Here's another article highlighting Christie's Enviromental Plan...
The link is http://www.mgkflaw.com/specAlert2009/specAlert-2009-11-05.html
New Jersey Gubernatorial Win by Chris Christie Could Change State's Environmental/Energy Programs
MGKF Special Alert
by BRUCE KATCHER and CHRISTOPHER BALL On November 3, 2009, former U.S. Attorney Chris Christie defeated incumbent Jon Corzine in the race to be New Jersey's next governor. Environmental and energy issues played an important role in the election as Christie made headlines as the first statewide Republican candidate to win the endorsement of the New Jersey Environmental Federation in the group's almost 30 year history.While the details of a Christie Administration environmental and energy agenda will have to await his official arrival in Trenton, the Governor-elect's campaign platform and remarks during the election indicate the potential for significant change to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection ("DEP"), the State's environmental rulemaking process, and the State government's approach to several key environmental and energy issues. A brief summary of key positions is set forth below:
Changes to DEP: Christie repeatedly stated that he wants to trim government spending and DEP is likely to be included in any cuts. His campaign platform includes a promise to change the leadership of the DEP, and he has been quoted as saying that he would lay off DEP workers (while empowering the remaining rank and file) and strip the Department of its fish and wildlife oversight function. He has also pledged to remove the incentive for regulatory agencies to charge "excessive or unnecessary" fees by eliminating the use of fees or fines for agency funding, a move that will have a significant impact on many DEP programs.
Rulemaking Changes: The Governor-elect pledged to immediately freeze proposed agency rules (DEP and otherwise) upon taking office, and has proposed several reforms to administrative rulemaking moving forward, including enhanced rule impact statements requiring more detailed cost/benefit analyses. He also committed to subjecting proposed rules to a new "risk analysis" and has called for strengthening scientific advisory committees to evaluate the science behind DEP proposals.
Land Use: Christie campaigned as a proponent of open-space preservation, saying that he would seek to increase preserved acreage annually and would reinstate the Highlands appraisal process for five years. While Christie is opposed to incurring any additional State-debt to fund these efforts, he has pledged to strengthen the Garden State Preservation Trust and has advocated a Constitutional Amendment to dedicate a portion of the sales tax for land preservation. He also advocates an "improved consistent" State Development and Redevelopment Plan, although the nature of the improvements remains unclear.
Site Remediation: Christie expressed general support for New Jersey's new Licensed Site Remediation Professional program that seeks to privatize much of the contaminated site cleanup process in the State, though he supports close monitoring of the process by DEP.
State Waters: Christie committed to reconsider providing the State's highest form of available environmental protection to approximately 300 miles of waters rejected by the current administration for classification as "Category 1" waters under the state's surface water quality standards.
Energy and Global Warming: Christie categorized as "job number one" the recruitment of renewable energy manufacturing companies to locate in New Jersey, offering a tax credit to such companies up to 100 percent of the applicable corporate business taxes or the insurance premium tax. He proposes to strip the State's Board of Public Utilities of its current oversight of renewable energy development efforts and place those efforts under a new entity – labeled "Renew NJ" – more oriented to promoting job growth in the sector. Christie's promotion of renewable energy extends to landfill management, where he has called for all landfills regulated by DEP to be required to install solar farms as part of their closure plans, and agriculture, where he intends to promote the installation of solar on permanently preserved farmland. When it comes to global warming, Christie has committed to pursue the goals of the Global Warming Response Act more aggressively than the current administration, whose efforts he has deemed "quite disappointing." To this end, he opposes the controversial proposed coal-fired power plant in Linden and any drilling off the New Jersey coast. Christie has also stated that he will require upgrades to the cooling water systems used at the Oyster Creek and Salem nuclear generating stations that could cost those facilities millions of dollars.
