Although New Year events have limited my NJ Green Updates in the past few days, here are some nuggets that have caught my eye:

[But before beginning, don't forget to check the NJ Green Calendar, a terrific resource. And feel free to email me your events! joe at greenpoliticsnj dot com.]

Water Resources. In "Should towns control the tap?" The Record's Giovanna Fabiano compares the costs and benefits of municipal ownership of water utilities, versus selling to large private water companies.

• Comment: Much of the article implies that it's cheaper to outsource water services because towns save money on maintenance. But there's no escaping this fact of outsourcing: the costs all come back to you, because the company you outsource to must pay the bills as well. Simplistically speaking, the key issue is how well municipalities (1) choose who to sell to, (2) design the contract and ongoing obligations, and (3) oversee the performance of the new owner. All three of these points can have significant environmental implications. One creative solution is covered by this recent Asbury Park Press story titled, "Seeking savings, five towns create water utility."
• Comment 2: The fate of locally-run water authorities is becoming a much hotter topic. Consider: Today The Trentonian writes, "A city [Trenton] awash in red ink could receive a substantial bailout if City Council leaders support a controversial water infrastructure selloff," yet it's lowering its price by $20 million. Separately, note that over 4,000 residents of Warren County this week didn't receive the automated phone calls from Easton Suburban Water Authority that the water wasn't save to drink, writes the Express-Times.
  

State Vehicle Emissions. Earlier today, State Senator Tom Kean (21st District) "called upon the Corzine Administration to reverse their incomprehensible stance on State vehicle purchases and support Republican legislation to promote fuel efficient and alternative fuel vehicle use by both the private and public sectors."

• Comment: See also the Star-Ledger's "Air of Confusion" editorial last week, and my blog post on the state's purchasing of fuel-inefficient vehicles.
• Comment 2: The issue has many facets. For instance, Environment NJ issued a press release today saying: The New Jersey Low Emissions Vehicle (LEV) program officially started on January 1st. One critical piece of the program, a limit on tailpipe emissions of greenhouse gases, will not go forward unless President-elect Obama reverses a decision by the Bush Administration to block thirteen states from implementing it.

Rail Transportation. By now we've all seen the news that the Federal Railroad Administration ruled than plans can move forward for new bridges in a key NJ-NY rail corridor.

• Comment: Important to everything we do in NJ to increase federal money flowing to mass transportation, and redirect some of the over-allocation to roads.
  

Global Warming / NJ. With public meetings beginning this week on NJ's Draft Global Warming Response Act, I've been meaning to comment on this article: "Monmouth County greenhouse gas panel appointed."

• Comment: How many NJ counties plan a systematic effort to reduce emissions?

Global Warming / NJ. Earlier today the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), of which NJ is a part, made public a Letter of Intent to create a Low Carbon Fuel Standard. Massachusetts led the way, and the Letter is being heralded as a further impetus for participating states to reduce the carbon-intensity of the fuel used in those states.


Rally Today [Tuesday] Against Pollution. The Edison Wetlands Association will host its fifth rally against Raritan River polluters. Some detail: Edison Wetlands Association (EWA) will hold a fifth public rally to spotlight the ongoing discharge of carcinogenic chemicals and contaminants into the Raritan River from the Akzo Nobel / Basell industrial site, just 100 yards upstream from the popular Edison Boat Basin fishing spot. The rally will be held on Tuesday, January 6, 2009 from 12-12:30 PM in front of the Basell factory, located at 340 Meadow Road in Edison. Contact: Robert Spiegel, Edison Wetlands Association 732-321-1300 or 732-841-9375.

• Comment: I wrote about these efforts recently in: "ACTION ALERT: NJ Group Rallying Against Horrifying Pollution of Raritan River."

Coal. The Record's James O'Neill writes, "North Jersey unlikely to face coal ash flood" similar to the catastrophe in Tennessee.

• Comment: The headline masks reminders further-down in the article about PSE&G's harmful storage of coal ash. Even these reminders are only part of the story on PSE&G's storage problems with coal by-products. The article also masks that coal emissions are harmful, no matter how the coal industry tries to rebrand itself.

Grants. "Eight Central Jersey environmental groups get Dodge grants," writes My Central Jersey in a profile of the groups, following the December 23 news release by teh Dodge Foundation. The article contains nice comments about all eight groups. It begins: "The Center for Urban Environmental Sustainability, GreenFaith and the New Jersey Sustainable State Institute, all in New Brunswick; the Edison Wetlands Association; the New Jersey Audubon Society in Bernardsville; the New Jersey Conservation Foundation in Far Hills; the Passaic River Coalition in Warren and the Hunterdon Land Trust Alliance in Flemington were among the mostly New Jersey-based organizations to receive grants, the foundation announced yesterday."

• Comment: Tremendous ... kudos!

New Pipeline. Proposed installation of 128 miles of 30-inch natural gas pipeline through PA and NJ is causing concern.


Green Party of NJ: Issues a short statement, beginning with: "Let's Run More Green Candidates in 2009."

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