NJ’s Recovery Budget Should Push for Green Recovery

Today, the New Jersey Sierra Club is joining Assemblyman Zwicker and labor, environmental and community leaders in a Virtual Assembly: A Just, Green Recovery for NJ. The event will look at charting a path forward for a pro-climate, pro-worker recovery for our state. Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club, released the following statement:

“A real recovery for New Jersey means a green recovery. We need to have a budget that takes care of people and protects our environment. We need funding in place to build offshore wind and solar, to get lead out of our pipes, and to fix our infrastructure. We can create jobs while targeting pollution reductions in overburdened communities. We are concerned that budget cuts will lead to privatization and leasing out public land to corporations to run and build on. We need to make sure that DEP has the resources it needs to make sure our air is clean and water is pure.

“The way we get to a green recovery is making sure that the wealthy pay their fair share. We need to restore the millionaire’s tax, close corporate loopholes, and end corporate subsidies. We also need to go after polluters and make them pay, because too many have been let off the hook. We should go after Natural Resource Damages (NRD) funds to make up for the budget shortfalls and use money from environmentally disruptive projects. The state should be working to create jobs through renewable energy and energy efficiency instead of widening highways through Environmental Justice communities.

“If we don’t move forward toward a just and green recovery, we will see more layoffs and more budget cuts. The state already cut over $82 million from the DEP’s budget and we are seeing the impacts from lead still in our drinking water to state parks closing. They cut $9.6 million from the parks budget even though DEP park staff are already too low. We used to have over 1,000 DEP park staff, and now they’re under 300. DEP staff levels have already dropped by 57% since the mid-1990s. Cutting park funding is an excuse to privatize and give away NJ’s treasured assets to private companies. New Jersey already has closed 2 state parks and 3 wildlife management areas, and it will only get worse if we don’t get more funding.

“We need to make sure that DEP has enough staff to do enforcement and monitoring to make sure our air is clean and water is pure. They need the resources to clean up our toxic sites, get lead out of our pipes, operate our parks, and to fight climate changes. DEP staff is already at an all-time low. More budget cuts could create a situation where we don’t have enough people to write permits for businesses as they reopen, especially for renewable energy projects to create green jobs. They also took $132 million from NJ Transit, which could impact people who depend on mass transit to get to work, the store, or even a doctor. That is why we need to be investing in a green recovery through this budget.

“Funding clean energy projects and mass transit will help New Jersey create more jobs while reducing climate impacts. Moving forward with electric buses, offshore wind, and solar will help stimulate our economy. Expanding clean energy, mass transit, and getting lead out of our pipes will create jobs while moving our economy forward in an environmentally-sound way. We understand the need to fill the budget gaps, but we cannot keep using environmental programs to fill those gaps. We need to be investing in the environment because that is an investment in  ourselves and our future.”