During the Gubernatorial campaign, there were few people who were more outspoken (and hyperbolic) against Governor Corzine than the Sierra Club's Jeff Tittel. He ignored the fact that then-candidate Chris Christie vowed to "gut" the NJ Department of Environmental Protection. He pretended that Christie's views which left no doubt about how low of a priority initiatives such as green energy, clean air and water as well as protecting our natural resources were didn't exist. He minimized Corzine's efforts that made New Jersey consistently in the top 2 or 3 states in the entire nation when it came to the very issues that his Sierra Club held dear.
While Tittle may very well be precisely on point, this should come as no surprise. Whether Tittel likes it or not, much of this blame falls squarely on his shoulders. He was the one who was reckless in his "strategy" during the campaign - trying to settle some political score instead of looking out for the longer term and the bigger picture. Unfortunately for the rest of New Jerseyans, our air and water very well may be more toxic and less safe due to Tittel's shortsighted and petty behavior a few months ago.
Jeff Tittel, the executive director of the NJ Sierra Club who cares more about his ego than the environment, famously blasted Jon Corzine for his environmental record.
Yet more and more good environmental news keeps coming out, suggesting that the board members of the Sierra Club might want to consider whether Mr. Tittel is the right person for the job.
Companies around the state released millions fewer pounds of pollution in 2008 than the year before, but the ConocoPhillips Bayway refinery in Linden generated 11 percent more pollution, according to new numbers from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Collectively, the state's top two pollution generators, the Linden refinery and a DuPont facility in Deepwater, created more than half of the pollution, by the pound, reported in the state--about 9 million pounds out of 15.6 million pounds overall.
Jeff Tittel famous called the Corzine administration the "worst environmental administration in history." Yet repeatedly we read things like this report putting NJ at the top of the environmental heap.
A new report on state renewable energy regulations gives California, Colorado, New Jersey and Oregon top marks and failing grades for Georgia, Idaho and Texas.
Promoted by Jason Springer: A very candid take from Senator Weinberg on the race that was. Thank you for the shout out and for running.
Let's get the negatives out of the way first: We lost! Property taxes, unemployment, property taxes, property taxes. That was it in a nutshell.
To some of my colleagues whose egos might be a little out of control: Ray, was it really necessary to trash the Governor within 24 hours? Perhaps if you had joined us just once on one of those 18 hour days on the campaign trail, we might have gotten a couple of more votes out of your home base. Dick, did you have to share that White House anecdote? We could have saved that one for "the book". How about the party officials who couldn't join us for a very graceful concession. And how about that Jeff Tittel? He seemed to go out of his way to be mean and condescending. The Sierra Club endorsement is one thing - your meaness of spirit another altogether. Jeff, it's not ALWAYS about you!
Now to some of the more positive recollections: Our stars who were always there in full force. Thank you to Assemblywomen Annette Quihano, Linda Stender, Grace Spencer, Milla Jassey, and Nellie Pou, Senators Theresa Ruiz, Nia Gill, and Mayor-elect of Camden Dana Redd and to Mayor Colleen Mahr of Fanwood, Mayor Wilda Diaz of Perth Amboy, Mayor-Elect Toni Ricigliano of Edison (who must be related to half her constituents), the "WeDo" women of Passaic County, the Demo women's groups of Bergen County and of Essex County and so many more. To our Congressmen Frank Pallone, Steve Rothman, Donald Payne and Bill Pascrell who joined us many times on the campaign trail. Another "shout out" to our two Senators Lautenberg and Menendez.
Of course, our President Barack Obama and former President Bill Clinton gave us so much of their time and insight. I'll tell you in my next posting what he suggested to me to follow up. Congresswomen Debbie Wasserman Shultz and Loretta Sanchez joined us on the campaign trail and made women elected officials very proud. Fran Adubato runs a great progam in Newark. The labor community could not have done any more to help us. Charlie Wowkanich, Laurel Brennan, Ray Pocini and the building trades and my personal favorite, Buzz Dressel, were fully involved. The labor
bus with "the painter and insulator guys" was not a bad way to get around.
