Regenerating native forests to fight climate change
Regenerating native forests to fight climate change
By Michele S. Byers
In the effort to slow climate change, forests are a powerful ally. Trees naturally remove harmful carbon dioxide from the air and store, or “sequester,” it in their roots, branches and wood.
But future generations of giant canopy trees must be able to reproduce. As individual trees are lost to storms, drought, or disease, new generations of saplings and seedlings must be waiting in the understory to fill in gaps that open in the canopy.
Recent studies show that resilient, mature forests will continue to sequester more carbon than newly planted or recently logged forests well into the future.
The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities has unanimously voted to extend the zero emission certificates for the Hope Creek and Salem nuclear power plants for an additional three years.
28 April 2021
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The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) has unanimously voted to extend the zero emission certificates (ZECs) for the Hope Creek and Salem nuclear power plants for an additional three years.
Hope Creek and Salem (Image: Peretz Partensky)
Public Service Enterprise Group Inc s (PSEG) three units - two at Salem and the single-unit Hope Creek plant - were awarded ZECs in 2019 under New Jersey s
Zero Emissions Certificate Law, enacted the previous year. The law enables the state to recognise and compensate eligible nuclear power plants for their zero-carbon attributes and contribution to fuel diversity.
The USD300 million-worth of certificates will ensure that the plants, which supply over 90% of New Jersey s in-state carbon-free generation and 37.5% of its overall in-state energy supply, will remain operational, the BPU said. Stakeholder input and a wide array of market forces were considered in reaching the decision, it added. These included the role
PSEG Applauds BPU s Decision to Extend Zero Emission Certificates (ZECs) for an Additional Three Years to New Jersey s Nuclear Plants
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NEWARK, N.J., April 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ Today, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) unanimously voted to extend the Zero Emission Certificates (ZECs) for New Jersey s three nuclear power plants, Hope Creek and Salem 1 and 2, for an additional three years.
In 2018, the New Jersey Legislature and Gov. Phil Murphy enacted legislation that established a Zero Emission Certificate program to preserve nuclear plants that provide more than 90% of the state s carbon-free electricity. In the state s Energy Master Plan and the Department of Environmental Protection s Global Warming Response Act 80x50 report, New Jersey indicated its intent to preserve its carbon-free nuclear generating resources into the 2050s to meet its 100% clean energy goals.
For Earth’s sake: Looking back on the career of NJ Sierra Club’s Jeff Tittel
Updated 7:30 AM;
In the 23 years Jeff Tittel has led the New Jersey chapter of the Sierra Club, he’s tilted at enough windmills to start a wind farm. But unlike Don Quijote, Tittel has seen more than a few seemingly impossible dreams come true.
Battle after battle, Liberty State Park in Jersey City is still free from private hooks.
Plastic bags have been banned from many uses statewide.
Plans for pollution-producing power generation stations with big political clout behind them, like one proposed just recently for North Bergen, have been withdrawn.