SHADOWY FOSSIL FUEL FRONT GROUP SHOULD COME CLEAN ABOUT WHO THEY REALLY REPRESENT
News Article • • by Ed Potosnak at NJ.com
With the Energy Master Plan, New Jersey will create thousands of high-quality jobs that can’t be outsourced, air quality and public health will improve, and we’ll be more resilient in the face of disasters fueled by climate change.
NEW LEGISLATION WILL HELP N.J. MEET ITS AGGRESSIVE CLEAN ENERGY GOALS
News Article • • by Ed Potosnak at NJ.com
The Assembly passed – in strong bipartisan fashion – an update to the existing, economy-wide, Global Warming Response Act (GWRA) and sent it to the governor’s desk. This legislation proves timely as the federal government has ceded all leadership under the current administration, leaving it solely to states to demonstrate leadership – none more so than New Jersey.
LAKE HOPATCONG'S TOXIC ALGAE BLOOM RENEWS FIGHT OVER STORMWATER LAW DERIDED AS 'RAIN TAX'
News Article • • by Scott Fallon at North Jersey Record
The severity of toxic algae blooms like the one affecting popular Lake Hopatcong could be minimized if more New Jersey towns impose fees on property owners to pay for upgrades that reduce runoff into lakes and rivers, environmentalists say.
"We have a lake closure due directly to stormwater and the failures over the years to deal with it," said Ed Potosnak, director of the New Jersey League of Conservation Voters, who grew up water-skiing and fishing on Lake Hopatcong. "We now have a tool to really deal with it. We just need the political will to use it."
AFTER FLOODING, MOORESTOWN TALKS STORMWATER MANAGEMENT
News Article • • by George Woolston at Burlington County Times
One week after torrential rain flooded much of Burlington County, the New Jersey League of Conservation Voters hosted a meet and greet Tuesday with the mayor and deputy mayor to discuss one of the township’s more pervasive problems — stormwater management.
NEW LAW SIMPLIFIES HOW STATE ALLOCATES FUNDS TO PRESERVE OPEN SPACE
News Article • • by Tom Johnson at NJ Spotlight
Gov. Phil Murphy has signed a bipartisan bill that determines how the state will allocate constitutionally dedicated funds to preserve open space, farmland and historic structures.
The new law could result in less messy fights over how to dispense a big pot of corporate business tax revenues to fund a wide array of open space projects each year. This year, $155 million will be divvied up among state and local governments and nonprofit groups that annually vie for the money.
EDISON’S GREAT-GRANDSON CONDEMNS LIGHTBULB EFFICIENCY STANDARD ROLLBACK
News Article •
Barry Edison Sloane, Thomas Edison’s great-grandson, condemned the Trump administration’s rollback of lightbulb efficiency standards that reduce energy consumption and save consumers billions of dollars each year.
“Today, we stand together to call attention to a roll back of the federal lightning standard that could cost consumers billions, increase air pollution, and take us ten steps back in addressing the climate crisis,” said Ed Potosnak, executive director of the New Jersey League of Conservation Voters. “Federal light bulb standards may seem like a small thing, but in fact they have enormous impacts on our wallets and our environment."
New Jersey LCV Ed Fund Grades Murphy on First Year Achievements
Press Release •
TRENTON, NJ- New Jersey League of Conservation Voters Education Fund (Fund), a statewide organization dedicated to preserving our environment, announced its scoring of the Murphy Administration on the Governor’s first year in office. The score reflects the environmental achievements of Governor Phil Murphy.
STATE STILL STRUGGLING WITH STORMWATER RUNOFF, CAN NEW BILL HELP?
News Article • • by Tom Johnson at NJ Spotlight
The state is reviving a decade-old idea to help New Jersey address a $15 billion problem to better manage stormwater runoff, an issue widely recognized as fouling waterways and exacerbating flooding.
Borrowing a concept already in place in more than 40 states, the Senate Environment and Energy Committee approved a bill (S-1073) to allow towns and counties to set up stormwater utilities as a mechanism for controlling pollution from runoff.
The bill, or some version of it, has been kicked around by lawmakers for years, but has had a tough time winning approval — and when it did, former Gov. Chris Christie vetoed the measure.
Sen. Bob Smith, a Democrat from Middlesex who is chairman of the committee and sponsored of the bill, is cautiously optimistic this time. “We’re not doing any victory laps because it’s going to be a very hard bill to pass,’’ he said, adding, “this is the best version of a stormwater utilities bill I’ve seen in a long time.’’
Environmental groups vary in grading Gov. Murphy's first 100 days
News Article • • by Michelle Brunetti Post at Press of Atlantic City
Environmental groups are varied in how they grade Gov. Phil Murphy on his first 100 days.
The New Jersey League of Conservation Voters Education Fund gave him an A-, while New Jersey Sierra Club graded him a C.
“Murphy has indeed delivered on some of his commitments including blocking offshore drillings, promoting environmental justice, and promoting offshore wind,” Sierra Club Director Jeff Tittel said in a press release.
But he said the administration also has cut the Department of Environmental Protection budget and is taking some of its surplus, and is still taking money from the Clean Energy Fund -- which is created through surcharges on utility customers' monthly bills -- for the general fund.
In contrast, League of Conservation Voters Education Fund Executive Director Ed Potosnak said Murphy gets high marks, calling the first 100 days “a whirlwind of pro-environmental actions, propelling New Jersey back to a leadership position to become the greenest state in America.”
Governor Murphy Earns High Marks on Environment in First 100 Days
Press Release •
TRENTON, NJ- New Jersey League of Conservation Voters Education Fund (New Jersey LCV Ed Fund), a statewide organization dedicated to preserving our environment, released its Murphy Administration Environmental Tracker today to highlight Governor Murphy’s first 100 days in office. Last year the New Jersey LCV Ed Fund conducted Green in ’17, a robust education and public engagement effort with the goal of elevating environmental issues in the 2017 gubernatorial election.
New Jersey League of Conservation Voters Education Fund’s Executive Director Ed Potosnak said, “Governor Murphy’s first 100 days has been a whirlwind of pro-environmental actions, propelling New Jersey back to a leadership position to become the greenest state in America. Right now, on the governor’s desk sits a bill requiring New Jersey to achieve over 50 percent renewable energy by 2030, a great down payment for the Governor Murphy’s commitment to 100 percent renewable energy by 2050.”