The campaign was energizing and I thank the Governor for giving me a wonderful opportunity to travel the great state of New Jersey, to meet many terrific NJ citizens, and for giving me a statewide voice to talk about the family values we share. I wouldn't change a moment of it.....oh yes, except the losing part!
I have so many anecdotes to share and hope to do that over the next few weeks. Jason Springer and Jay Lassiter along with those brave breast cancer survivors met me at the street fair rain and all. So we used pink umbrellas and carried the hand-colored pink Corzine/Weinberg signs right up the street.
The various Garden State Equality headquarters were always filled to the rafters and their members worked tirelessly. DFA came through for the Governor and me with a resounding endorsement. Rosi sent emails of encouragement. That picnic in Willingboro where I met 92 year old Miss Lizzie who is still actively engaged in civic life and their wonderful Mayor Jackie Jenkins. All those unairconditioned headquarters where folks worked in the heat of summer and never gave up. THANK YOU.
My friend and colleague, Rocco Mazza, put more than 12,000 miles on his trusty car. Rocco, the GPS and I traveled together for three months sometimes 14 or 18 hours a day. The only thing I got tired of was the voice in the GPS! My own campaign protectors Tory Singleton and Cecelia Fassano, made me feel comfortable every step of the way. Sometimes, there was a little too much "hovering" from the staff, but hey - it was great being part of an effort which had common goals.
Would I change anything? Perhaps better communication on the really good things Jon Corzine did these last four years. Perhaps one or two positive ads spelling these out a little more clearly. But that's all hindsight. I thank Governor Jon Corzine from all of us for working his heart out for New Jersey's residents.
Let's now join together with a newly installed Assembly, a newly organized Senate and figure out what the voices of our party should sound like; how we address the people's mistrust of their elected officials; how we make sure we have together taken a strong stand against corrupting influences in our body politic; and how we work with a Republican Governor on the things necessary to improve the lives of New Jersey residents.
The Sierra Club's endorsement of Independent Chris Daggett for Governor has caused a stir.
As with almost all news, the corporate media coverage and political blogosphere are narrowly focused on the short term electoral implications, and are completely ignoring the policy debate, or asking how we got to this juncture and what it means for policy going forward.
I'd like to take a step back and try to get some discussion about what this means for policy, and a shared understanding of the history of how we got to a point where Sierra does not renew its endorsement of a Democratic incumbent Governor in favor of a third party candidate.
How did it come about that a self-described and widely considered liberal, pro-environment, global warming fighting, green power champion incumbent is abandoned by Sierra?
I watched this video put out by the Governor's office after sitting in the traffic heading south on the turnpike over the weekend, where they talk about what is being done to widen the Turnpike and Parkway:Here's more about the Turnpike section of the project:
State officials broke ground Thursday in East Windsor on a $2.7 billion project that will widen the New Jersey Turnpike, one of the nation's busiest highways.
The project will increase the number of lanes from 6 and 10 to 12 and keep the lanes divided along a 25-mile stretch of the roadway between Cranbury and the Pennsylvania Turnpike interchange near Mansfield. Another 10 miles of roadway will be expanded from 10 lanes to 12 between Cranbury and East Brunswick.
Presently, traffic frequently backs up along the stretch that will be widened as 12 lanes are reduced to 10 and than 6. The turnpike carries an average 680,000 vehicles daily and is a major East Coast link between New York and Boston in the north and Philadelphia and Washington in the south.
The project will add 170 miles of new roadway. Construction is expected cause traffic delays until the widening is completed in 2014 but actual work will not begin until August.
That would be where I enjoyed virtually parking momentarily. But the Sierra club came out with what has become a regular release criticizing the Turnpike widening:
"This project in its current form is the opposite of smart growth; it is dumb growth and a huge waste of money," NJ Sierra Club Director Jeff Tittel said.
"All we're doing is turning the Parkway into a bigger, more expensive parking lot," NJ Sierra Club Director Jeff Tittel said. "This project will create two 50 mile long ribbons of asphalt, which will pave over the Pinelands and environmentally sensitive coastal areas, will make sprawl and traffic worse and take money away from the areas that actually need it."
