Mr Sustainable

With the EPA’s new coal-fired power plant and air pollution rules, coal power is in trouble. PJM, the nation’s largest grid operator, estimates that 20 GW of coal plants are at high risk of retirement in its territory (New Jersey’s statewide maximum load is 20 GW). New nuclear power is more expensive than solar on a KWH basis, more costly and more risky as an investment, and far more dangerous. Oyster Creek retires in 2019.  Fracked gas drilling injects unknown chemicals into the ground when may have just as bad climate change impacts as coal.  For our future – and the lives and health of ourselves and our children – we must choose solar and wind and start transitioning our energy sector.

The Global Warming Response Act requires an 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. However, there is no plan or policy framework in New Jersey that would result in compliance. In order to comply, it is likely that emissions associated with electricity production would have to be reduced by more than 80%. Coal and nuclear are on the wane, natural gas supplied by fracking may have the same greenhouse gas footprint as coal, and thus, the only viable and acceptable alternative are renewables – clean, renewables, like solar and wind.

Until recently, New Jersey was a leader in the United States in renewable energy, and in solar in particular.  New Jersey ranked second in the amount of solar installed, behind only California.  Unfortunately, in the past few years, as a result of failed public policy, New Jersey has lost its leadership ranking and thousand of jobs in the solar industry.  New Jersey needs more solar to regain those lost solar jobs, promote the economy, and reduce the pollution and adverse health effects that come with the burning of fossil fuels.  

New Jersey has fossil fuel and nuclear power plants that are at or near the end of their useful lives and scheduled for closure.  It is a perfect time to commence a transition to a renewable energy future by ramping up solar and wind to take the place of new fossil fuel or nuclear plants. 

Through long-term planning, the entire energy industry can start pointing at incremental milestones that will bring us eventually to an energy sector where most of our electric power is generated by clean, renewable, non-polluting sources. 

We need to establish a requirement of 80% of electricity by 2050 generated by such renewable energy.  By setting this requirement now, we will give every market participant reasonable notice and opportunity to plan and succeed.  And it gives potential investors the incentive to support the effort and commence the transition.

NJ FREE is a broad‐based coalition of organizations and individuals whose goal is to help lead New Jersey to take a decisive step in the creation of a sustainable society.

NJFREE seeks legislation in New Jersey requiring that the state achieve 80% Renewable Electricity by 2050, with an intermediate requirement of 30% Renewable Electricity by 2025. We also seek a requirement that the total electric usage in New Jersey be reduced by 20% by 2025 relative to 2012 usage, and be reduced by 30% by 2050 relative to 2012 usage.

 This goal is ambitious and would require many changes in the way New Jersey approaches energy development and management, but the rewards are great and would ensure that New Jersey is ready for the energy future. New Jersey is uniquely positioned among all the U.S. states to do it, given that until recently, it was a leader in renewable energy in the country. Moreover, Hurricane Sandy delivered a painful wake‐up call to our state. The time to act is now to reduce the threat of climate change, and building a renewable energy economy is central to any effective response.

 Members of NJFREE include: American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE); Climate Mama; Environment New Jersey; Grandmothers, Mothers, and More for Energy Safety (GRAMMES); Greenfaith; League of Women Voters of Ocean County; Mid‐Atlantic Solar Energy Industries Association (MSEIA); Mitsubishi Electric U.S.A.; Mr Sustainable; New Jersey Environmental Federation; New Jersey PACE; Potter & Dixon; Sierra Club – New Jersey; Unitarian Universalist Church Legislative Ministry, New Jersey; and U.S. Green Building Council – New Jersey.

Fossil fuels are dirty and polluting.  Nuclear creates waste that lasts “forever” and we can’t find a place to store it.  Existing power plants are aging and scheduled for retirement.  Foreign oil dependence puts us at the whims of others, and trying to squeeze out the remainder of our domestic fossil fuels, like coal-mining and gas-fracking, just perpetuates our subservience to 19^th and 20^th century polluting fossil fuels.  The 21^st century is here.  It’s time for a renewable energy transition! 

In the same way that we created a new electric industry in the early 1900s, we should plan for – and immediately start building — an infrastructure where eventually most of our electricity will come from renewable, non-polluting sources.  Just as in the 20^th century, government planning, support and incentives and private capital should establish a forward-looking plan, with periodic milestones that will be achieved along the way.  This effort is over-due, and the only way to achieve a transition that will benefit this country by providing plentiful, renewable, non-polluting, home-grown electricity that will power our lives, industries, and future.