Press Release: NJ Passes Strongest Skip the Stuff, Plastics Reduction Legislation in the Nation
We want to thank the prime sponsors in both the NJ Senate and Assembly for their leadership – Prime Senate sponsors Bob Smith and Raj Mukerji as well as Assemblywoman Collazos-Gill. Their leadership has secured a reduction in single-use plastics while providing financial savings to New Jerseyans. This environmental victory is the result of hard work by volunteers, municipal governments, and students working at the local level to advance this policy.
“In a time of over-production and a proliferation of plastic waste, clogging not only our kitchen drawers, but landfills and incinerators in environmental justice communities, Skip the Stuff is a clear, financially feasible, and community-oriented solution. I’m grateful for the many environmental advocates, public health experts, the New Jersey legislature, and Governor Murphy for passing this legislation and supporting a cultural shin towards decreasing single-use plastic consumption. ” said Brooke Helmick with New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance.
“Skip the Stuff is practical legislation that reduces waste and toxics while saving money,” said Marta Young, Zero Waste Specialist, Clean Water AcBon. “By passing Skip the Stuff, New Jersey is a national leader in reducing single-use plastic while respecting customer choice and supporting local businesses. Every fork and ketchup packet adds up. We thank New Jersey’s legislative champions and local advocates for understanding that small things cause big problems and for providing a great model for other states to follow.”
“This legislation is common sense and an excellent education tool. When we know better, we do better. That is exactly what Skip the Stuff does. It informs both the food providers and the consumers on how our every day decisions can have an impact not only on our environment, but also on our finances. With such successes in already Skip the Stuff compliant towns, I am excited to see how we can thrive together as this is made into a state change,” said Molly Cleary, Environmental Advocate for Clean Water AcBon.
Read the full press release below:
Coalition Press Release Governor Murphy signs Skip the Stuff to become strongest of it’s kindDownload
For questions regarding this bill, please reach out to Brooke Helmick, Director of Policy at brooke@njeja.org.
NJEJA Opposes PVSC Vote to Continue Power Plant Project
Communities Have a Right to Clean Air
Yesterday, the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commissioners voted YES to building a FOURTH fossil-fuel power plant in Newark’s Ironbound, a devastating blow to a community that has spent years demanding clean air. This decision is a slap in the face to the residents, technical experts, and advocates who have laid out viable, cleaner solutions. Instead, PVSC chose to ignore science, health, and community voices in favor of its profits. Newark doesn’t need another polluting facility; the city needs REAL investment in its future, not more toxic infrastructure.
NJEJA stands with the Ironbound and those across the state who have spoken out against this dangerous decision.
To PVSC: We will not stop fighting. Everyone deserves clean air, regardless of their zip code.
Read our full statement below:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 13, 2025
Press Contact: Melissa Miles, Executive Director | melissa@njeja.org
Newark, New Jersey – The New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance, a statewide organization dedicated to reducing and eliminating environmental injustices in communities of color and low-income communities, is deeply disappointed in PVSC’s decision to approve project plans to construct a fourth power plant in the City of Newark. We call upon the Commissioners to reconsider their decision and halt construction plans.
Communities have been clear in their opposition to this plan, and PVSC’s decision to support the plan directly flies in the face of community agency and autonomy. For years, a multitude of community members in the Ironbound, advocates, and residents from across the state have highlighted the ways that a fourth power plant would bring about dangerous increases in local air pollution and contribute to the effects of climate change. The approval of this project, which would burn natural gas and potentially utilize hydrogen fuel, directly contradicts the state’s clean energy goals. Any plan for additional plants that do not rely solely on truly clean energy risks increasing local air pollution levels, including both greenhouse gases and co-pollutant emissions.
PVSC’s decision represents a threat to both environmental justice and public health, as well as a direct disregard and disrespect to community members opposing this plan. We stand in solidarity with residents, community members, advocates, and community-based organizations who have vehemently opposed this project. We will not give up. We demand clean air for all persons across this state, regardless of their zip code. “
“I am disappointed that the Passaic Valley Sewerage commission has approve the construction of an additional power plant instead of taking this opportunity to collaborate with the community to create a solution that everybody could support.”