As much as I'd like to take a train sometimes, it's just not possible from where I am. I've said before, I can't get a direct train to New York from South Jersey. I couldn't even get to the Hudson Tunnel line they're building (which the Sierra Club opposed) without driving north first. So while people debate the merits of the projects and until there is expanded train service or widened roads, you can learn about where the traffic is because the state operates the 511 service and you can see live video on the web.
U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar on Tuesday awarded five leases to four companies who want to develop windmills along the Outer Continental Shelf. The leases allow the companies to build meteorological towers to gather information about the wind six to 18 miles offshore.
[snip]
The exploratory leases, the first of their kind ever issued by the federal government, went to Bluewater Wind New Jersey Energy; Fishermen's Energy of New Jersey; Deepwater Wind, which is doing two projects; and Bluewater Wind Delaware.
"New Jersey's Outer Continental Shelf is a resource that holds great promise for our energy independence and should be considered a haven for the clean, renewable and environmentally friendly energy that wind power provides," Gov. Jon Corzine said.
And Jeff Tittel didn't miss the opportuinty to deliver a one liner:
"We see this as a positive change from the Bush administration's energy plan," said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. "We are moving from drill baby, drill, to wind baby, wind."
Here's video from the press conference announcing the leases:The article says they hope to have the first meteorological tower up and running off the coast next summer. We may want to get Secretary Salazar a place to stay with all his visits to the state.
An appellate judge has thrown out a $4,000 bill submitted to the Sierra Club and Hartz Mountain Industries by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority to pay for documents related to a lengthy legal battle by the groups.
The environmental group and the Secaucus-based developer had been asked to pay $1 per page for a 4,297-page appendix that the sports authority submitted to the court. The Sierra Club and Hartz had sued over the sports authority's approval of filling in 8 acres of wetlands at the site of the Xanadu entertainment and retail project.
And here's the money quote:
"We were about to drop the request anyway," sports authority spokesman John Samerjan said. "We thought it was the right thing to just let it go and move forward."
Sure, exactly and if the court ruled in your favor, I have no doubt you were going to say "Your honor, we've thought about it and your decision wasn't necessary because it's not the right thing."
The Sierra Club reports that 14 of 22 open-space questions on the ballots around New Jersey passed this year - a 64 percent passage rate, up from 55 percent last year. It says the ones that were defeated would mostly have increased existing open-space taxes.
Both the Capitol Quickies blog and the Star Ledger Auditor Column report that assistant DEP commissioner Mark Mauriello will become the acting Commissioner replacing Lisa Jackson. The Auditor goes one step further saying the selection may be more permanent:
Mauriello, an assistant DEP commissioner in charge of land-use management, will run the department on an acting basis. But sources tell the Auditor the Corzine administration plans to nominate him to the cabinet post, not just as acting commissioner.
Whether he is acting or permanent, it appears that Mauriello will be assuming the reins at DEP for at least the near future. Jeff Tittle said the Sierra Club would prefer a different selection:
"Mark will be a very good acting commissioner, but we'd like to see someone like a Karen Kominsky," Tittel said, referring to the lobbyist, veteran Democratic operative and former deputy chief of staff for Govs. James McGreevey and Richard Codey.
As promised, here is the first of what will be regular updates on the progress we're making here on the Stender campaign.
As our Republican opponents continue to attack each other on TV and in the mail, Linda is traveling around the 7th District spreading her positive message of change.
Last Friday, Linda was in Flemington to receive the Sierra Club's endorsement in the primary. And thanks to our dedicated supporters in Hunterdon County, we had a great crowd show up to watch her receive the honor on a cold and rainy day!
New Jersey Sierra Club Director Jeff Tittel, who attended the event, summed it up best - "We need a powerful advocate like Linda Stender fighting for us in Washington. Stender has a remarkably strong record at both the local and state level of standing up for environmental causes, and she would be a wonderful voice for our interests in Congress. Linda Stender would work to create a cleaner, greener world for New Jersey families."
