Date : Tue, 13 Jan 2015 15:05:27 -0500
For Immediate Release
January 13, 2015
Contact Jeff Tittel, 609-558-9100
Jeff Tittel's statement on Governor Christies State of the State
"The Governor's State of the State speech wasreally for his national audience, not for New Jersey. The Governor was taking a victory lap for his failed policies. For a lot of what the Governor said, residents of New Jersey know it not to be true. The Governor said we are 3rd in the nation for solar installations, however in reality we have gone from 2nd to 6th in solar installations under Governor Christie. That has cost us around 5,000 jobs in the solar sector."
"The Governor failed to mention the environment, but how could since the Environmental State of the State under Governor Christie is horrendous. The only environment the Governor cares about is the political environment in Iowa and New Hampshire. The Governor has rolled back and weakened environmental protections. He has eliminated important programs for clean air, clean water, and to clean up toxic sites. He has vetoed bills to ban fracking waste and fracking, while at the same time has taken over a billion dollars of clean energy money to balance the budget. This robbery has cost New Jersey thousands of clean energy jobs, has increased air pollution in our state, and continues to contribute to climate change."
"The Governor denies that climate change exists, has pulled out of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, refused to move forward on offshore wind rules, and has closed the Office of Climate Change. The Governor supports Keystone and other pipelines throughout New Jersey. After being devastated by Superstorm Sandy we are still not dealing with sea level rise or climate change. Instead, we keep putting people and property in harm's way. All his actions have consequences. We were once 8th in the nation for energy efficiency, we are now we are now 24th. We were 2nd in the national for solar installations, we are now 6th. We were once leaders, now we are falling behind because of Governor Christie's failed policies."
"Governor Christie continues to side with Big Oil and Koch Brothers over New Jersey's environment. He is trying to bring commercial development into our state parks, while weakening protections in the Highlands, Pinelands, and Meadowlands. We have given $4.5 billion in subsidies for developers, yet no money for open space, cleaning up our water, or improving transportation. What is even worse is he has taken $140 million from the Passaic River settlement. This is money that should have gone to help the people impacted by the pollution, but instead is being used to balance the budget. The Governor has held New Jersey's environment hostage to his national political ambitions. The Governor and this Administration is an Environmental Disaster," said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey sierra Club.