Global Warming News

Trenton – Environment New Jersey renewed its ongoing call today on Governor Corzine to develop a global warming action plan for the state.  That action plan, said the group's Executive Director, should have been the priority item on the agenda for today's closed door meeting with insurance and finance industry leaders.  The governor's meeting was called to discuss a fund to finance catastrophic shore storm risks. "When it comes to global warming policy, the Governor's priorities are skewed. Everyone is threatened by the effects of global warming, not just the insurance industry.  The Governor's priority should be developing a plan to help solve global warming in the first place," said Dena Mottola, Executive Director of Environment New Jersey, the new home of NJPIRG's environmental work. Global warming poses a serious threat to New Jersey's future.  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 Fahrenheit 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 leading global warming scientists have reported that a 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, and increased air pollution. 

New Jersey is a significant contributor to global warming.  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. 

"As a heavily populated state, New Jersey's commitment to tackling global
warming can have a big impact.  By developing a global warming action plan
for the state, Governor Corzine can show that New Jersey has the brainpower
and technological know how to show other states and the nation that solving
global warming is more than possible," said Mottola.

The group released a report last week, A Blueprint for Action: Policy
Options to Reduce New Jersey's Contribution to Global Warming, which details
11 strategies -steps that Governor Corzine and the state of New Jersey can
and should take, right away, to significantly reduce New Jersey's global
warming emissions.  The report is the first comprehensive analysis of global
warming solutions done for the state of New Jersey. (To find the report, go
to www.environmentnewjersey.com.)

Mottola continued, "The insurance industry is powerful and resourceful.
They can be a force for change that benefits everyone, and not just their
own financial interest.  Governor Corzine should have thrown open the doors
of his closed door meeting today to also involve innovators,
environmentalists, policy experts, citizens, health professionals and others
in the formation of a real global warming action plan, one that acts to
prevent global warming.

She concluded, "As governor of one of the world's leading contributors to
global warming, Governor Corzine has a responsibility to develop a
meaningful action plan that makes reducing the state's greenhouse gas
emissions a top priority."