Environment New Jersey joined global warming scientists and religious clergy in cities across the state today to release a new report on global warming solutions entitled A Blueprint for Action: Policy Options to Reduce New Jersey’s Contribution to Global Warming. The report details 11 policy strategies, in addition to four steps New Jersey has already taken, that will cut the state’s emissions of carbon dioxide—the leading greenhouse gas—by 7.4 percent below 2005 levels in the next two decades. The report release was also part of a statewide launch of Environment New Jersey, the new home of NJPIRG’s environmental work, and an ongoing campaign calling on Governor Corzine to pledge to reduce New Jersey’s global warming emissions by 70 percent by 2050.
“As a heavily populated state, New Jersey’s commitment to tackling global warming can have a big impact. Governor Corzine can show that New Jersey has the brain power and technological know how to show other states and the nation that solving global warming is more than possible,” said Suzanne Leta Liou, Global Warming and Clean Energy Advocate for Environment New Jersey.
The report, peer reviewed by many of New Jersey’s leading global warming scientists and policy experts, shows that global warming is real, is happening now, and poses a serious threat to New Jersey’s future. Global average temperatures have increased by 1 degree Fahrenheit in the 20th century (3 degrees Fahrenheit in the wintertime and 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit in the summertime) and are now increasing at a rate of 0.36 degrees Fahrenheit per decade. If the world continues on its present course, global warming emissions could triple in the next half century, with global temperatures increasing by 2.5 to 10 degrees F over 1990 levels by 2100, irrevocably altering the ecological balance upon which life depends and causing sea levels to rise by between 3 inches and nearly 3 feet.
New Jersey’s 127 miles of coastline are threatened; sea level rise of 2 to 4 feet would likely cause submersion or chronic flooding of the state’s coastal treasures, including parts of Atlantic City, the Meadowlands, Cape May, the Delaware Bay Shore and Long Beach Island. Rising sea levels can also lead to saltwater intrusion of coastal aquifers, which are a major source of drinking water. Higher temperatures could also lead to more days of extreme heat and the formation of ozone smog throughout the state during the summertime, exacerbating heat stress among the elderly and children with asthma and other health problems.
A just completed climate change impact study for the North East United States by the Union of Concerned Scientists and the Land Hydrology Group at Princeton University confirms the concerns raised by Environment New Jersey. "This and related studies confirms the need for New Jersey to take steps to reduce the generation of greenhouse gases so as to minimize climate change and its impacts" said Dr. Eric Wood, a Professor at Princeton University and leading expert in hydrology and climate.
New Jersey is a significant contributor to global warming. In 2002, the last year for which complete data are available, the use of energy in New Jersey was responsible for the release of approximately 122 million metric tons of carbon dioxide, the leading global warming pollutant. Were New Jersey its own country, it would have ranked 32nd in the world for emissions during 2002, ahead of nations such as Argentina, Greece and Israel.
New Jersey’s global warming emissions are also on the rise. Between 1990 and 2002, New Jersey’s carbon dioxide emissions from energy use increased by 8 percent. Transportation produces the largest share of carbon dioxide (52 percent), followed by electricity generation (16 percent), direct use of fossil fuels in homes (13 percent), industry (11 percent) and businesses (8 percent). New Jersey also produces emissions from consumption of electricity in other states. According to the federal Energy Information Administration, New Jersey’s emissions of carbon dioxide from energy use could increase by 26 percent over 2000 levels by 2025, with increases from the transportation sector and electricity generation responsible for the bulk of the growth.
“The world’s great religions teach us that God calls humanity to be good stewards of the earth. This country’s current level of greenhouse gas emissions, if left unchecked, will create even more serious environmental dislocation and human suffering in the future. We’re calling on Governor Corzine to make a commitment to reduce our state’s emissions at the level necessary to protect human health and the environment,” said Reverend Fletcher Harper, Executive Director of Greenfaith, New Jersey’s interfaith coalition for the environment.