Nicky Sheats. Ph.D., Esq.,
Director, Center for the Urban Environment, Watson Institute for Urban Policy and Research at Kean University
Senior Policy Fellow and Lecturer, Center for Policy Research on Energy and the Environment, School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University
“It is very regrettable that the PVSC board of commissioners has chosen to vote against climate science, clean technology, and community voices. Our goal is to avert the health impacts of another toxic gas plant in an already environmentally overburdened community. Instead of taking the high road, PVSC continues to take the path of least economic and political resistance at the expense of the Ironbound and neighboring communities. We expect more from our utilities and our dollars.”
Melissa Miles
Executive Director, New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance
“This yes vote is not only incredibly disappointing, but an example in which community members have been passed over and not valued as the equal stakeholders in this process that they are. Many technical experts, advocates, experienced community members, and residents have not only vocally opposed this project, but offered viable alternatives and solutions to the issues PVSC has raised. Newark does not want – or need – a fourth fossil-fuel burning power plant.”
Brooke Helmick
Director of Policy, New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance
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To learn more and read our open letter to PVSC, click the button below.
People Over Plastics: Senate Committee Poised to Vote on Major Packaging Reduction Legislation
New Jersey Environmental and Environmental Justice Advocates gathered alongside medical professionals to discuss the urgency and necessity of solutions to the plastic waste crisis. Speakers included experts from Environment New Jersey, Just Zero, Clean Water Action, and New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance as well as NJ Pulmonologist Dr. Walter Wynkoop and Rutgers University Pharmacology and Toxicology Professor Dr. Phoebe Stapleton.
On the eve of the last NJ Senate Energy and Environment Committee, advocates called on legislators to pass Senate Bill S. 3398, Packing Product Stewardship Act sponsored by Sen. Bob Smith. In particular, advocates called on the legislature to include strong provisions to reduce toxics in packaging, eliminate any exemptions to the law, ensure chemical recycling was not included as an alternative to true recycling, and to provide for strong accountability and transparency requirements. With nearly 40% of plastic used for packaging, the need for this bill is incredibly apparent. View the press conference and read the full press release below.
Read the full press release
NJEJA Statement on Fourth Power Plant In Newark
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 9, 2024
Press Contact
Melissa Miles, Executive Director | melissa@njeja.org
NJEJA Calls Upon PVSC To Reject Power Plant Proposal: New Jersey Residents Should Have Clean Air Regardless of Zip Code
Newark, New Jersey – The New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance, a statewide organization dedicated to reducing and eliminating environmental injustices in communities of color and low-income communities, opposes Governor Murphy’s decision to approve a fourth power plant in the City of Newark and calls upon the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commissioners to reject the proposal.
The approval of the plan, which will burn natural gas, only extends New Jersey’s reliance on fossil fuels and directly contradicts the state’s clean energy goals. Furthermore, the impact of a fourth plant in the Ironbound community, and Newark as a whole, will have detrimental effects on local air pollution. Any additional power plants, even those that have outlined steps to decrease their emissions, risks increasing greenhouse gas emissions, and co-pollutants emissions which increases local air pollution. The power plant represents not only an environmental injustice, but a threat to public health.
We stand in solidarity with our community members, elected officials, and community-based organizations who have opposed this project. We demand clean air for all New Jersey residents, and call on the Murphy administration and the Commissioners to ensure that clean air is available to all, not just certain zip codes.
“For months, if not years, the residents of Newark have opposed the construction of an additional power plant in their city due to valid health concerns. The state should listen to them and not build this plant.”
Dr. Nicky Sheats, Esq.
Chair of the Board, New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance
Director of the Center for the Urban Environment at the John S. Watson Institute for Urban Policy and Research at Kean University
“We understand that our adversary here is environmental racism and capital, which continue to put profit over people. Better solutions to fossil-burning power plants exist and we need the PVSC Commissioners to prioritize clean energy for the health and well-being of the East Ward community.”
