Enviro and Energy Bills in Committee Monday

The following bills are up in the Senate Environment and Energy Committee on Monday, January 22^nd:

Paris Accord S598 (Smith) requires NJ to join U.S. Climate Alliance to uphold Paris Climate Accord. The Alliance is a bipartisan group of states in the United States that are committed to upholding the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change within their borders. There 13 current members of the alliance including New York, California, and Puerto Rico.

“The people of New Jersey have been devastated by the recent storms and want the Government to act. With Trump’s constant rollbacks of environmental protections, it’s more important than ever for Governor Murphy to sign bills like these. We need to act as a state to fight climate change and we can do so by joining the U.S. Climate Alliance. We must work to reduce air pollution and greenhouse gasses and make New Jersey a leader in green energy once again!” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “Christie vetoed this bill at the end of his term, making us more at risk from flooding and climate change. With Murphy as Governor, there’s a good chance these environmental bills will be signed into law which is why we need to get them right and push them through.”

RGGI Participation S611 (Smith) requires State’s participation in Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. Governor Christie pulled us out of RGGI without consulting the Legislature in August of 2015. RGGI is a ten-state regional compact to reduce climate change, air pollution and fund clean energy projects. Exiting the program has caused New Jersey to lose jobs, increase pollution, and fail to combat climate change.

“It’s important that New Jersey is reentering RGGI so we can move forward on climate. We’re happy to see updates made to this bill since the original ten years ago, but still have some concerns and suggestions for further updates. We need to have deeper reduction cap on greenhouse gasses and stricter rules for co-generation plants. We also need to be sure there is environmental justice language to protect communities disproportionally affected by climate change. We also believe that the per ton charge for carbon cap so that we can better capture the environmental and societal impacts of carbon,” said Jeff Tittel.

RGGI Participation S874 (Sweeney) requires State’s full participation in Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. This includes adopting measures set by other RGGI participating states.

“Christie was the only Governor to pull their state out of RGGI and we need to correct that action with this legislation. While the other states were seeing the benefits of RGGI, we’ve lost them. People in our state have seen the impacts of climate change firsthand and demand action. Rejoining RGGI is the first step towards a greener future. RGGI worked to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by almost 20 million tons and created 1,800 green jobs in the state. The money collected from RGGI went out to help environmental programs, expand renewable energy, create jobs, reduce greenhouse gases, and help middle class families save money on their electric bills,” said Jeff Tittel.

RGGI Money for EVs S612 (Smith) dedicates first $300 million from State’s participation in Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative for electric vehicle programs.

RGGI Money for EVs SCR40 (Smith) amends Constitution to dedicate revenues realized from State’s participation in Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative to electric vehicle, clean energy, and greenhouse gas reduction programs.

A fully electric vehicle uses electricity to power a battery. This means no gasoline, no dirty oil changes, and no internal combustion engine. Thanks to rebates and tax credits, decreasing prices in EV technology, and the much cheaper price of electricity vs. gasoline, the cost of owning and operating an electric vehicle is now notably lower than that of many conventional vehicles. There are currently more than 20 fully electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles available at US dealerships. GM is discussing new models and some states want to phase out gasoline-cars altogether. New Jersey must continue to support the sale of electric vehicles, install charging stations, and commit to a more sustainable transportation future if we want to meet California’s goals.

“We’re glad that the money is going to electric vehicles. We strongly support legislation that supports expanding EV use and charging infrastructure in New Jersey. We are one of the best states to utilize electric vehicles since most of our energy is already carbon-free. Electric vehicles not only reduce greenhouse gas emissions from cars, but can help stop future drilling, pipelines, and oil bomb trains. If we are able to charge electric vehicles with renewable energy like solar, it is even better for the environment. We need legislation like this to help build charging stations and make EVs more accessible for everyone in the state,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “We believe that the remaining money should go to energy efficiency.”