Governor Murphy, DEP Urge Residents to Act to Improve Air Quality and Combat Climate Change During Air Quality Awareness Week
(21/P014) TRENTON – Governor Phil Murphy has proclaimed May 3 to May 7 Air Quality Awareness Week in New Jersey, urging residents to learn about the importance of healthy air, make simple changes to reduce air pollution, improve their health and partner with the Department of Environmental Protection to combat climate change.
“We are improving air quality for all New Jerseyans while also reducing the greenhouse gas emissions that fuel climate change, moving the State aggressively toward our goal of 100 percent clean energy by 2050,” Governor Murphy said. “Clean air is critical to our public and environmental health, and I encourage every resident to make simple lifestyle changes to help improve air quality in their communities and join our fight against climate change.”
Climate change is reshaping N.J. See the state’s new plan to adapt.
Updated 3:30 PM;
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For years, houses have been disappearing from the Watson-Crampton section of Woodbridge one of the most frequently flooded neighborhoods in the New Jersey.
No, the homes haven’t been washed away. They’ve been purchased by the state, as the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s Blue Acres program works to buy out flood-prone properties, demolish the houses and turns the land into an open space barrier to keep future stormwaters at bay.
More than 160 homes in Woodbridge, in this neighborhood and four others, have been bought out, torn down and are now slowly converting into parkland. Across the state, 759 such buyouts have been completed in 19 municipalities through the Blue Acres program was launched in 2013.
In a continuing effort to ensure the potential impact to climate and change continues to be a priority, Gov. Phil Murphy signed legislation that will encourage municipalities to assess the effects of climate change on their towns in their master plan.
The new law (formerly bill A2785) requires that the land use plan element of a municipal master plan include a climate change-related hazard vulnerability assessment. The law is effective immediately and will apply to any future land use plan.
The law also requires the Department of Environmental Protection, upon request by a planning board, to provide technical assistance, as practicable, to a municipality preparing a climate change-related hazard vulnerability assessment required by the law.
A commissioner’s farewell and hopes for a stronger, fairer, greener New Jersey | Opinion
Updated Jan 14, 2021;
Posted Jan 14, 2021
Catherine R. McCabe, New Jersey’s 17th commissioner of environmental protection, appointed a member of Governor Philip D. Murphy’s Cabinet in January 2018, will retire from public service on Jan. 15, 2021. (Edwin J. Torres/ Governor s Office.)Edwin J. Torres
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By Catherine R. McCabe
When Gov. Phil Murphy asked me to join his cabinet as New Jersey’s Commissioner of Environmental Protection in January 2018, we faced daunting challenges.
Climate change the greatest environmental challenge of our times had been ignored for eight critical years, our aging water infrastructure had been neglected, damages to our natural resources were left unaddressed, and our environmental justice communities desperately needed our partnership and commitment to improve public health and revitalize forgotten neighborhoods.
This blog is the third in a series exploring the state of electric vehicle policy in New Jersey. The series takes a deep dive into the transportation electrification policies New Jersey will need to meet its ambitious climate laws. Together, they explore whether New Jersey needs more ambitious transportation electrification goals