If Murphy wants to be N.J.'s Captain Planet, he’ll need to overcome Christie’s legacy first

Pinelands pipeline protestor holding sign

A pipeline opponent demonstrating against the Southern Reliability Link project in 2017. (Michael Mancuso | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

Call him Captain Planet.

Throughout his first 14 months in Trenton, Gov. Phil Murphy has set lofty goals for New Jersey’s green future, including a plan for the state to draw 50 percent of its power from clean sources — solar and wind — by 2030 and go totally fossil-fuel-free by 2050.

Murphy, a Democrat, has also called for a complete ban on fracking in the Delaware River Basin, fought against offshore drilling and has directed the state to rejoin the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a multi-state cap-and-trade agreement aimed at reducing greenhouse gases.

But for Garden State environmentalists, this isn’t good enough. Empower NJ, a coalition of more than 50 activist groups across the state, released a report Wednesday calling for Murphy to halt a dozen proposed natural gas power plants and pipelines in New Jersey — most of which were planned under former Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican — and focus entirely on developing green energy.

“New Jersey has a history of putting in place moratoriums in order to deal with an environment problem until the issue is resolved," said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. Tittel listed actions by Gov. Brendan Byrne, Gov. Thomas Kean and Gov. James Florio as precedents for Murphy.

“It’s time Governor Murphy follows his predecessors and puts in place a moratorium,” Tittel said.

According to the report, New Jersey’s total greenhouse gas emissions will rise by more than 30 percent if each of the 12 proposals — four power plants and eight pipelines or pipeline-related projects — is built and goes online. That surge in emissions would make it impossible for New Jersey to reach Murphy’s clean energy goals, environmentalists say.

That emissions estimate also includes Sewaren 7 in Woodbridge, a natural gas power plant that went into service last year after receiving its air quality permit from the Murphy administration.

“Gov. Murphy has directed his team to take a hard look at energy infrastructure projects as part of an updated Energy Master Plan, which will focus on renewable energy and shift away from outdated energy sources," Alexandra Altman, Murphy’s deputy press secretary, said. “Gov. Murphy is committed to moving New Jersey on a path to 100% clean energy by 2050.”

As greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane continue to thicken the Earth’s atmosphere and warm the planet, New Jersey is threatened by rising seas and shifting climate patterns.

Since Murphy took office, the state Board of Public Utilities has moved to expand solar power development and solicit bids for massive offshore wind projects.

The 12 proposed power plants, pipelines and pipeline-related infrastructure projects are dispersed across New Jersey and are currently in various stages of the development process. The projects include:

  • North Bergen Liberty Generating Station: A 1,200-megawatt natural gas power plant that would be built in North Bergen.
  • Phoenix Energy Center: A 663-megawatt natural gas power plant that would be built in Holland Township, at the site of a former paper mill on the Musconetcong River.
  • BL England: A 447-megawatt natural gas power plant that would replace an existing coal-fired unit in Upper Township.
  • PennEast Pipeline: A natural has pipeline that would stretch 118 miles across Mercer County, Hunterdon County and eastern Pennsylvania.
  • Southern Reliability Link: A 28-mile long natural gas pipeline that would run across Burlington County and Ocean County.
  • Cape Atlantic Reliability Project: A 22-mile long pipeline that would carry natural gas across Cumberland County and Cape May County to the proposed BL England power plant.

Besides placing a moratorium on these projects, Empower NJ is urging Murphy to take a number of other steps, from regulating greenhouse gas emissions as air pollutants and removing a cost cap on renewable energy projects, to reversing Christie-era rollbacks of environmental regulations and creating a new jobs program to prepare workers for jobs in green energy.

In statements following the release of the report, a bipartisan group of state lawmakers joined the call for a moratorium on fossil fuel projects.

“The choices we make today — to continue to guzzle fossil fuels, or to build a sustainable society powered by renewable energy — will affect not just our lives, but our children’s and grandchildren’s lives,” said state Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg, D-Bergen. "There is no excuse for inaction, and no reason to build new fossil fuel plants.”

Read the full report from Empower NJ here:

This story was updated at 3:41 p.m. with a statement from Gov. Murphy’s office.

Michael Sol Warren may be reached at mwarren@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MSolDub. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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