Murphy Breaks Promise, Underfunds Energy, Climate, Transit Despite Historic Surplus

Trenton, NJ: Amy Goldsmith, Clean Water Action’s NJ State Director released the following statement today:

“Governor Murphy’s proposed budget reveals a shocking lack of urgency in addressing the climate crisis despite repeated commitments to the contrary and a historic $10 billion surplus. The governor has been talking a big clean energy game, but the continued raids to the Clean Energy Fund mean that programs to make clean energy accessible to lower income residents continue to be out of reach or delayed for those most in need.

“Additionally, the budget continues the bad practice of raiding NJ Transit’s capital budget to fund its operating budget. That means less mass transit improvements and transit riders continuing to experience the pain of equipment failures, dirty diesel, ride delays, cancellations and fewer routes.

“Governor Murphy says that he stands behind his promises. He promised to stop Clean Energy Fund raids, “fix NJ Transit if it kills him”, and end the Corporate Business Tax (CBT) surcharge. Which promise does he keep? Only one, the one that gives money to the wealthiest corporations and takes money away from doing public good, mitigating climate change, making the state more affordable, and enabling everyone to be part of a growing economy. This is a massive tax cut to giant corporations by ending the Corporate Millionaire’s Tax.

“Instead of taking advantage of the current massive budget surplus to invest in critical climate programs, it appears that clean energy and mass transit will continue to be underfunded and the governor will rob Peter to pay Paul to give Amazon a tax cut.

“The tax cut for giant corporations will immediately reduce the funding for green acres and blue acres, programs that preserve the limited open space NJ has left as well as the buffer zones that protect neighborhoods from flooding. But it’s worse than just the immediate and obvious cuts to specific environmental funds. Cutting taxes for giant corporations when there are still so many underfunded and unfunded programs in NJ, says that our state values billionaire profits over public infrastructure, health care, public schools, and our climate future.

“The governor’s actions today underfunding climate and tomorrow arguing in appeals court against implementing a climate law he signed contradict his words just two weeks ago”, concluded Goldsmith, contrasting the governor’s February 15 climate speech with his proposed budget and the Appellate Division of the Superior Court hearing on NJDEP vs. Empower NJ in New Brunswick tomorrow at 10 AM.

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Since the organization’s founding during the campaign to pass the landmark Clean Water Act in 1972, Clean Water Action has worked to win strong health and environmental protections by bringing issue expertise, solution-oriented thinking, and people power to the table. www.cleanwater.org

On Fri, Feb 24, 2023 at 1:41 PM David Pringle <dpringle1988@gmail.com> wrote:

Update on yesterday’s press release embedded below …

The Governor’s Office missed today’s noon deadline for the EJ law to go into effect before April. This failure to act gives major polluters damaging already overburdened communities a greater chance to avoid complying with the law. Several controversial projects (e.g., proposed and existing gas plants and garbage incinerators in Camden, Kearny, Newark and Woodbridge) have already taken advantage of the Administration’s repeated delays in adopting rules that it had promised to adopt by November 2021.

The next 2 pressing deadlines concerning the Administration’s commitment to climate justice in the aftermath of the Governor’s speech last week are right around the corner:

1) Will the Governor announce the end to raiding NJ Transit’s capital budget and the Clean Energy Fund’s support for the low income in his budget address at 2 pm on Tuesday, Feb. 28th; and

2) Will the Administration settle the Empower NJ v. NJDEP climate lawsuit before scheduled oral argument in the Appellate Division in New Brunswick at 10:10 am on Wednesday, March 1st?

Sent from my iPhone (908-967-1672)

On Thu, Feb 23, 2023 at 2:58 PM David Pringle <dpringle1988@gmail.com> wrote:

Deadline Looms Tomorrow For NJ’s Long-Delayed Environmental Justice Rule

Murphy Administration actions needed today even as we plan for tomorrow

For Immediate Release: Thursday, February 23, 2013

Contact: Kim Gaddy, Cell: 973-914-2449, kgaddy@cleanwater.org

Amy Goldsmith, Cell: 732-895-2502, agoldsmith@cleanwater.org

Eric Benson, NJ Campaigns Director, Cell: 908-510-0196, ebenson@cleanwater.org

Trenton, NJ — Clean Water Action said today the Murphy Administration must finish delivering on previous environmental justice (EJ) and climate commitments even as it initiates important new proceedings to combat the climate emergency. The first deadline is noon tomorrow for the long-delayed EJ rule to go into effect before April. DEP must submit the adopted rule, which would be the nation’s strongest, to the NJ Register by then.