Other Issues: Christie has also taken positions favoring shore protection funding, increased recycling rates, diesel engine retrofit requirements, enhanced environmental justice considerations in state decision-making and opposing the deepening of the Delaware River. He also plans to reinstate the Office of Environmental Crimes at the Attorney General's office to enhance criminal enforcement of environmental law.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Some Main Environmental Organizations and Advocacy Groups for NJ Energy
I thought it would be important to look at some advocacy groups, lobbyists, and key legislators for expanding New Jersey's energy and enviromental policy and awareness. As the new governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie has the ability to greatly influence governmental policy in New Jersey. As the primary governmental official in New Jersey, the governor faces scrutiny from the press and the citizens of the state firsthand. His decisions are often questioned or praised by the public. However, what many citizens fail to understand is that behind the governor's power lobbyist and activist groups can greatly influence government policies as well. Often times, governors and legislators look to lobbyist groups for direction. Here's a look into the important lobbyist groups for New Jersey Energy. Here are some of the primary lobbyist groups and environmental organizations:
1) The New Jersey Affordable, Clean, Reliable Energy Coalition
2) Alliance for a Living Ocean
3) Association of NJ Environmental Commissions (ANJEC)
4) Association of New Jersey Hazardous Waste Coordinators
5) Clean Water Fund of New Jersey
6) Clearwater of NJ (formerly Monmouth County Friends of Clearwater)
7) Earth Share of New Jersey
8) Garden State Earth Institute
9) Green Party of New Jersey
10) NJ Environmental Federation
1) The New Jersey Affordable, Clean, Reliable Energy Coalition
2) Alliance for a Living Ocean
3) Association of NJ Environmental Commissions (ANJEC)
4) Association of New Jersey Hazardous Waste Coordinators
5) Clean Water Fund of New Jersey
6) Clearwater of NJ (formerly Monmouth County Friends of Clearwater)
7) Earth Share of New Jersey
8) Garden State Earth Institute
9) Green Party of New Jersey
10) NJ Environmental Federation
Energy as Industry Plan
Here's a link to Christie's full "Energy as Industry" Plan:
http://www.christiefornj.com/images/energyasindustry.pdf
http://www.christiefornj.com/images/energyasindustry.pdf
YouTube Video on Christie's "Energy as Industry"
Here's a video highlighting Christie's "Energy as Industry" Plan:
Christie's "Energy as Industry Plan"
Chris Christie's energy plan titled, "Energy as Industry" is highlighted below:
New Jersey was once a leader in manufacturing, and as the well-known tag line goes, “Trenton makes, the world takes.” Today, the industries that once made New Jersey no longer exist and it shows in our unemployment rate, the number of businesses that have left our state, and the lack of good-paying jobs. The current unemployment rate is 8.89.2% and New Jersey has lost 135,100 overall jobs overall and 34,000 manufacturing jobs in the last year alone. As a result, many middle-class workers have been forced to take lower paid paying jobs without benefits. Energy as Industry is an opportunity to recover the good-paying, middle-class jobs that have been lost by focusing on production. As the country and the rest of the world makes renewable energy a priority, New Jersey has an opportunity and ability to once again become a leader of industry.
-Make New Jersey’s Governor our State’s Chief Energy Advocate.
-The “Choose New Jersey Energy” Campaign.
-Establish “Renew NJ” to consolidate all renewable energy manufacturing efforts
-Make New Jersey a magnet for renewable energy manufacturers:
-Incentivize Energy Manufacturing with Tax Credits
-New Jersey Will Create Higher-Paying Clean Energy Production Jobs in the Next Four Years
-Install Solar Farms on Every Landfill
-Encourage Solar Farms by Making it a Permitted Land Use
-New Jersey Farmland Isn’t Just for Agriculture
New Jersey was once a leader in manufacturing, and as the well-known tag line goes, “Trenton makes, the world takes.” Today, the industries that once made New Jersey no longer exist and it shows in our unemployment rate, the number of businesses that have left our state, and the lack of good-paying jobs. The current unemployment rate is 8.89.2% and New Jersey has lost 135,100 overall jobs overall and 34,000 manufacturing jobs in the last year alone. As a result, many middle-class workers have been forced to take lower paid paying jobs without benefits. Energy as Industry is an opportunity to recover the good-paying, middle-class jobs that have been lost by focusing on production. As the country and the rest of the world makes renewable energy a priority, New Jersey has an opportunity and ability to once again become a leader of industry.
