Statement of Dena Mottola, Executive Director, NJPIRG
As the new home of NJPIRG's environmental work, Environment New Jersey can be contacted regarding this news release.
Adoption of the Low Emission
Vehicle Program (LEVII) in New Jersey is a public health victory for everyone
who breathes the air in this state and represents the largest step forward on
clean air policy in decades in New Jersey.
This victory is important
to the people of New Jersey because air pollution in our state amounts to the
number one environmentally based risk to our health. Here in our state, automobiles
are the single largest source of that unhealthy air pollution.
There are many people to
thank for delivering this bi-partisan, clean air victory. First and foremost,
our champions Majority Leaders Roberts and Senate Co-President Bennett deserve
our utmost thanks and appreciation; this is their victory. Similarly, we could
not have passed this bill without the support of Governor McGreevey and NJDEP
Commissioner Brad Campbell. Of course, Senate President Codey and Speaker Sires
made the difference in key moments throughout the effort to pass the bill. Other
key sponsors whose strong advocacy among their caucus members delivered this
victory include Senator Adler, Assemblyman Gusciora, Assemblyman McKeon, Assemblyman
Sean Kean, Assemblyman Ahearn, Senator Lance, Senator Buono, Senator Kean, Assemblyman
Corodemus and Senator Allen. Several key committee people lent our effort crucially
important support including Assemblyman Greenwald, Assemblywoman Watson - Coleman
and Senator Ceisla. Finally, I wish to thank all the 31 Senate members and 53
Assembly members who joined us to stand up for public health in the face of
enormous opposition. This was truly a bipartisan effort; many people rightfully
deserve credit for adopting this bill.
Everyday, New Jerseyans from all walks of life—young, old, sick, healthy,
rich, poor, urban, suburban and rural—breathe egregious levels of air pollution
(see attached fact sheet). Air pollution in New Jersey is a public health problem
second only to smoking and obesity for the number of premature deaths it causes
every year and a major contributor to cancer, heart disease, asthma and other
breathing diseases.
We have only to look to
the traffic in our own communities and on the highways that surround us everyday
to understand how profoundly automobiles contribute to that pollution and why
it is so important in New Jersey, to clean up cars as quickly as possible.
Adopting LEV II in NJ puts
New Jersey at the head of the line along with NY, VT, MA, and CA to get the
cleanest cars possible into our state. As a result, by 2020, joining the LEV
II program will result in annual savings of an additional 2 million pounds of
air borne carcinogens a year and 7.4 million pounds of smog forming chemicals.
(23 percent and 19 percent respectively)
Perhaps the most profound
benefit of this bill is that it requires carmakers to bring viable emission-free
cars to us by a date certain (in the not-so-distant future) and in increasing
numbers over time. This is the promise that we can look forward to: a future
when the daily activities of life, commuting to work / taking the kids to soccer
practice, will not contribute to cancer, heart diseases, asthma and other lung
diseases.
Adopting the LEVII program
in New Jersey is also nationally significant, as our joining the other LEV II
states in the program puts necessary pressure on the U.S. EPA to continue to
consider more stringent car emission standards than they would otherwise, as
California's car emission policies have always done. With NJ joining the other
four LEV II states, fully 25 percent of the US car market is within the LEV
II program. (It is our hope that this represents a tipping point for carmakers
and that they will move to producing only cleaner cars like the ones required
under this program everywhere.)
More than anything else,
imagining an emission free future was the driving force behind all of NJPIRG,
New Jersey Environmental Federation (NJEF) and NJ Sierra Club's efforts over
the last three years. NJPIRG toasts the expertise, commitment and partnership
of NJEF and Sierra Club on this effort. In addition, our canvassers worked tirelessly
going door-to-door to build citizen support for this effort, and effectively
recruited hundreds of thousands of New Jersey residents to write, call, e-mail
and lobby their legislators to pass this bill. Finally, as is true of all worthwhile
and difficult victories, many other environmental and public health groups and
leaders contributed to the effort by offering testimony and support, including
several national groups, especially Environmental Defense.
In conclusion, I'd like to note that NJPIRG has been locked in a historic battle
with the automobile industry for the last three decades as we've been working
to bring New Jersey into California's stronger emission program for that long!
We are thankful that we are moving into a new phase of the effort, which will
no doubt require our ongoing vigilance and advocacy to protect the gains we
have won this week.
