Steven Rodas

“There’s a difference between having a concern and demonstrating a fact that proves that concern to be true,” @dep.nj.gov Commissioner @shawnlatur.bsky.social told me on the NESE pipeline.

The feds reviewing/approving the project also limits NJ. But that won’t stop legal challenges from nonprofits.

The Northeast Supply Enhancement pipeline “does nothing” to lower electric bills for New Jersey residents, @mikiesherrill.bsky.social contends.

After freezing utility rates on Day 1, the Gov-elect has promised to drive new power into the grid including solar, battery storage and nuclear.

Can N.J. curb costs without selling its soul? A $1B pipeline shows the dilemma. New Jersey's energy future is stuck between a pipeline and a hard place.

new for @starledger.bsky.social, I spoke with @newjerseypolitics.bsky.social , several nonprofits and gov’t officials about a heated proposal to build a gas pipeline under part of #NewJersey and New York. It comes after an election in which affordability and utility rates were dominant themes.

#COP30
>5000 "lobbyists mingling with world leaders & climate negotiators [..] worked for at least 859 fossil fuel organizations including trade groups, foundations & 180 oil, gas & coal companies involved in every part of the supply chain from exploration & production to distribution & equipment"

Good one from @stevenrodas.bsky.social here

The history of the shacks is bountiful!

As many as 100 (or more) cottages are believed to have dotted the #NewJersey island park at one point.

“We’re just hoping the good Lord fixes everything and we can stay,” 87-year-old Howard Height, who has gone to the shacks his entire life, told me.

The @dep.nj.gov worries the cottages are a “public safety concern” because of rising sea levels and climate change.

“The land will be restored to its natural state,” a spokesperson said. NJ officials also cited a new sanitary sewer line installed at the park which the shacks are not a part of.

N.J. kicks heartbroken families out of iconic Jersey Shore shacks. Demolition awaits. “We’re just hoping the good Lord fixes everything and we can stay," said one 87-year-old resident.

mini-exclusive for @starledger.bsky.social, New Jersey is kicking a group of families from the historic Island Beach State Park fishing shacks. Leave or possibly face eviction after Friday, despite an initial lease agreement. With great photos from Andrew Mills www.nj.com/ocean/2025/1...

Unburned: An Investigation - Bay Nature To protect the Plumas National Forest and its communities from the next megafire, the Forest Service plans to burn it—intentionally. Can $274 million do the job?

This is a really ambitious and cool forestry project and uh...not sure where they are going to find the funding for it now?

Here are the major ways federal/@realDonaldTrump environmental and energy policies and decisions have trickled down to #NewJersey since January (in no particular order)🧵1/

End of🧵This could be longer but ending it there while tracking several things not yet set in stone! 18/18

Congressman Jeff Van Drew says he’s working with local mayors to ensure shore towns are protected (but no doubt New Jersey often tops the list of places to pour sand on shores amid stronger and more frequent storms and “nuisance erosion” which hits the state pretty much every winter now) 17/

Recently, the U.S. Army Corps also said sand replenishment projects in Avalon, Stone Harbor and a section of Ocean City — part of a multi-year effort — have lost their federal funding. A critical q: What will the next federal budget look like for beachfills at the #JerseyShore? 16/

Last week, the @energygov.bsky.social withdrew a $716 million conditional loan that was initially offered under Biden in order to help Jersey Central Power & Light connect offshore wind development to the regional grid 15/

While some are considered “smaller,” proposed $$ cuts to @noaa.gov and the EPA have put in peril the future of everything from New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium’s college program to the size of Hackensack Riverkeeper's annual cleanups to the extent of the Marine Mammal Stranding Center’s work 14/

The @urbaninstitute.bsky.social says for New Jersey this translates to $130 million in BRIC funds in jeopardy. Flood Mitigation Assistance is harder to square but — data shows — NJ was in the top 3 of states to receive these funds from 2020-2024: 59 projects for around $121 million 13/

FEMA in the spring announced the cancellation of the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program and removed the Flood Mitigation Assistance funding for 2025. Those are the 2 largest federal pre-disaster hazard mitigation programs 12/

The President took away the $7,500 tax credit for electric vehicles. That’ll sunset 9/30.

Also after a freeze amid a legal battle, the feds reopened the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program, meaning more than $104 million meant for EV chargers in New Jersey will be coming after all 11/

The EPA terminated its $7 billion “Solar for All” program created to provide renewable and affordable energy to low-income families. In April 2024, @govmurphy.bsky.social said NJ’s Solar for All award was expected to help 22,000 homes within the first 5 years of funding 10/

The U.S. Department of Commerce said it would end about $4 million in funds for climate change research at #PrincetonUniversity. Loss of @noaa.gov money means impacts to things like the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory — where scientists study forecasting and prepare for extreme weather 9/

or a wind farm with concrete foundation in place. Regarding credits in #NewJersey, 30+ solar projects still need approval from grid operator, PJM. That’s likely a year away. Bc of Trump’s tax/spending 2026 construction deadline, those could lose 30% tax credit 8/

The U.S Treasury this summer said it was tightening the clamps on what renewable projects qualify for federal tax credits. The new rules set the onus on developers to prove they are far into the construction of projects. For example: Solar arrays having racks that hold panels installed…7/

In July, a Trump executive order was announced to streamline and accelerate the permitting of data centers nationwide (#NewJersey, home to more than 75 data centers, wants to position itself as a leader in the nascent #artificialintelligence industry — despite concerns about energy-use) 6/

The EJ Law is designed to place higher hurdles on projects in “overburdened communities”

Specific NJ impacts are unclear as of now, but the finding underscores protections for overtly-polluted, low-income as well as many Black and brown neighborhoods 5/

Trump’s administration proposed taking back the scientific finding that’s been at the core of national actions to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and fight climate change. Among the things the “endangerment finding” is important for? New Jersey’s landmark “Environmental Justice Law” 4/

The terminal was designed to be a staging area for massive wind turbines.

This is the latest action to dash the prospects of offshore wind in NJ after the first wind farm slated to be built off the coast, Atlantic Shores, abruptly lost a key federal permit earlier this year 3/

At the end of August, the @usdot.bsky.social said it was ending or taking back $679 million in federal funds for 12 projects meant to support the national offshore wind industry. That includes $20 million for the marine terminal in Paulsboro, NJ, I’ve confirmed 2/

Here are the major ways federal/@realDonaldTrump environmental and energy policies and decisions have trickled down to #NewJersey since January (in no particular order)🧵1/

I hope you understand that if you show up at a hospital with an infection no one has ever seen before that the US had somewhere you could call. That place would answer, offer testing you can’t get anywhere else and come visit you to solve if necessary.

alas, what our landfill enterprise story would have looked like in the @starledger.bsky.social — if we still had the physical paper 🥲