New Jersey governor signs toughest U.S. carbon law

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.

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.

>>>>But they deserve it for electing Corzine.

He wasn’t ‘elected’. Try Selected.

NJ Defied Federal Orders to Promote Fraud

Even though the State of NJ was under Federal Orders NOT to use their voter registration “legacy” system which contains DEAD voters and People that long moved away, THEY DID IT ANYWAY.

What NJ DID:

http://www.govtech.net/magazine/channel_story.php/101667

A stipulation and order agreement between the state and federal governments provides New Jersey additional time to implement a statewide voter registration database while ensuring that the November 7 general election operates fairly and guarantees all eligible voters the right to vote, Attorney General Stuart Rabner announced today.

The agreement allows the postponement of full implementation of the statewide voter registration system, which was scheduled to be in effect under provisions of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) and a related state law. Instead, the state will use the existing county voter registration rolls as the official system for this fall’s election.

The state today also sought a declaratory judgment in Superior Court delaying the full implementation of the statewide voter registration system because exclusive use of the statewide system that could result in problems that could threaten the integrity and orderly administration of the election.

What NJ was ORDERED Not to Do:

http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/voting/nvra/nj_hava_comp.htm

The State of New Jersey is not in compliance with several provisions of Section 303(a) of HAVA, and was not in compliance by January 1, 2006.

21. Defendants violations of Section 303(a) of HAVA include the following:

(a) Defendants have not completed a computerized statewide voter registration list that serves as the sole system for managing and storing the State’s list of registered voters, see 42 U.S.C. § 15483(a)(1)(A)(i);

(b) Defendants’ current computerized statewide list does not contain the name and registration information for all legally registered voters in the State, see 42 U.S.C. § 15483(a) (1)(A)(ii);

(c) Defendants cannot use the current computerized statewide list as the official registration list for the November 2006 general election, which include elections for federal office in the State, see 42 U.S.C. § 15483(a)(1)(A)(viii);

(d) Defendants have not performed list maintenance on the statewide computerized registration list by removing duplicate registrations from the list, see 42 U.S.C. § 15483(a)(2)(B)(iii); and

(e) Defendants have not required applicants for voter registration to provide a driver’s license number (if they have such number) or the last four digits of the applicant’s social security number (if the applicant does not have driver’s license number) on voter registration applications, see 42 U.S.C. § 15483(a)(5)(A)(i).

22. As a result of the failure of Defendants to take the actions set forth in Paragraph 21 above, there is no statewide voter registration list in the State of New Jersey that complies with the requirements of Section 303(a) of HAVA.

23. Unless and until ordered to do so by this Court, Defendants will not come into compliance with Section 303(a) of HAVA.

SECOND CAUSE OF ACTION
24. Plaintiff restates and incorporates herein by reference the allegations contained in Paragraphs 1 through 23 of this Complaint.

25. Pursuant to the NVRA and New Jersey law, the New Jersey Attorney General is the chief state election official responsible for the conduct of list maintenance. 42 U.S.C. § 1973gg-8; N.J. Ann. Stat. 19:31-6a.

26. Defendants have not complied with the list maintenance requirements of Sections 8(a)(3) and (4) of the NVRA because:

(a) Defendants have not completed a general program to remove deceased registrants from the State’s official list of registered voters, see 42 U.S.C. § 1973gg-6(a)(4)(A); and

(b) Defendants have not performed or completed a general program that identifies and removes registrants who have had a change of residence, see 42 U.S.C. § 1973gg-6(a)(4)(B).

27. As a result of the Defendants’ failure set forth in Paragraph 26 above, the State of New Jersey has not complied with the list maintenance requirements of Section 8(a) of the NVRA, 42 U.S.C. § 1973-gg(a).

28. Unless and until ordered to do so by this Court, the Defendants will not take timely actions necessary to ensure that list maintenance requirements are performed as required under Section 8 of the NVRA.

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