Earlier this week, Planned Parenthood of Central New Jersey recognized Linda with their Public Policy Leadership Award. Linda was honored to receive the award, which highlighted her long-standing commitment to women's health issues and protecting the right to choose.
As you can see, this past week was a really exciting one. And we have some more great events coming up, as well. In fact, we hope you'll come out to a community event this weekend and say hi to Linda!
? On Saturday - tomorrow - around noon, Linda will be making the rounds at the Woodbridge Saint James Street Fair.
? On Sunday, she'll be at the Hunterdon County Democrats' Annual Brunch at the Beaver Brook Country Club in Annandale, and then head to the Branchburg Democrats' picnic in White Oak Park that afternoon.
We're all so excited to have volunteers signing up to get involved each and every day. It's because of your hard work that Linda Stender will win in November and bring the change New Jersey families need.
Thank you for all you do, and we hope to see you soon! And stay tuned for information about our new campaign headquarters!
The Sierra Club today endorsed Senator John Adler in his campaign for New Jersey's third Congressional district.
"There is no stronger advocate for the environment in the New Jersey legislature than John Adler," said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. "Not only has he been a leader and a champion of environmental causes, he also knows how to get things done. We believe that he will be a great asset in Washington and will take his proven legislative experience and environmental leadership to the Congress of the United States."
I'm happy to hear the Sierra Club is going to target Mike Ferguson. We had a meeting with him last August through MoveOn, where his in district guy, Marcus told us that we could agree on the environment! It seemed like they wanted to campaign on that, but then LCV came out this winter with a rating of 17% for Fergie on the enviroment. His big local issue was moving some WWII era weapons that contained toxic chemicals (was it mercury?) from Hillsborough to Hawthorne, Nevada. I'm sure the people there and all along the way are going to be happy about that.
Sierra Club vows to mobilize to defeat Rep. Ferguson
He calls 2 groups' attacks on his environmental record unfounded
With Rep. Mike Ferguson's rating by environmental groups dropping to an all-time low, the 7th District congressman is being targeted for extinction.
The Sierra Club, which has never opposed the three-term congressman, last week endorsed Assemblywoman Linda Stender (D-Union) and pledged to put money and volunteers into the field to unseat Ferguson. The 7th Congressional District includes portions of Union, Somerset, Middlesex and Hunterdon counties.
Jeff Tittel, director of the Sierra Club's New Jersey chapter, said Ferguson now has one of the worst environmental records of the state's 13-member congressional delegation.
"I think he's more likely to be seen in Georgetown going to restaurants than be seen in his district caring for the environment," Tittel said.
The League of Conservation Voters, which tracks environmental votes, said Ferguson, who scored a 59 in his earlier terms, had dropped to a 17 last year. Only Rep. Scott Garrett (R-5th Dist.) scored lower, receiving an 11, while Rep. Frank Pallone (D-6th Dist.), Rep. Rush Holt (D-12th Dist.) and former Rep. Robert Menendez (D-13th Dist.) all scored 100s...
The past congressional session witnessed some of the most anti-environmental votes in history, said conservation league spokesman Chuck Porcari.
Congress "slathered billions in subsidies to oil and gas" while making "minuscule investments in renewables ... the kinds of things that can take us away from dependence on oil," he said.
Ferguson "voted for every bad environment bill," Porcari said.
The conservation league's complete breakdown of how members of Congress voted on environmental issues can be seen at www.lcv.org.
Tittel maintains that Ferguson has drifted from the moderate Republicans who predominate the 7th District.
"He doesn't represent the mainstream of his own party, let alone the people of his district," Tittel said.
The Sierra Club, which has 3,500 members in the 7th District, intends to commit money and people to oust the congressman.
"I think we can muster a couple of hundred people," Tittel said, noting that all of the chapter's 24,000 members would be asked to help.
"This is our target race for the year," he said. "This is where we are putting all our resources."
Sierra officials believe that the 7th District race is the one contest in New Jersey where an incumbent is vulnerable and that Stender stands a real chance of winning in the Republican-dominated district.
"We're going to make this a big push," Tittel said.