Governor Murphy signed the EJ law in September 2020 and advocates accepted a delay in implementing the law when the Murphy Administration committed to adopting the needed rule by November 2021. Governor Murphy in a speech last week said the rule could be further delayed until April 2023 or later.

“As we approach the end of Black History Month, let justice reign! Justice delayed is justice denied and our overburdened communities can’t afford any more delay in this rule, even a couple weeks,” stated Kim Gaddy, Clean Water Action’s national environmental justice director, noting the delay has allowed gas plants and garbage incinerators in Camden, Kearny, Newark and Woodbridge to not comply with the law.

The EJ law and rule are part of a package of climate and EJ laws [i] and executive orders [ii] Governor Murphy signed between 2018-2021 and added to last week (EO’s 315-317) that make a powerful framework to combat the climate emergency, promote environmental justice (EJ), create good jobs and grow NJ’s economy, and protect people, property and the environment.

“It’s a great framework but it will collapse if implementation isn’t accelerated. It’s a mammoth undertaking and, even after discounting it always takes longer than one would like and it never all gets done, we’re way behind schedule [iii] and running out of time when it comes to climate change and Governor Murphy’s term of office,” warned Amy Goldsmith, Clean Water Action’s NJ State Director.

The advocates highlighted: (1) immediate actions the Administration must take, finishing and enacting commitments ready for action today; and (2) important, new initiatives the governor laid out last week that will take years to realize:

(1) Immediate Actions Needed:

• Get the EJ rule done by Feb. 24th so it goes into effect in March, not April [iv];

• End Clean Energy & NJT capital raids in Feb. 28th proposed budget speech [v];

• Settle Empower NJ lawsuit filed by March 1st Appellate division oral argument including commencing rulemaking to establish and reach annual benchmarks to reduce climate emissions 80% by 2050 (PACT CPR 2);

• Propose and adopt the strongest Advanced Clean Car II rule in 2023, not next year [vi] – stakeholder meetings have already been scheduled (March 7th & 13th);

• Oppose the 7 proposed major NJ fossil fuel projects [vii] to comply with EO 274;

• Adopt the Inland Flood Protection rule by May 1st; and

• Propose additional flood (REAL) rules by May 1st not summer 2023 [viii].

(2) Longer Term Initiatives Just Announced:

• Adopt a truly Clean [ix] Energy Standard (CES, EO 315) that prioritizes in-state jobs and energy for offshore wind and solar to achieve 100% by 2035;

• Chart a path for getting New Jersey off natural gas (EO 317) and other fossil fuels; and

• Accelerate electrification of heating/cooling buildings (EO 316) and the transportation sector.

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Since the organization’s founding during the campaign to pass the landmark Clean Water Act in 1972, Clean Water Action has worked to win strong health and environmental protections by bringing issue expertise, solution-oriented thinking, and people power to the table. www.cleanwater.org

[i] Most notably the July 2019 amendments to the Global Warming Response Act, the January 2020 short-lived climate pollutants law, and the September 2020 EJ Law.

[ii]  Most notably the EJ EO 23, Energy Master Plan EO 28, Protection Against Climate Threats (PACT) EO 100, and EO 274, which follows the science, to make state policy cutting climate emissions 50% by 2030.

[iii]  Governor Murphy ordered DEP in January 2020 via EO 100 to adopt roughly a dozen PACT rules by January 2022 — 4 have been adopted (on average 7 months late), 2 proposed and may be adopted 15 – 20 months late, 5 have yet to be proposed, and one was rejected after being proposed a year late.

[iv] The Administration promised to adopt this rule that allows the 2020 EJ law to go into effect by Nov. 2021.

[v]  In each of his first 5 years in office, the Governor broke his 2017 promise to end these raids.

[vi] Unlike other states, NJ missed applying these stronger standards for the first model year.

[vii]  Pending projects include the Hudson County Turnpike Expansion, Gibbstown LNG port, REAE gas pipelines, and the CPV, NJT or PVSC gas plants, while past projects the Governor has opposed include the North Bergen gas plant, PennEast and NESE gas pipelines.

[viii] The Governor ordered these rules in January 2020 to be adopted by January 2022.