-Make New Jersey’s Governor our State’s Chief Energy Advocate.
-The “Choose New Jersey Energy” Campaign.
-Establish “Renew NJ” to consolidate all renewable energy manufacturing efforts
-Make New Jersey a magnet for renewable energy manufacturers:
-Incentivize Energy Manufacturing with Tax Credits
-New Jersey Will Create Higher-Paying Clean Energy Production Jobs in the Next Four Years
-Install Solar Farms on Every Landfill
-Encourage Solar Farms by Making it a Permitted Land Use
-New Jersey Farmland Isn’t Just for Agriculture
New Jersey Solar Energy Incentives
When searching other environmental blogs I found an interesting article about solar energy and New Jersey. According to the article a new program in New Jersey was created which will provide rebates for solar panels and other equipment manufactured in New Jersey. In addition, the legislature is about to pass a bill that will allow for low-interest loans for building projects that meet green standards. Here is the article...
Rebates for solar equipment made in New Jersey
The BPU's new program offers consumers, businesses, and municipalities that purchase solar panels, inverters, and racking systems manufactured in New Jersey a rebate of up to 25 cents per watt for panels, and up to 15 cents per watt for inverters and racking systems. The program is expected to provide $1 million in incentives to the state’s consumers, businesses, and municipalities over the coming months.
BPU President Jeanne M. Fox said the program "supports our environmental, energy, and economic development goals and helps establish New Jersey as a hub for the growing green economy."
To qualify for the incentives, applicants must use products manufactured with at least 50 percent of the product cost – including the labor, overhead, components, and raw materials – from facilities located in New Jersey. Products must also comply with applicable Underwriters Laboratory standards and be commercially available to the public.
Yearly audits will be performed to ensure manufacturing compliance. Organizations awarded a grant under New Jersey Economic Development Authority’s (NJEDA) Clean Energy Manufacturing Fund (CEMF) are automatically certified as a New Jersey manufacturer.
Additional information about the program and all of the business and residential incentives offered by New Jersey’s Clean Energy Program can be found at http://www.njcleanenergy.com/ or by calling 1-866-NJSMART (1-866-657-6278).
The BPU's new program offers consumers, businesses, and municipalities that purchase solar panels, inverters, and racking systems manufactured in New Jersey a rebate of up to 25 cents per watt for panels, and up to 15 cents per watt for inverters and racking systems. The program is expected to provide $1 million in incentives to the state’s consumers, businesses, and municipalities over the coming months.
BPU President Jeanne M. Fox said the program "supports our environmental, energy, and economic development goals and helps establish New Jersey as a hub for the growing green economy."
To qualify for the incentives, applicants must use products manufactured with at least 50 percent of the product cost – including the labor, overhead, components, and raw materials – from facilities located in New Jersey. Products must also comply with applicable Underwriters Laboratory standards and be commercially available to the public.
Yearly audits will be performed to ensure manufacturing compliance. Organizations awarded a grant under New Jersey Economic Development Authority’s (NJEDA) Clean Energy Manufacturing Fund (CEMF) are automatically certified as a New Jersey manufacturer.
Additional information about the program and all of the business and residential incentives offered by New Jersey’s Clean Energy Program can be found at http://www.njcleanenergy.com/ or by calling 1-866-NJSMART (1-866-657-6278).
What is the NJ DEP?
The New Jersey DEP is also known as the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. As noted in previous blogs, its website is www.state.us/dep/. The New Jersey Department of Enviromental Protection is a government agency that is responsible for managing the state's natural resources and policies toward pollution. It is currently headquartered in Trenton, NJ and has currently employs 3.400 people. The Department was created on Earth Day on April 22nd, 1970. The NJ DEP's current commissioner is Mark N. Mauriello.
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