Trenton, NJ – Less than a
week after a public hearing in West Orange that drew 200 citizens, global
warming scientists and policy experts on the Global Warming Response Act
(A3301/S2114), the New Jersey Assembly Environment and Solid Waste Committee
passed the bill out of committee today. The Global Warming Response Act
is ground-breaking legislation that requires a science-based cap on
statewide global warming pollution to below 1990 levels by the year 2020, about
a 20 percent reduction below current levels.
“The Assembly Environment
Committee members, led by Committee Chairman John McKeon, made a firm
commitment to solving global warming today,” said Suzanne Leta Liou,
Environment New Jersey’s Global Warming and Clean Energy Advocate. “We are looking to the leadership of the
committee members, Assemblywoman Linda Stender, who introduced the legislation,
Assembly Speaker Joe Roberts and the long list of co-sponsors to pass this bill
right away. Global warming is the most
pressing environmental issue of our time and New Jersey is starting to address
it not a minute too late.”
“New Jersey’s coastal areas are densely populated,
support a $16 billion tourism industry and provide a unique habitat for
thousands of plant and animal species,” said Linda Stender (D-Union). “If we
continue to ignore the effects of global warming, we run the risk of loosing
these priceless resources forever to rising sea levels, flooding and violent
storms. Fortunately, we have the tools to reduce global warming now. By
implementing the Global Warming Response Act, we will put New Jersey on the
right track and save our coastal region from potentially devastating
consequences.”
The next step to moving the
bill through the Legislature is for Assembly Speaker Roberts to hold a vote and
pass the bill on the Assembly floor. With more than 20 Assembly co-sponsors across the state, including five Prime
Sponsors – Asw. Linda Stender, Asm. John McKeon, Asw. Valerie Vainieri-Huttle,
Asm. Reed Gusciora and Asw. Linda Greenstein – the bill is quickly garnering
widespread support. The bill is also
building support in the Senate, with 7 co-sponsors, including Prime Sponsors
Barbara Buono and Tom Kean Jr.
At today’s committee meeting,
several policy experts testified that the global warming solutions resulting
from the bill’s passage are available today and are key to growing New Jersey’s
economy by promoting investment in clean, renewable energy technologies and
protecting consumers from rising energy prices.
“Right now, the investment
community is ramping up their clean energy portfolio with the knowledge that
the high price of carbon is just around the corner. They see the lucrative prospect of investing
in a new kind of economy, a clean energy economy,” said Liou. “We can be laggards and continue our
reliance on the dirty, polluting, fossil-fuel based industry of the past, or we
can be leaders and develop a niche market for our state, producing the clean
energy technologies of the future. Our
leadership will ensure New Jersey is ahead of the curve and receives tremendous
economic gain and business opportunities as a result.”
