Rep. Pallone Keeps Subcommittee. "U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone (D-Long Branch) will remain as the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health after an agreement announced [Dec. 18] by Henry Waxman and John Dingell. Dingell had hinted that he might challenge Pallone for the powerful subcommittee post after losing the full committee chairmanship to Waxman last month" wrote PolitickerNJ.

• Comment: This is an unheralded yet important victory for the national environmental agenda, even though Pallone's subcommittee is more directly healthcare policy related, rather than the wider issue of human health in the environment. Pallone has been a staunch advocate of the environment, and picked up many green-group endorsements over the years. It's important that Waxman, now chairman of the full Energy and Commerce Committee, will have Pallone as an ally to advance both men's agendas. Recall that Waxman's recent defeat of Dingell to become the full committee chairmanship was reported widely as a HUGE victory for the environment. Waxman has propelled many key environmental initiatives, while Dingell was a staunch defender of U.S. automakers' oil-loving lobby.
  

Recycling. Woodbridge to phase in single-stream recycling line starting Jan 5, writes Alyssa Giachino for My Central Jersey (hat tip Shore11.) Comment: Note the growing popularity and economic-common sense of single-stream recycling. Recycling rates can rise quite sharply (as in doubling or tripling) as people need to spend less time separating garbage. I wrote about the impact on single-stream on New York state here.

Pollution. "Researchers with the NJ Geological Survey are testing groundwater and sampling soil to find the cause of arsenic-contaminated wells in homes on Upper Denmark Road in Oxford Township," reports Bill Wichert of The Express Times. The analysis should be done by spring, says the NJDEP.

ACTION ALERT - Indian Trail Swamp. The American Littoral Society has published a new action on its website (I'm contacting the Society for details): "Help Win Fight to Save Key Gem within Cape May County's Indian Trail Swamp" is the headline. The introduction continues to the Action continues, "The 250-acre forest is threatened by a proposed large-scale sand mining operation and industrial recycling facility. After a hard-fought battle led by the Society and local grassroots groups, Friends of Indian Trail, Albrecht and Huen and its subsidiary Future Mining Inc., were granted local approvals by Middle Township on December 11. However, the fight is far from over as the developer must still submit applications to NJDEP for the all-important CAFRA and Wetlands Permits"

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