Menendez, Pallone, Enviros Pledge to Fight Trump Agenda that Puts NJ Air, Water, Shore at Risk

Bob Hugin just another rubber stamp for Trump

Long Branch, NJ – U.S. Senator Bob Menendez today stood along the Jersey Shore with Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06) and leading environmental advocates pledging to continue fighting Donald Trump’s dangerous agenda that threatens the state’s pristine coastline, air and water quality, public health and economy. 

“Every day, the Trump Administration is working to gut our landmark environmental protections, to give corporate polluters free rein, and to weaken U.S. leadership in the fight against climate change,” said Sen. Menendez.  “The stakes in this election have never been higher for the future of our environment and public health.  Bob Hugin has aided and abetted in the Trump assault on our environment, and needs to be held accountable for his support of a president bent on undoing decades of environmental progress.  I will work every day to protect our environment and have a proven track record of fighting—and winning—because protecting our environment and rising to meet the challenge of climate change is a moral imperative.  The choice in this election couldn’t be clearer.”

Bob Hugin has publicly supported Trump’s decision to pull the United States out of the worldwide Paris Climate Accord.  He is a Trump-Republican who donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to help elect Donald Trump, served as his New Jersey finance chair, a Trump delegate at the Republican National Convention, and held a post on Trump’s transition team.

“The choice for voters on Election Day could not be clearer,” said Rep. Pallone.  “Senator Menendez has been a champion for environmental causes throughout his lifelong career in public service.  We need to send Bob back to Washington so that he can continue to fight against the radical Trump environmental policies we have seen, and to advocate for the policies we need to fight climate change, promote renewable energy, and to continue revitalizing our local economies by cleaning up our toxic sites.”

Since taking office, Donald Trump has proposed drilling in 94% of the nation’s waters—including off the Jersey Shore—and rolled back the common-sense safety standards we put in place after the Deepwater Horizon disaster.  He’s working to repeal the Clean Power Plan, which would put the first-ever limits on carbon pollution from power plants; undermine the Clean Water Rule, which protects the drinking water of 117 million Americans; gut fuel economy standards, even as transportation has become the leading source of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, and gas prices are skyrocketing; and appoint political cronies and industry lobbyists to key environmental and public health jobs throughout his Administration.

“Bob Hugin will side with polluters and special interests over the environment.  As a senator, he will just do whatever Donald Trump wants when it comes to dismantling environmental protections.  Hugin will have a terrible environmental record.  He stands with President Trump’s weakening of important protections that keep our air and water clean.  New Jersey and the nation need a senator who will stand up for the people, not turn their back on them,” said Richard Isaac, Chair of New Jersey Sierra Club.  “Senator Menendez has been an environmental champion for three decades, from blocking offshore drilling off the Jersey Shore to cleaning up toxic sites.  Senator Menendez is a proven, steadfast environmental champion, fighting to protect the health of New Jersey’s environment and the well-being of New Jersey families.”

“Senator Menendez has a pristine record defending our environment from polluters, protecting our coastal waters and advocating a swift transition to clean energy, while Bob Hugin still thinks the Paris Agreement was a bad deal.  Well, losing our coastal communities to unaddressed recurring flooding and having New Jersey residents become climate refugees would be a far worse deal,” said Christine Clarke, a statewide environmental activist.  “We need a Congress that will act decisively and urgently on climate, and that means re-electing Senator Menendez.”

“The stakes have never been higher for New Jersey than in this year’s election. Literally the water you drink, the air you breathe and the land you walk on is on the ballot, and the choice for U.S. Senate could not be clearer. Bob Menendez is the environmental candidate.  He has been an effective champion of Superfund, offshore oil drilling and dumping bans, the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, and the Safe Drinking Water Act,”said environmental advocate David Pringle.  “In contrast, the Trump-Hugin agenda rejects science, denies the climate reality, and opposes the economic prosperity that comes with clean renewable efficient energy.  Dealing with the climate crisis and extreme weather is good for public health and private property.  Bob Menendez has and will deal with it; Bob Hugin has not and will not.  That’s why it’s critical New Jersey re-elects Bob Menendez.”

Bob Menendez’s long and extensive environmental record includes:

·         Stopped the Obama-era plan to drill in the Atlantic (Virginia and southward) and is leading the effort to stop Trump’s plan to drill in the entire Atlantic, including off the coast of New Jersey

·         Secured permanent protections from offshore drilling for deepwater canyons in the Atlantic, and introduced the COAST Anti-Drilling Act to permanently ban drilling in the full Atlantic

·         Supported the Clean Power Plan, which created the first-ever limits on carbon pollution from power plants, and sponsored legislation to stop Trump from repealing the plan

·         Introduced with Sen. Cory Booker the Superfund Polluter Pays Restoration Act, to reinstate the Superfund taxes on chemical and oil companies and help expedite cleanups and hold polluters, not taxpayers, accountable for the environmental messes they create (New Jersey leads the nation with 113 Superfund sites)

·         Cosponsored the Keep it in the Ground Act to phase out all fossil fuel production on federal lands

·         Fought on the Finance Committee to successfully secure extensions for the wind and solar tax credits, and introduced the Close Big Oil Tax Loopholes bill to end subsidies for the largest oil companies

·         Cosponsored legislation to create an offshore wind tax credit, and secured a $47 million commitment for Fishermen’s Energy offshore wind project which would have created green jobs and helped New Jersey achieve clean energy independence, but Gov. Christie—whom Bob Hugin supported—rejected the funds

·         Lead Senate sponsor of the BEACH Act, with Rep. Pallone in the House, and secured annual funding for coastal water quality monitoring grants, after both President Obama and President Trump tried to eliminate them

·         Signed an amicus brief in opposition of Trump’s attempts to roll back the Clean Water Rule, which clarifies the jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act and protects drinking water for 117 million Americans

·         Initiated an Inspector General investigation into former EPA chief Scott Pruitt’s use of special hiring authority—intended to allow EPA to quickly hire technical and scientific experts—to instead hire chemical industry lobbyists to oversee the nation’s chemical safety programs, one of several investigations that led to Scott Pruitt’s resignation

·         Supported increased funding for the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds, and secured funding for lead testing for schools

·         Delivered record transit funding—$600 million annually—for New Jersey to help address transportation emissions, the number one source of greenhouse gas pollution

·         Helped pass a bill to create Paterson Great Falls National Park, and authored a law that added Hinchliffe Stadium to the park’s boundaries

·         Was an original cosponsor of the Delaware River Basin Conservation Act (DRBCA), a new law to fund and coordinate restoration and protection activities across the basin

Bob Menendez has been endorsed by both the Sierra Club and Clean Water Action.