Melissa Miles
Executive Director, New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance
“The decision to move forward with this project, despite vocal opposition from community members, public officials, and community-based organizations, demonstrates that community members have not been treated as equal stakeholders in this process. Communities must be centered in this decision making process and residents have been clear: Newark does not need or want another power plant.”
Brooke Helmick
Director of Policy, New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance
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The New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance is an alliance of New Jersey-based organizations and individuals working together to identify, prevent, and reduce and/or eliminate environmental injustices that exist in communities of color and low-income communities. NJEJA will support community efforts to remediate and rebuild impacted neighborhoods, using the community’s vision of improvement, through education, advocacy, the review and promulgation of public policies, training, and through organizing and technical assistance.
NJEJA Applauds Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind Project Approval: Clean Renewable Energy Development Benefits Everyone
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 9, 2024
Press Contacts
Melissa Miles, Executive Director | melissa@njeja.org
Brooke Helmick, Director of Policy | brooke@njeja.org
NJEJA Applauds Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind Project Approval: Clean Renewable Energy Development Benefits Everyone
Newark, New Jersey – The New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance, a statewide organization dedicated to reducing and eliminating environmental injustices in communities of color and low-income communities, applauds the recent decision to approve the Atlantic Shores offshore wind energy project.
The approval will lead to the development of the nation’s ninth commercial-scale offshore wind project and generate up to 2,800 megawatts of clean electricity, and is expected to power nearly one million homes. The program can support the state of New Jersey in reaching its clean energy goals. Such clean energy programs not only support the movement to divest from fossil fuels but also support the work of mitigating local air pollution and providing cleaner air for all communities, particularly those disproportionately burdened by energy production.
As this program rolls out, we encourage state and federal officials to prioritize the principles of a Just Transition and continue meaningful engagement with local communities — particularly communities Of Color and low-income communities, who will be directly impacted by this infrastructure and development. We offer our continued support and expertise in ensuring that environmental justice communities are centered and prioritized in the future of clean energy development.
Learn more about the New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance and our work in equipping our communities with the tools needed for a career in offshore wind.
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For questions regarding this statement, please contact Brooke Helmick, NJEJA Director of Policy at brooke@njeja.org.
The New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance is an alliance of New Jersey-based organizations and individuals working together to identify, prevent, and reduce and/or eliminate environmental injustices that exist in communities of color and low-income communities. NJEJA will support community efforts to remediate and rebuild impacted neighborhoods, using the community’s vision of improvement, through education, advocacy, the review and promulgation of public policies, training, and through organizing and technical assistance.
NJEJA and Partners Submit Comments on EPA’s Power Plant Rule
On May 28, the New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance and EJ partners submitted crucial comments to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regarding the second part to their Power Plant Rules. These comments reflect a unified effort from numerous EJ organizations across the country to call on the EPA to substantially address the cumulative impacts of air pollution and the disproportionate burden of both greenhouse gases and greenhouse gas co-pollutants on environmental justice communities. Click here to read our full comments.
Read Our Statement Below, and hear what EJ advocates had to say about the unique opportunity in this comment period:
Press Release: EJ Community Members Say: EPA Rules Must Incorporate Cumulative Impacts Analysis and Discontinue Reliance on CCS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 26, 2024
Press Contacts
NJ Environmental Justice Alliance: Melissa Miles | melissa@njeja.org
Center for the Urban Environment of the Watson Institute for Urban Policy & Research: Dr. Nicky Sheats, Esq. | nsheats@kean.edu
Tishman Environment and Design Center: Dr. Ana Isabel Baptista | baptista@newschool.edu
Ironbound Community Corp.: Maria Lopez-Nunez | mlopeznunez@ironboundcc.org
EJ Community Members Say:
EPA Rules Must Incorporate Cumulative Impacts Analysis and Discontinue Reliance on CCS
Washington D.C. – On April 25, the EPA announced a suite of four standards on toxic air pollution, water pollution, land contamination, and GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions from fossil fuel burning power plants. Key among these is the final rule for existing coal-fired and new natural gas-fired power plants.
