New Jersey environmental wins and losses of 2020
New Jersey environmental wins and losses of 2020
By Michele S. Byers
The year 2020 will go down in history as the year of the COVID-19 pandemic, with many lives lost, lockdowns, school and business closings, economic uncertainty and political divisions. In the midst of it all we found a silver lining as New Jerseyans embraced and enjoyed parks and green spaces.
The past year this state we’re in saw encouraging progress on climate action, clean energy, environmental justice, reductions in plastic pollution, and more preserved open space and farmland.
Parks and open space – It is no secret New Jerseyans love nature and open space as demonstrated by the overwhelming success of every statewide land preservation ballot question in the past 60 years.
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Trucks are pictured on a highway in this file photo. (AP Photo/Ben Margot, File)
This story originally appeared on NJ Spotlight.
New rules to curb global warming pollution from power plants, smaller commercial and industrial boilers, and to shift New Jersey’s medium- and heavy-duty truck market from fossil fuels to zero-emission vehicles are being drafted by the state.
The proposals, expected to be published this spring by the Department of Environmental Protection, stem from a nearly year-old executive order by Gov. Phil Murphy aimed at helping achieve the goals of a new Energy Master Plan and the more than decade-old Global Warming Response Act (GWRA).