Over the past several years, New Jersey has committed to actions that will help curb the state’s global warming emissions, which include limiting global warming emissions from cars and power plants, increasing the state’s energy efficiency programs and increasing the use of renewable electricity generation. These actions—if fully implemented—will hold the growth of New Jersey’s carbon dioxide emissions to 10 percent between 2002 and 2025, in comparison to the 26 percent growth that would be expected with no policy action. The 11 strategies outlined in the report are among the many options available to New Jersey to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from energy use far beyond the state’s current programs.
These strategies are:
- Require the sale of energy saving replacement tires that improve vehicle efficiency without negatively affecting safety.
- Require automobile insurers to offer pay-as-you-drive automobile insurance, in which insurance rates are calculated by the mile, rewarding those who drive less while potentially reducing accidents.
- Reduce the number of automobile commutes by requiring large employers to develop programs to discourage single-passenger commuting and provide employees with more transportation choices.
- Adopt policies that would reduce growth in vehicle miles traveled by cars and light trucks on New Jersey’s highways, such as measures to reduce sprawling development and encourage the use of transit and other transportation alternatives.
- Improve New Jersey’s freight rail infrastructure, allowing more goods to move by rail and fewer by truck.
- Push federal officials to increase fuel economy standards for cars and light trucks to at least 40 miles per gallon within the next decade.
- Significantly strengthen New Jersey’s residential and commercial building energy codes.
- Adopt significantly stronger energy efficiency standards for appliances and equipment.
- Establish an aggressive energy efficiency goal and increase funding for New Jersey’s existing energy efficiency programs.
- Expand the use of combined heat and power, in which commercial and industrial facilities use the same energy to generate both electricity and useful heat.
- Adopt measures to reduce government energy use and promote the use of clean energy in government buildings.
Adoption of these strategies, in addition to the steps New Jersey has already taken, will reduce the state’s global warming emissions by 6 percent below 2005 levels by 2020 and 7.4 percent below 2005 levels by 2025. Even with these strategies, however, New Jersey will still need to take additional steps to reduce its global warming emissions by 70-85 percent below today’s levels by the middle of the century—the reduction scientists believe will be necessary to stabilize carbon dioxide levels at 450 parts per million (ppm) to prevent catastrophic climate change. Holding carbon dioxide concentrations below 400 ppm would be even more effective.
In addition to adopting the recommended strategies, the report concludes that New Jersey should commit to achieving global warming emissions reductions of 20 percent below current levels by 2020 and 70 percent by 2050 and adopt further strategies, including the requirement of a strong cap on global warming emissions to provide a financial incentive to phase-out heavy polluting energy sources and encourage the development of cleaner sources of energy. In the New Jersey legislature, Assemblywoman Linda Stender and Senator Barbara Buono have introduced the Global Warming Response Act (A3301/S2114), a mandatory cap on New Jersey’s global warming emissions. Senators Frank Lautenberg and Robert Menendez and Congressmen Frank Pallone, Steven Rothman, Robert Andrews, Donald Payne and Bill Pascrell have also co-sponsored a similar cap at the federal level, the Safe Climate Act (HR5642).
“New Jersey needs specific targets for the performance of its energy sector. We need to state clearly where we want to go in terms of greenhouse emissions, energy security, and economic vibrancy, or else we will never get there,” said Dr. Clint Andrews, Director and Associate Professor of the Program in Urban Planning and Policy Development and Collaborating Faculty at the Center for Energy, Economic and Environmental Policy at the E.J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University.
Additional actions to reduce global warming emissions include requiring owners of passenger vehicles with the lowest fuel efficiency to pay a fee to provide incentives for the purchase of more fuel efficiency vehicles, working with other northeastern states to strengthen the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative in order to achieve greater reductions from the state’s power plants, investigating options for additional policies to reduce global warming emissions from air travel and industrial energy use and reducing global warming emissions other than carbon dioxide.
“New Jersey can help put the nation on the path to a secure future by tackling global warming. If we’re going to stop global warming and protect future generations, we have to start here and now,” said Leta.
A-Blueprint-for-Action.pdf