We recognize the important steps the EPA has taken in removing hydrogen co-firing from consideration as a BSER (Best System of Emissions Reduction) and understand the importance in a delayed ruling on reducing GHG emissions from existing natural gas plants in order to consider the best approach and to address environmental justice concerns.
In order to best address the risks of climate change and local air pollution as well as protect frontline Environmental Justice communities, the EPA should incorporate a cumulative impacts and MER (mandatory emissions reduction) approach.
We would also call upon the EPA to continue to strengthen its rules and ensure that future rules do not include hydrogen co-firing or CCS/CCUS as a BSER. We urge the EPA to discontinue its reliance on and promotion of CCS as a technological solution to climate change mitigation. CCS is an unproven and high-risk approach to reducing GHG emissions, and fails to address co-pollutant emissions from power plants in a meaningful and holistic way.
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“The EPA Power Plant Rule update resulted from decades of organizing and advocacy and years of partnerships between the EPA and Environmental Justice communities. The EPA is modeling some of the best practices around the engagement of impacted communities, and these updated rules are a win for us all. At the same time, we acknowledge the parts of the rules flagged by communities as non-starters, namely the use of carbon capture, utilization and storage in EJ communities. The implicit inclusion of this dangerous technology was a loss for us all. However, we maintain hope that the next update will incorporate cumulative impacts and a mandatory emissions reduction approach to regulating existing power plants.”
Melissa Miles,
Executive Director, New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance
“I congratulate EPA on the decision to remove hydrogen co-firing from the power plant rule. However, cumulative impacts and mandatory emissions reductions policies should be incorporated into the rule to protect environmental justice communities in general, and especially as a safeguard for the potential harms of carbon capture technology, which unfortunately remains in the rule. These protective policies should also be incorporated into the existing gas plants portion of the rule.”
Dr. Nicky Sheats, Esq.,
Director, Center for the Urban Environment, John S. Watson Institute for Urban Policy and Research at Kean University
President of the Board and member of the New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance
“We want to urge the USEPA to prioritize the health and well-being of environmental justice communities in the implementation of these rules. We look forward to seeing mandatory emissions reductions and approaches to reducing cumulative impacts embedded in the regulations now being developed for existing natural gas plants.”
Dr. Ana Isabel Baptista,
Co-Director Tishman Environment & Design Center
NJEJA Board Member
“EPA has to show progress on cumulative impacts and mandatory emissions reductions if we are to believe that this administration is not just all talk regarding the welfare of the most vulnerable communities. These concepts must be embedded into existing and future regulation to safeguard our communities from bad local actors.”
Maria Lopez-Nunez,
Deputy Director, Organizing and Advocacy Ironbound Community Corporation
For questions regarding this statement, please contact Brooke Helmick, NJEJA Director of Policy at brooke@njeja.org.
The New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance is an alliance of New Jersey-based organizations and individuals working together to identify, prevent, and reduce and/or eliminate environmental injustices that exist in communities of color and low-income communities. NJEJA will support community efforts to remediate and rebuild impacted neighborhoods, using the community’s vision of improvement, through education, advocacy, the review and promulgation of public policies, training, and through organizing and technical assistance.
The Center for the Urban Environment (CUE) strives to protect communities Of Color and low-income communities from disproportionately high amounts of pollution by addressing environmental justice (EJ) issues on the local, state and national levels.
The Tishman Environment and Design Center at The New School is a collaborative community of practice that leverages research, policy, and design in accordance with the Jemez Principles for Democratic Organizing. Our Center brings together research and action to tackle the root causes of climate and environmental injustice and commit to changing higher education practices within and beyond The New School.
