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Standing room only at 'Environment New Jersey's' town hall event attended by Daggett but not Corzine or Christie
Fresh from Labor Day festivities, New Jersey residents packed a room in Westfield on Tuesday to demand that New Jersey's candidates for governor address clean energy issues during the campaign. The event, organized by Environment New Jersey, was a standing room-only event attended by over 100 New Jersey residents and all three gubernatorial campaigns. It was the first event that involved all three campaigns.
"New Jersey's next governor will make critical decisions about our energy future that will last for decades," said Matt Elliott, Environment New Jersey's global warming and clean energy advocate. "In poll after poll, New Jersey voters say they want their government to do more to support clean energy. We organized this event to send that message to the candidates, and to give New Jerseyans a chance to make their voices heard. The people have spoken, and it's more clear than ever that New Jersey's next governor must be a clean energy leader."
Members of the public pressed the candidates and their surrogates to detail their plans for New Jersey's energy future. Citizens asked the candidates to take a stand on a host of issues, including:- Promoting clean energy solutions, including solar and wind power, toward a goal of generating 30 percent of the state's electricity with clean energy by 2020.
- Promoting electric vehicles that will slash air pollution and move New Jerseyans around the state without producing any tail pipe emissions.
- Rejecting any plans that would bring more fossil fuels to New Jersey, including offshore liquefied natural gas facilities, new coal-fired power plants, and mega power lines that would import power from coal country in Pennsylvania.
- Supporting strong federal legislation that would curb global warming pollution.
"This event sent a strong message that New Jersey voters want their next governor to be a clean energy leader," said Elliott. "Now it's up to the candidates. They need to address the issues that the pubic raised on Tuesday, and they need to outline real policies to cut our air pollution, solve global warming, grow the economy, and move us away from the expensive and failed energy policies of the past. No more rhetoric. No more empty photo-ops. It's time for every candidate to tell us what they will do to promote clean, renewable energy in New Jersey."
Independent candidate Chris Daggett attended the event in person. Democratic candidate Gov. Jon Corzine and Republican candidate Chris Christie declined the invitation and instead sent surrogates. Gov. Corzine was represented by Assemblyman John McKeon, Democratic Whip and Chairman of the Assembly Committee on Environment and Solid Waste. Chris Christie was represented by Rick Dovey, President of the Atlantic County Utilities Authority.
"We worked for over a month to plan this event and get all of the candidates in the room to talk about their energy plans. We applaud Chris Daggett for showing up and taking this issue seriously. Gov. Corzine and Chris Christie ignored our calls and invitations for weeks. They ultimately sent strong clean energy champions, but they failed to show up in person and talk to voters about their plans for New Jersey's energy future. Their surrogates declined to comment on the big-ticket energy issues that the next governor must tackle. Before New Jerseyans go to the polls, voters need to know that they will have a governor who is serious about New Jersey's energy future. We gave every candidate an opportunity to come and outline their clean energy vision for New Jersey. Sadly, two of the three declined."
Governor Corzine has developed a ten-year energy master plan for New Jersey that sets goals to significantly curb energy demand, promote solar, and power over one million New Jersey households with electricity generated by a ground-breaking offshore wind project.
"Governor Corzine has set strong clean energy goals for New Jersey," said Elliott. "As we look forward, we need to know that the next governor has real policy plans to implement those goals. Will the next governor position New Jersey as the nation's clean energy leader? Or will he cave to special interests and burden us with more dirty energy sources? That's the question that is still on the table. It's time for the candidates to speak up and outline their energy plans for New Jersey."
The town hall meeting was cosponsored by the TheAlternativePress.com, the New Jersey Highlands Coalition, and Clean Ocean Action.
"Our cosponsors highlight the fact that the next governor's energy policies will affect every New Jersey resident," said Elliott. "From the Highlands to the Shore and all points in between, New Jersey voters need to know - before they go to the polls - that they will have a governor who will move us quickly toward a clean energy future."
Robert Corrales, a spokesman for Gov. Jon Corzine, said the state has not received an application for the construction of a coal plant in Linden. "We would need to get more information to assess its impacts on the local air quality, greenhouse gas emissions and the environment in general,'' he said.
Republican Chris Christie's campaign had no immediate comment on the idea of the development of the coal plant or the offshore liquefied natural gas sites.
— ANDY LAGOMARSINO, NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
