Posted on 07/06/2007 2:32:42 PM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist
EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey (Reuters) -- New Jersey on Friday became the first U.S. state to mandate sharp greenhouse gas reductions by 2050 in an effort to fight climate change.
New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine, a Democrat, signed a law on Friday making the state the latest to bypass the Bush administration by setting mandatory regulations to fight emissions of gases scientists link to global warming.
"We want to send a message to Washington. Wake up, get with the program and start doing something about greenhouse gases," Corzine told reporters at Giants Stadium on the eve of former Vice President Al Gore's international Live Earth concerts.
The Global Warming Response Act mandates economywide cuts of greenhouse gas emissions by about 16 percent by 2020 and 80 percent by 2050 in the country's most densely populated state.
Scientists say heat-trapping emissions need to be cut by that much to prevent the worst effects of global warming including deadly storms, flooding and droughts.
U.S. states have taken action on their own and in regional groups because the federal government has not yet passed mandatory regulations on the emissions.
Bush opposes mandatory cuts of the gases, favoring voluntary goals.
The U.S. Congress is mulling several bills that would cut output of the gases by employing market mechanisms to trade the right to pollute. But whether a bill will pass before Bush leaves office in 2009 is a matter of keen debate.
California -- the world's eighth largest economy -- recently enacted a tough greenhouse gas law. Like New Jersey's, it also mandates an emissions cut by 2020. But its long term goal of cutting emissions 80 percent by 2050 is a target, not a hard mandate. Environmentalists said the New Jersey law is tougher than California's because its 2050 target is enforceable.
Gore, who also spoke to reporters about the New Jersey law, said he would talk about it in future presentations of his slide show about global warming.
New Jersey, which has a hub of oil refineries and chemical plants in its northern region, aims to fight emissions by promoting renewable energy like solar and wind power and by helping consumers to conserve power.
Public Service Enterprise Group, owner of New Jersey's largest utility, said the law would lead to higher power prices.
"It won't be cost effective. Customers will need to pay more," the company's Chief Executive Ralph Izzo told Reuters at the ceremony where Corzine sighed the bill.
The New Jersey Business and Industry Association opposes the law, saying it would raise fees and give sweeping powers to state agencies.
The law also seeks to deal with emissions from vehicles, the largest source of the emissions in New Jersey, by enhancing public transportation, car-pooling and the shipping of goods by rail instead of truck.
But even environmentalists said the effort will be a tough fight as renewable energy currently only provides a tiny portion of the state's power.
"We need to be careful of congratulating ourselves on this legislation because the hard work is yet to be done," said Doug O'Malley, the field director for Environment New Jersey, a green group that helped form the law.
Let’s see . . . this coming from the passenger riding in a car driving how fast while on his way to grandstanding for the Imus “controversy”?
The pain won’t kick in until the responsible politicians are decades out of office. This is just free symbolism.
More feel good legislation whose goals will never be met. Similar to Kyoto. Let's hope that New Jersey pays a price and the public starts clamoring for the heads of the fools who passed it.
New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine, a Democrat, signed a law on Friday making the state the latest to bypass the Bush administration by setting mandatory regulations to fight emissions of gases scientists link to global warming.Cool. What a boon to other states prepared to absorb the capital flight from the once prosperous state of NJ. If individual states want to hamstring their growth in favour of the cause of the hour, well, let them.
How fitting the announcement by a loser be made in a place where losers work and play.
Now if we can get Bloomberg to make a similar announcement in Yankee Stadium.
Meaningless feel-good legislation.
If they want to economically cripple their state, that’s their right. I’ll be pointing and laughing at their third world existence from my own state.
I dont know much about New Jersey ,but from the few times I have gone through it on the way to new York it stunk worse than any state I ever passed through except Ga..
Ga. blames it on the pulp plants, whats New Jersey’s excuse.
New Jersey will suffer economic consequences for this stupidity. But they deserve it for electing Corzine.
“If they want to economically cripple their state, that’s their right. I’ll be pointing and laughing at their third world existence from my own state.”
Kinda short sighted. Eventually activists will turn up in your state saying that everybody is doing it and your state needs to stop being so old-fashioned. They’ll use NJ and CA to get it passed where you are.
Exactly. Not only out of office, but likely dead.
It might be you. Georgia smells a lot better since you left.
Of course you really didn't mean "free." Free for Corzine, perhaps. But "deferred" is what you were saying.
His grandchildren will somehow wind up footing the bill.
Didn't the legacy of the Kennedy's teach anyone anything?
“We need to be careful of congratulating ourselves on this legislation because the hard work is yet to be done,” said Doug O’Malley, the field director for Environment New Jersey, a green group that helped form the law.
This went quickly from a “feel good” thing to a “maybe we over-did it” thing.
As the old saying goes, “be careful what you wish for.”
But the funniest line is from Gov Corzine himself.
“We want to send a message to Washington. Wake up, get with the program and start doing something about greenhouse gases,” Corzine told reporters at Giants Stadium.
In other words, we’re going to screw the people of NJ and screw up the entire New Jersey economy just to show you we mean business.
They don’t have to worry about meeting these targets.
All the NJ businesses have to do is to buy “carbon credits” for around $500 billion and pass those costs on to NJ consumers!
That’s the ticket to NJ’s future! For sure!
In a follow stunning article in 2025 New Jersey officials are puzzled by the rapid deceleration of business growth and the depopulation of New Jersey.
Some right wing extremist think the very unpopular hated "Green House Laws" passed in 2007 is the root cause of this problem.
Governor Chelsea Clinton believes New Jersey needs to follow the new economic plan in California recently signed into law by Governor Paris Hilton that doubles the tax burden of anyone who can't afford Prada shoes
I say that we let these idiot politicians in these liberal-dominated states do what they want with this craziness. We need to fight to keep the rest of our states living in some resemblance to intelligence...
As NJ’s economy dies because of this insane (and pointless) regulation, the economies of those states that choose rational behavior will continue to work.
Anyone stupid enough to elect such idiots to office deserve what they get.
bump
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.