TRENTON - On the final day of votes before their
summer break, the New Jersey Legislature overwhelmingly passed the Global Warming
Response Act, A3301/S2114, (72-8 in the Assembly, 36-1 in the Senate). This ground-breaking legislation requires a
mandatory reduction of the state’s global warming pollution to below 1990 levels
by 2020 and 80 percent below current levels by 2050. These are the limits
scientists say are necessary to avoid the worst impacts of global warming.
"Global warming is the most urgent
environmental issue in our lifetime,” said Senator Buono,
D-Middlesex. “This legislation
sets up a comprehensive solution to global warming. It will reduce our
dependence on foreign oil and increase energy efficiency, resulting in
significant cost savings for both families and
businesses.”
The passage of the Global Warming Response Act will set
New Jersey
apart by becoming the first state in the nation to require a mandatory 2050
limit on global warming pollution. The act follows Governor Corzine’s Executive
Order, signed in February, establishing parallel goals. The Governor has stated
he will sign the bill.
“In the absence of a federal policy to address climate
change on a national level, states must take the lead to reduce global warming
causing emissions before it is too late, “said Assemblywoman Linda Stender,
D-Union. “Considering New
Jersey’s high energy demand, implementation of the
Global Warming Response Act will make a significant difference on a global scale
and I am confident our success will serve as a valuable example for others
states and this nation to follow.”
The bill’s
implementation is in the hands of the New Jersey Department of Environmental
Protection (NJDEP). The department, in conjunction with other state agencies,
must develop a pollution monitoring and reporting program by January 2009, a
plan to achieve the 2020 limit by no later than June 2008, and a plan to achieve
the 2050 limit no later than June 2010. Solutions to cut pollution levels are
expected to focus on reducing the state’s energy consumption and shifting to
clean, renewable sources of energy in the transportation and electricity sectors
– the two largest sources of global warming pollution in the state.
“By cutting
pollution levels here at home, the New Jersey Legislature is setting the stage
for urgently needed action in other states and the nation,” said Suzanne Leta
Liou, Global Warming and Clean Energy Advocate at Environment New Jersey.
“New Jersey
will also receive the tremendous economic growth benefits of spurred
investment in our growing renewable energy industry and protection from rising
energy prices.”
Environment New Jersey worked in partnership with the
bill’s prime sponsors and the broader environmental community, including the
Sierra Club of New Jersey, the New Jersey Environmental Federation, the New
Jersey Audubon Society and the New Jersey Climate March, to build statewide
support for the Global Warming Response Act. The organizations’ lobbying
efforts signed on a bi-partisan majority of co-sponsors to the bill in both
houses and resulted in the bill’s passage through five legislative committees in
just six months. The organizations also garnered endorsement of the legislation
from 150 organizations, businesses and local elected officials, including the
Mid-Atlantic Solar Energy Industry Association and Public Service Enterprise
Group, the state’s largest electricity provider.
“I have
received overwhelming support for the passage of this bill from constituents,
businesses and community groups throughout my district,” said Assemblywoman
Stender. “The tremendous support I have received from my colleagues in the
legislature echo the same sentiments they are receiving everyday-that New Jersey can no longer
afford to wait and we must take action now.”
New
Jersey is particularly vulnerable to the
impacts of global warming. Without decisive action to cut pollution levels,
global warming is expected to affect every corner of the state in the next
century. New
Jersey could be irrevocably altered by rising seas,
severe flooding, health-threatening temperatures and air pollution, pest
infestation, species decline and challenges to critical public infrastructure.
“The United States has five percent of the
world’s population, yet produces over a quarter of all greenhouse gases,” said
Senator Buono. “We have an obligation to future generations to cut those
emissions now and prevent the catastrophic consequences that may result from
global warming.”
New Jersey’s
action is part of a national trend of states taking the lead in the effort to
tackle global warming. California and
Hawaii have
enacted legislation (AB32 and HB226, respectively) to cap global warming
pollution to 1990 levels by 2020, although Hawaii Governor Linda Lingle has not
yet committed to sign the bill into law. Eight additional states – WA, MD, OR,
NM, WI, CT, RI and MA – are also seriously considering similar legislation.
At the federal
level, the Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act (S309) and the Safe Climate
Act (HR1590) are the only bills that requires mandatory caps on global warming
pollution to 15-20 percent below current levels by 2020 and 80 percent by 2050.
New Jersey Senators Menendez and Lautenberg and Representatives Andrews,
Pallone, Pascrell, Payne, Rothman, LoBiondo and Sires are co-sponsors.
“If we’re going to
solve global warming, we have to start here and now,” said Leta Liou.