The Ironbound Community Cooperation upholds and builds upon the principles of “Justice and Equality for All.” We strive to practice and build equity, work towards a Just Transition, and organize community on the basis of the Jemez Principles. We envision a safe, healthy, just, and nurturing Ironbound; a welcoming and fully inclusive community that supports equal and accessible opportunity and the quest for a better life. For us, revitalization means uplifting both people and place. Therefore, we aim to lead the transformation of Ironbound into a neighborhood where anyone might choose to live and current residents can remain in their homes and their community without fear of being displaced.
Press Release: Protect EJ Communities While Mitigating Climate Change
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 15, 2024
Press Contacts
NJ Environmental Justice Alliance: Brooke Helmick | brooke@njeja.org
Center for the Urban Environment: Nicky Sheats, PhD, Esq. | nsheats@kean.edu
Ironbound Community Corp.: Maria Lopez-Nunez | mlopeznunez@ironboundcc.org
Environmental Justice Communities Say:
Protect EJ Communities While Mitigating Climate Change
Trenton – On March 14, the Senate Energy and Environment Committee both strengthened and voted in favor (3-2) of a Clean Energy Standard (S237/A1480). The EJ community has been actively involved in calling for a nation-leading definition of clean energy and climate change mitigation policy that reduces locally harmful GHG co-pollutants in overburdened Environmental Justice communities, and does not allow for potential loopholes or false solutions.
We celebrate the passage of this strong definition, and the fact that this bill makes New Jersey a leader in ensuring states prioritize the procurement of clean energy. However, we also recognize that this bill has a long way to go before it can be enacted into law. This moment cannot be the end of the conversation, and we will continue to call for new language and provisions that actively protect EJ communities while creating new jobs and a cleaner environment.
We call upon legislators to continue fine-tuning this bill by ensuring that the legislation:
- Reduces toxic air pollution in EJ communities by removing “net emissions” calculations;
- Creates a strong standard for “de minimis” levels of pollution that are as close to zero as possible; and
- Prevents polluting facilities such as incinerators from receiving ratepayer subsidies when they violate air permits.
“This moment represents a turning point for the state and the country. Including co-pollutants in the definition makes New Jersey a leader in protecting frontline communities. There is more work to be done to make sure that the bill is as protective of EJ communities as possible, but we take this moment to celebrate and honor the many advocates who have worked tirelessly to protect public health, call for climate change mitigation, and ensure that EJ communities are not left behind in the energy transition.”
Melissa Miles
Executive Director
New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance
“It’s so refreshing to see a holistic and necessary approach to defining clean energy. If we do not include co-pollutants, we stand to repeat the mistakes of the past where we sacrifice local communities for the so-called “greater good.” Today is an important step in leading the country towards a future that deals with both public health and climate change.”
Maria Lopez-Nuñez
Deputy Director, Organizing and Advocacy
Ironbound Community Corportation
“Incorporating GHG co-pollutant reductions into a clean energy standard is the type of action the environmental justice community has been strongly recommending for many years. It will help protect communities near energy infrastructure from locally harmful co-pollutant emissions while at the same time fighting climate change.”
Nicky Sheats, Ph.D., Esq.
Director, Center for the Urban Environment
John S. Watson Institute for Urban Policy and Research at Kean University
Member of the New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance
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The New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance is an alliance of New Jersey-based organizations and individuals working together to identify, prevent, and reduce and/or eliminate environmental injustices that exist in communities of color and low-income communities. NJEJA will support community efforts to remediate and rebuild impacted neighborhoods, using the community’s vision of improvement, through education, advocacy, the review and promulgation of public policies, training, and through organizing and technical assistance.
ICC upholds and builds upon the principles of “Justice and Equality for All.” We strive to practice and build equity, work towards a Just Transition, and organize community on the basis of the Jemez Principles. We envision a safe, healthy, just, and nurturing Ironbound; a welcoming and fully inclusive community that supports equal and accessible opportunity and the quest for a better life. For us, revitalization means uplifting both people and place. Therefore, we aim to lead the transformation of Ironbound into a neighborhood where anyone might choose to live and current residents can remain in their homes and their community without fear of being displaced.
