CAN STORMWATER UTILITIES HELP NJ REDUCE RUNOFF POLLUTION?
News Article • • by Tom Johnson at NJ Spotlight
New Jersey may take another stab at creating new utilities to deal with stormwater runoff, the state's most persistent problem fouling its waterways and causing major flooding.
The Senate Environment and Energy Committee is reviving a bill (S-1073) that would allow municipalities, counties, and certain authorities to create stormwater utilities, an approach used in other states to limit pollution caused by runoff.
The concept is not new in New Jersey, but it has failed to win final legislative approval in the past, even though the federal Environmental Protection Agency has ranked stormwater management as the state's most expensive water-related funding need at $15.6 billion.
Climate Summit, Brainchild Of Mayor Kramer, Gets Rave Reviews
News Article •
About 160 people attended a “Mayors’ Climate Summit” at Rutgers University Feb. 3, an event that was the brainchild of Mayor Phil Kramer.
The summit was held at Rutgers’ Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy in New Brunswick and was attended mainly by mayors and other elected officials from throughout the state.
Sponsored by the New Jersey League of Conservation Voters, Sustainable Jersey and the Bloustein School, the summit was seen as a way for elected officials to meet and share ideas of dealing with the effects of climate change, in light of the Trump administration’s decision to remove the country from the Paris Climate Agreement.
The Paris Agreement is a multinational agreement, under the auspices of the United Nations, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions starting in 2020.
Attendees hailed the event as a success and looked forward to future meetings.
Murphy joins governors calling for fracking ban in Delaware watershed
News Article • • by Michelle Brunetti Post at Press of Atlantic City
PHILLIPSBURG — Gov. Phil Murphy has announced he will join the governors of Pennsylvania, New York and Delaware to support a ban on fracking in the 3,000-square-mile Delaware River watershed.
Murphy called fracking "one of modern times' most damaging threats." Its use of chemicals, and their ability to pollute water systems, puts at risk the health and safety of people and the economic life of Delaware River towns, he said.
It was the latest of several environmental actions Murphy took last week.
NEW JERSEY LCV’s POTOSNAK CELEBRATES GOV MURPHY’S BAN ON FRACKING IN THE DELAWARE
Press Release •
Following Governor Phil Murphy’s administrative action on fracking, New Jersey LCV Executive Director Ed Potosnak released the following statement:
“Governor Murphy doubled down on protecting drinking water with his administrative action to ban fracking in the Delaware River Watershed. This action shows his commitment to protecting the drinking water of all New Jerseyans, as well as the eco-economy that is so important to towns up and down the Delaware.”
Murphy restarts big offshore wind plan for New Jersey
News Article • • by Michelle Brunetti Post at Press of Atlantic City
ATLANTIC CITY — Governor Phil Murphy signed an executive order Wednesday to return the state to national leadership in offshore wind energy.
New Jersey will finally implement the Offshore Wind Economic Development Act of 2010, which languished under Gov. Chris Christie, Murphy said at a press conference at the Atlantic County Utilities Authority’s wind farm and wastewater treatment plant.
NEW JERSEY LCV’s POTOSNAK CELEBRATES GOV MURPHY ACTION ON OFFSHORE WIND
Press Release •
Following Governor Phil Murphy’s release of Executive Order 8, New Jersey LCV Executive Director Ed Potosnak released the following statement:
“Governor Murphy’s Executive Order promoting offshore wind sends a clear message that New Jersey is serious about being the greenest state in the country, while also creating good paying, clean energy jobs in our state.”
Environmental Justice Should Be Core Principle of Murphy Administration
News Article • • by Tom Johnson at NJ Spotlight
The Murphy administration needs to focus on the disproportionate impacts of pollution and contamination on poor urban communities, according to a transition team report for Gov. Phil Murphy.
The 15-page environmental and energy report suggests that addressing the environmental-justice disparities in low-income and mostly communities of color ought to be promoted as a core principle of the new administration, one that is reflected across all departments and programs.
The recommendation, one of four overarching priorities identified by the transition team, calls for reducing the air and water pollution burdening those communities, and proposes that a substantial portion of the new funding on its way be dedicated to these initiatives.
Murphy signs executive order to reenter Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative
News Article • • by Michael Aron at NJTV
Gov. Murphy held a press conference in Highlands on Monday morning to announce he’s rolling back another Christie-era policy.
“In just a few minutes I’m going to sign an executive order to start the process to get New Jersey back into RGGI,” said Murphy.
NEW JERSEY LCV’s POTOSNAK CELEBRATES GOV MURPHY ACTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE
Press Release •
Governor Murphy’s Climate Change Executive Order, which will reenter the state into the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, sends a clear message that New Jersey is serious about being the greenest state in the country under his leadership. More than five years after the devastation from Superstorm Sandy, New Jersey finally has a governor with the vision to tackle this urgent threat and create the clean energy jobs New Jersey residents need.
Gov. Murphy Plays to NJ Environmentalists From Day One
News Article • • by Tom Johnson at NJ Spotlight
Imagine this: A governor talking about the sad reality of climate change, investing aggressively in renewable energy, and creating housing safe from the danger of lead.
To the state’s diverse environmental community, Gov. Phil Murphy’s inaugural speech signaled that New Jersey once again should embrace a leadership role in protecting its air, water, and land from the legacy of pollution that too often in the past defined it.