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.

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Comments to the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council on Carbon Management

On June 19, the New jersey Environmental Justice Alliance submitted comments to the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council (WHEJAC) regarding carbon management. NJEJA highlighted the risks of CCS and hydrogen co-firing, the necessity of directing federal funding towards communities and sustainable, renewable technologies, and recommending increased oversight, transparency, and accountability in DOE project development. Click here to read more about the WHEJAC.

Read our full comments below:

WHEJAC-Comments-NJEJA-June-2024Download

NJEJA and ICC Submit Comments on the Energy Master Plan

On June 12, the New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance and the Ironbound Community Corporation submitted public comment to the Board of Public Utilities regarding the 2024 Energy Master Plan. These comments reflect a joint effort to decrease emissions in the state of New Jersey and facilitate to swift transition to affordable truly-clean energy for everyone, particularly low- and moderate-income and EJ communities. Click here read other public comments and view the BPU’s docket.

Read our full comments below:

NJEJA-ICC_EMP-CommentsDownload

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:

EJ-Comments-on-EPAs-Existing-Gas-Rule-STATEMENT-May-2024-1Download

Comments to the U.S. EPA regarding the Power Plant Rules

On May 28, the New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance and EJ partners across the country submitted comments to the EPA regarding the Power Plant Rules for Existing Natural Gas Plants. The comments reflected a unified effort from EJ organizations to call upon the EPA to address the cumulative impacts of pollution and the disproportionate burden of greenhouse gases and greenhouse gas co-pollutants in EJ communities.

In all, the comments addressed four key areas:

  1. Recognizing that retrofitting for carbon capture and hydrogen co-firing must not qualify as a “BSER” (Best System of Emission Reduction) ;
  2. Locating other operational mechanisms to increase efficiency, such as heat rate improvements;
  3. Ensuring that the EPA provide effective oversight to state implementation of these rules;
  4. Demonstrating that facilities sited in EJ communities will not cause or contribute to adverse cumulative impacts as a result of their compliance with the rules;
  5. Incorporating a cumulative impacts framework into the rule.

For all questions and concerns regarding these comments, please contact Brooke Helmick, Director of Policy at brooke@njeja.org.

EPA-HQ-OAR-2024-0135-0080_attachment_1Download

NJEJA and Partners Oppose Chemical Recycling

On April 18, the New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance and environmental partners submitted a letter to NJ Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin highlighting our unified opposition to chemical recycling. We do not support any project that employs chemical recycling or similar processes as it does not constitute genuine recycling and, in fact, leads to increased pollution and safety risks for workers and host communities without offering a real solution to the problem of plastic pollution.

In an effort to demonstrate our solidarity on this issue, inform our elected officials regarding the dangers of this technology, and oppose its development in our state, we submitted this letter on the matter. Read our letter below.

Opposing-Chemical-RecyclingDownload

NJEJA Toolkit: EPA Power Plant Rule

 

On April 25, the EPA announced a new suite of rules aiming to decreasing pollution in four areas. Key among these was the EPA’s decision not to consider hydrogen co-firing as a solution to mitigating emissions in the power sector. Communities now have an unprecedented and unique moment to continue influencing the EPA rule making process, which will have repercussions for decades to come. 

Recognizing the importance of this moment, NJEJA hosted a webinar on Tuesday, May 14 for community organizations, advocacy groups, and individuals interested in engaging in this comment period.

 

Use this toolkit to learn more about the rule and its relationship to carbon capture and hydrogen, as well as what you can do to take action for your community!

Download Toolkit

Mercer County EJ Community Engagement Session

Join the NJDEP Office of Environmental Justice for this Environmental Justice Community Engagement Session in Mercer County. Share your concerns with the DEP Commissioner Shawn LaTourette and EP Region 2 Regional Administrator Lisa Garcia. 

Attend in-person or virtually via Zoom. Translation is available in Spanish and Haitian Creole.

Register here.

For questions and comments, please contact Brooke Helmick, Director of Policy at brooke@njeja.org.

Questions at the MACH2 April 10 Listening Session

The New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance has raised significant questions to the MACH2 engagement team both via email and at the April 10 MACH2 Listening Session. During the April 10 Listening Session, our team sent in questions via chat. Due to the number of participants, only one person from NJEJA was put onto the speaking list which was created and shared by OCED prior to the event.

We raise these questions out of deep concern and love for our community. The life cycle of hydrogen production is not only costly and economically inviable, but has not been proven safe for our communities. In fact, in many instances, demonstration tests for hydrogen projects have proved to be dangerous, unsustainable, and not effective projects. Furthermore, regardless of whether or not the hydrogen produced is “green” (I.e. hydrogen theoretically created from entirely renewable technology), it poses the same risks during transportation, storage, and end use as hydrogen created from fossil fuels.

In an effort to increase transparency and get these questions answered, please see the concerns that NJEJA has raised to the MACH2 team regarding the structure, function, intention, and infrastructural development of the MACH2 project.

MACH2-April-10-Listening-Session-QuestionsDownload

Questions for the MACH2 Community Engagement Team

The New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance has raised significant questions to the MACH2 engagement team both via email and at the April 10 MACH2 Listening Session. We are deeply concerned about the level of community engagement and the claim of community benefits agreements without significant investment, input, and consent from the communities who will host this infrastructure.

It is imperative that organizers for the hub consider the input of host communities, which are primary Environmental Justice communities and frontline communities who are already significant burdened by pollution and negative air quality. We call upon OCED and hub organizers to honor the community’s right to exercise free, prior and informed consent as well as their right to refuse, by providing transparent and robust information.

In an effort to increase transparency and get these questions answered, please see the concerns that NJEJA has raised to the MACH Community Engagement team regarding the logistical development of this process.

MACH2-Community-Engagement-Questions-1Download