Press Release: EPA’s Proposed New Carbon Pollution Standards for Fossil Fuel-Fired Power Plants Will Fail to Protect EJ Communities
Press Release: EPA’s Proposed New Carbon Pollution Standards for Fossil Fuel-Fired Power Plants Will Fail to Protect EJ Communities
WASHINGTON (August 8, 2023) –The Tishman Environment and Design Center at The New School, the Center for the Urban Environment of the John S. Watson Institute for Urban Policy and Research at Kean University, the New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance (NJEJA), and the Center for Earth, Energy and Democracy, along with 18 environmental justice and 9 allied organizations are submitting public comments today on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s proposed carbon pollution standards for coal and new natural gas fired power plants.
Environmental justice (EJ) communities are on the frontlines of the adverse impacts of climate change and are disproportionately exposed to a wide range of polluting industries, including fossil fuel infrastructure like coal plants, natural gas plants, and pipelines. The use of carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) mechanisms and hydrogen co-firing in the power sector will further harm EJ communities that are already overburdened. The only real solution to climate change is the rapid and complete transition of the power sector away from all types of fossil fuels to energy efficiency and renewable energy in the form of wind and solar power. We call attention to critical EJ concerns related to the proposed rule that would hinder a reliable, just, and truly clean power section transition.
The EPA will finalize the standards in the coming months.
The following is a comment from Dr. Ana Baptista, The Tishman Environment and Design Center at The New School
“Addressing climate change and decades of toxic exposure experienced by environmental justice communities means moving away from a dependence on fossil fuels and investing instead in renewable energy sources and infrastructure in communities. Supporting carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) and hydrogen co-firing in the power sector through massive amounts of public funding and policies like EPA’s proposed rule will perpetuate the fossil fuel industry, to the continued detriment of EJ communities. These same overburdened communities have time and again been sacrifice zones to unjust policies and infrastructure that place them on the frontlines of fossil fuel polluting structures. Environmental justice should be a priority for the EPA’s power sector rule rather than an afterthought . We urge the EPA to take seriously the environmental justice implications of this rule and consider cumulative impacts in decision-making processes related to the rule.”
The following is a comment from Dr. Nicky Sheats, John S. Watson Institute for Urban Policy and Research at Kean University
“Too many low-income communities and Communities of Color around the country are exposed to the harms of all types of polluting infrastructure and have disproportionately borne these cumulative burdens for too long. It’s time to right these wrongs. EPA’s proposed rule all but recognizes that CCS and hydrogen co-firing will add to toxic air pollution in communities living near power plants, and this is unacceptable when such communities already live with an unfair share of cumulative impacts from pollution. The EPA’s proposed carbon pollution standards must adopt a more affirmative approach toward environmental justice to address cumulative impacts. ”
The following is a comment from Melissa Miles, New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance
“A rapid, clean energy transition is indispensable to ensure that current and future generations have healthy and safe communities to live, work, play, learn, and worship in. We need policies that mandate emissions reductions in EJ communities and ensure the closure of fossil fuel powered plants first and foremost in EJ communities. The EPA’s proposed carbon pollution standards are an opportunity for the EPA to create equitable policies that truly center communities on the frontlines and bring us to a clean energy transition and just future for all.”
The following is a comment from Bill Gallegos, Center for Earth Energy & Democracy
“We know that overwhelmingly the burden of pollution from fossil fuel powered power plants is borne by low income communities, communities of color and indigenous communities. We also know that the impacts of rising intensive heat cycles, extreme temperatures and the resulting power outages are experienced most acutely by environmental justice communities. We are at a critical juncture in our nation’s history. We must meet the challenge of climate change like never before – in ways that center environmental justice communities. We urge the EPA to uphold its commitment to environmental justice and create policies that reduce carbon pollution from the power sector in ways that create benefits for environmental justice communities.”