Climate Change

New Jersey will offer $5,000 rebates to drivers who buy electric cars and $500 to people who install charging equipment in their home, in a bid to accelerate the nascent industry and move the state toward a 100% clean energy economy.

Gov. Phil Murphy, who signed the law Friday, said switching from gas-powered to electric vehicles is key to fighting climate change in a state where the transportation sector accounts for more than 40% of greenhouse gas emissions.

A proposal in New Jersey would provide rebates of up to $5,000 to people who buy electric cars and set statewide goals for their future use, in what lawmakers hope will be a boost to an industry that is still eclipsed by traditional gas-powered automobiles.

Supporters said the move would also be a major step in fighting climate change in New Jersey, where the transportation sector accounts for more than 40% of greenhouse gas emissions.

New Jersey is marking the anniversary of Superstorm Sandy with a new set of policies to address climate change.

At a press conference in Hoboken, Gov. Phil Murphy said the state faces increasing threats from climate change seven years after Sandy, which damaged tens of thousands of homes in New Jersey and killed dozens of people.

“Even though we know we’ll never have another Sandy,” Murphy said, “it would be naive of us to think that we won’t ever see one of Sandy’s siblings in New Jersey.”

An innovative system to finance energy efficiency upgrades for renters and low-income people has been gaining traction around the country. The system, basically run by two men working out of their home offices in Vermont, is running in eight states.

The latest National Climate Assessment was recently released, a congressionally mandated review detailing the impacts of climate change in America.  Rutgers Institute of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences director Robert Kopp says its fundamental message is to stabilize the climate by bringing greenhouse gas emissions down to zero, and then mitigate the impacts being experienced now.

New Jersey lawmakers held a hearing in the shore community of Lavallette to examine the potential impact of climate change.

Professor Anthony Broccoli of the Rutgers Climate Institute says, depending on future carbon dioxide emissions that warm the ocean and melt ice sheets, sea level along the Jersey Shore is expected to rise 17 inches by 2050 and up to 41 inches by 2100. And studies indicate tropical storms intensity is likely to increase.

A coalition of more than 30 environmental, labor, and community organizations says climate change poses a massive threat to New Jersey and is urging the state to do more to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase clean energy.

Dan Fatton is executive director of the Work Environment Council. He says the collation is a ray of hope in the Trump era.