and fair funding for the agencies that protect our health and environment.
The press conference was attended by Rep. Frank Pallone (D-6), Point Pleasant Beach Mayor Stephen Reid, other local officials representing Ocean County, and a dozen state and regional environmental groups, all of whom said that if the proposed budget cuts are allowed to stand, there will be no funding to monitor our beaches for bacteria, or to protect our coast from increasingly frequent and violent storms. The cuts also would limit the EPA’s ability to clean up properly after an oil or chemical spill.
Proponent of 100% Clean Energy Chooses Environmental Steward as Running Mate
Press Release •
Kelly Mooij, political chair of the New Jersey League of Conservation Voters Board, issued the following statement on the selection of Assemblywoman Sheila Oliver as the Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor:
“Phil Murphy chose an environmental steward in Assemblywoman Sheila Oliver, who joins the Democratic gubernatorial ticket as a candidate for lieutenant governor. Like Murphy, the former Assembly speaker from Essex County is a strong supporter of environmental protections and is prepared to lead New Jersey on key environmental issues like clean energy, climate change, and removing lead in drinking water. Oliver and Murphy both support the carbon reduction goals outlined in the Paris agreement and both have condemned President Trump’s withdrawal from the pact. Further, the ticket supports New Jersey joining the Climate Alliance, which will strive to meet the Paris goals, and both support rejoining New Jersey into the regional greenhouse gas reduction pact known as RGGI.”
Environmental Policy Expert Joins New Jersey LCV for Governor’s Race
Press Release •
The New Jersey League of Conservation Voters Education Fund is pleased to announce the addition of a former federal environmental protection official to its Green in ’17 team.
Lisa J. Plevin, former chief of staff for Region 2 of the US Environmental Protection Agency, will lead the environmental group’s transition planning initiative to help New Jersey’s next gubernatorial administration identify short- and long-term environmental priorities to re-establish New Jersey as an environmental leader.
Green in ’17 is an education campaign whose goal is to elevate discussion of key environmental issues in the gubernatorial election. One measure of the program’s success came on May 9, when 40% of the questions asked of Democratic candidates participating in the first gubernatorial debate were about environmental issues such as climate change and off-shore drilling, as were 20% of the questions asked of the Republican candidates.
Another Victim of Christie’s Final Budget: Communities Recovering from Pollution
Press Release •
TRENTON - Statement from New Jersey League of Conservation Voters on the governor’s line-item veto of Natural Resource Damages monies in the FY18 budget announced Wednesday:
“For the third straight year, Gov. Christie is attempting to rob communities sullied by industrial pollution of hundreds of millions of dollars meant to facilitate their recovery from toxins contaminating their groundwater and streams,” said New Jersey League of Conservation Voters Executive Director Ed Potosnak.
NJLCV Joins LoBiondo to Oppose Offshore Blasting, Drilling
Press Release •
AVALON – New Jersey League of Conservation Voters Executive Director Ed Potosnak joined Rep. Frank LoBiondo (R-2) and other advocates on Monday to voice opposition to renewed federal efforts to open up the waters off the New Jersey coast to oil and gas exploration.
Christie’s Budget Could Divert $175M from Exxon Settlement
News Article • • by Christian Hetrick at Observer
The state could divert millions of dollars from environmental remediation this year before voters have a chance to decide whether to prohibit such budgetary raids, according to a state lawmaker and environmental advocacy groups.
Gov. Chris Christie’s proposed $35 billion budget for fiscal 2018 includes a provision that places a $50 million cap on how much money won from natural resource damage settlements can go into an environmental site cleanup fund. For settlements larger than $50 million, any amount above that threshold would go into the state’s general fund.
This is the third straight year the state budget has included such language. But the provision takes on special significance this year, because $225 million from a settlement with ExxonMobil is currently in escrow and could become subject to that budget language, said Assemblyman John McKeon (D-Essex).
Opinion: NJ Environment Under Two-Pronged Assault
News Article • • by Michele Byers at Daily Record
The Trump administration’s proposal to cut funding for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will directly impact federal safeguards for clean water, air and natural resources in this state we’re in. The proposal would roll back decades of progress in protecting public health and environmental quality.
Here in New Jersey, we too are debating the impact of cuts to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection proposed by Gov. Chris Christie’s administration. And since New Jersey’s Department of Environmental Protection gets significant funding from the EPA, the impacts to New Jersey would be magnified.
This one-two punch from the Christie and Trump administrations would worsen what is already a difficult situation. New Jersey is the nation’s most densely populated state, with a history of industrial pollution, including more Superfund cleanup sites than any other state. As a coastal state, New Jersey is also on the front lines of climate change and sea level rise.
To make matters worse, the Christie administration’s raiding of dedicated funds has depleted funding for clean energy and the cleanup of contaminated sites.
America’s Clean Energy Future Hinges on NJ Governor’s Race Outcome
News Article • • by Drew Tompkins at Star Ledger
New Jersey voters cut the field on Tuesday to two major-party candidates in the race for governor. Whoever is chosen as the next governor on Nov. 7 will inherit an unprecedented opportunity and bear a tremendous burden to insulate the state from the worst effects of climate change, while staking out turf as a national leader – and jobs creator – in the pursuit of a clean energy economy.
With climate change already taking an obvious toll in New Jersey, the stakes couldn’t be higher.
One need look no further than New Jersey’s 130-mile coastline to realize our vulnerability to an even modest rise in sea level. Or remember Superstorm Sandy, which washed away beaches, boardwalks, and homes all over the state. The state’s $43 billion-plus tourism industry, and the jobs that come with it, is largely dependent on a profitable summer season at #JerseyShore.
What’s this got to do with the New Jersey governor’s race? Everything!
Green Group Helps Clean Energy Champion to Victory in NJ Democratic Primary
Press Release •
TRENTON – The New Jersey League of Conservation Voters (NJLCV), the leading political voice for the environment in the state, celebrated Tuesday’s nomination of Phil Murphy, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate endorsed by the green group.
NJLCV was the first statewide environmental organization to endorse Murphy, in February, citing his ambitious vision for a clean energy future and his ability to make New Jersey a national leader on environmental issues once again. The league’s Super PAC, the NJLCV Victory Fund, drew attention for spending $130,000 on a digital and mail campaign highlighting Murphy’s environmental credentials in the two weeks leading up to June 6, among the few Super PACs to spend significantly before the primary.