NJ Opts Out of Transportation Climate Initiative: Battle Won Today, War for Justice Continues

Trenton, NJ — The Ironbound Community Corporation, New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance and Clean Water Action released the following statement today in response to this afternoon’s announcement that only 3 (CT, RI, and MA) northeastern states have decided to join the Transportation and Climate Initiative (TCI). Nine states, including New Jersey, rejected joining today.

“We want to state our full support and delight in the State of New Jersey’s decision not to sign TCI’s memorandum of understanding at this time.

“The EJ community both regionally and nationally have been maintaining for years that TCI does not sufficiently center environmental justice (EJ) and equity and therefore should not be used to address GHG emissions from the mobile sector. Now environmental groups like Clean Water Action and Earthjustice have joined a TCI opposition that continues to grow. Centering EJ would at the very least entail creating a policy that does not have a carbon–trading system at its core, as does TCI, and instead utilizes policies that guarantee emissions reductions of GHG co-pollutants in EJ communities while fighting climate change. It also means finding a just and equitable manner to fund such a policy.

“We want to thank Governor Murphy for making New Jersey an EJ leader and we look forward to having further discussions with the state in an effort to ensure that New Jersey’s climate change mitigation policies align as much as possible with EJ.”