FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Gov Sherrill Budget Address Using “Affordability” to Justify Sweeping Rollback of Environmental Protections

Jeff Tittel Environmental Activist

Budget Address Uses Transition Executive Orders Resurrect Failed Fast-Track Policies, Undermine DEP Science, and Put Communities at Risk

Governor Sherrill Budget is using executive orders as s coordinated rollback of environmental protections—using affordability, efficiency, and crisis framing as political cover.

Jeff Tittel, longtime environmental advocate and former director of the New Jersey Sierra Club, said her sprach executive orders function together as a blueprint for weakening clean-air, clean-water, climate, and land-use protections at a moment when New Jersey faces worsening flooding, rising seas, and growing public-health risks.

“The Budget Afddress and EO'S
aren’t just recommendations—they’re a roadmap for dismantling environmental protection in New Jersey,” said Jeff Tittel. “There isn’t a single new environmental program in them. Instead, they show how to fast-track permits, hand out waivers, privatize oversight, and move decisions out of the hands of scientists and the public.”

The Budget Cuts the DEP Dramatically

The Proposed DEP budget ny 1/3 from $650 Million to $502 million- and the operations budget $15 million about 5%!.If you want increase efficiency you to spend more on staffing and equipment.Instead its a road map to privatization.

Polluters and Developers are now called Costumers what is make the People Suckers .This about permits to pollute and destroy natural resources they are not customers your roll is to protect the environment and the people.

No Climate Plan, No Flood Strategy, No Environmental Vision

note that the Budget s Address and EO''s contain no meaningful commitment to improving clean air, clean water, or safe drinking water. There is no strategy to stop sprawl or overdevelopment, no plan to preserve open space, and no serious response to flooding, sea-level rise, or climate resilience.

Instead, the EO's emphasize regulatory “efficiency,” permit acceleration, and waiver authority—allowing development to move forward even in wetlands, floodplains, coastal zones, and overburdened communities.

“There is more discussion of how to get around environmental rules than how to protect people,” Tittel said. “That tells you exactly whose interests are being prioritized.”

Privatization and Permit Czars: Political Control Over Science

A central concern is the push to privatize key functions of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and centralize permitting authority in the Governor’s Office through a so-called permitting czar.

Under this approach, private consultants—many of whom work directly for developers—could be allowed to prepare, review, and effectively approve permits, while DEP scientists and technical experts are sidelined.

“This isn’t reform or efficiency,” said Tittel. “It’s regulatory capture. It’s worse than the fox guarding the henhouse—it’s the fox designing the henhouse and then certifying it’s safe.”

Environmental advocates warn this structure replaces science-based review with political pressure, speed, and backroom deal-making—dramatically increasing the risk of flooding, pollution, and public-health harm.

A Failed Policy Revived

The approach closely mirrors New Jersey’s failed “Fast-Track” law, which automatically approved permits if DEP did not act within strict deadlines, regardless of environmental harm or legal violations.

That law was so extreme it led the Environmental Protection Agency—under George W. Bush—to rule that New Jersey was violating the federal Clean Water Act.

“If this policy was illegal under a Republican EPA, it should alarm everyone that it’s being resurrected now,” Tittel said.

Undermining Local Control and Public Participation

The transition reports also call for changes to municipal land-use law that would force towns and cities to fast-track development approvals. If local planning or zoning boards fail to meet shortened deadlines, projects could be automatically approved.

Advocates say this strips municipalities of local control, limits public participation, and turns land-use decisions into a race against the clock.

“This is pay-to-play sprawl on steroids,” Tittel said. “Communities lose their voice, and developers win by default.”

Energy Policy That Locks in Pollution

Rather than advancing renewable energy, conservation, and demand reduction, the reports promote expanded natural-gas infrastructure, gas-plant upgrades, and nuclear power, while calling for raids on clean-energy and climate funds such as RGGI.

Energy deregulation allows gas plants in New Jersey to sell electricity out of state, meaning expanded generation will not lower in-state costs—but will increase pollution, fracking, and greenhouse-gas emissions.

“Nuclear power is being sold as a solution, but it’s the most expensive and risky way to boil water,” said Tittel. “It leads to rate hikes, massive subsidies, and long-term financial and environmental risk while crowding out cheaper renewables.”

Using Crisis Language to Bypass Democracy

Environmental advocates warn that the Sherrill Administration is using affordability and energy-crisis language to justify executive shortcuts—regulatory freezes, shot clocks, privatization, and centralized authority—mirroring tactics used by Donald Trump to weaken environmental oversight.

“Whether it’s Trump calling it an energy emergency or New Jersey calling it affordability, the playbook is the same,” Tittel said. “Sidestep the Legislature, weaken public process, and rush approvals before communities can push back.”

Silence from Major Environmental Groups

Advocates also criticized the lack of public opposition from major environmental organizations that endorsed Sherrill but failed to secure firm environmental commitments during the campaign.

“The silence is deafening,” Tittel said. “When Democrats roll back protections, it’s more dangerous—because it gets normalized.”

A State at Risk

Tittel warned that New Jersey cannot afford another period of environmental retreat, following years of rollbacks under Chris Christie and years of limited progress under Phil Murphy.

“Affordability doesn’t come from deregulation,” Tittel said. “It comes from clean air, clean water, safe communities, and smart planning. Undermining environmental protections makes New Jersey more expensive, more dangerous, and less livable.”

NEW JERSEY SNAPSHOT — WHY THIS MATTERS

Most densely populated state in the nation
Top-ranked nationally for building in flood-prone areas
Among the highest for FEMA disaster payouts and flood-insurance claims
Only one watershed meets the Clean Water Act’s highest standards
Facing rising seas, worsening air quality, and growing public-health risks
Public frustration over overdevelopment, traffic, flooding, loss of open space, and privatization of public lands

Jeff Tittel

Environmental Activist