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RGGI Debate: Lonegan v. Tittel (but so much more)

by: Jeff Gardner

Thu Jul 21, 2011 at 12:16:10 PM EDT

Remember RGGI? That's the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative - the first real effort nationally to implement a "cap and trade" system in an effort to use market forces to reduce greenhouse gases. By most accounts, the program has been a success, raising hundreds of millions of dollars, while reducing carbon emissions, in ten northeastern states controlled by both democrats and republicans.

It really didn't seem too controversial in the Garden State, until this Spring, when Gov. Christie pulled NJ out of the program, a move most observers called pandering to a right-wing national audience, and which infuriated environmental groups. It got even more controversial when Democratic Sen. Paul Sarlo showed up for a press conference with "Americans for Prosperity" chief, Steve Lonegan, to announce his opposition to RGGI as well. Sarlo was soon followed by Sen. Nick Sacco and Sen. Jeff Van Drew in supporting the Christie move.

This prompted Sen. Barbara Buono (hey, why didn't they poll her against Christie the other day?) to write a post here on Blue Jersey calling out what she saw as a huge mistake, and other democrats in the Senate and Assembly to propose blocking Christie's move. Obviously, divisions within the party had begun, even before all the allegations about "fake democrats" and "Christiecrats" caught fire during the pension and budget battles.

Confused yet? I confess, I could use some education on the subject. So, I'm looking forward to next Wednesday's forum: Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative: Asset or Liability for New Jersey?, featuring none other than AFP's Steve Lonegan and the Sierra Club's Jeff Tittel. (Professor Alain L. Sanders, a member of the Political Science Department of St. Peter's College, will moderate the discussion.)

It's next Wednesday, July 27, 2011 from 7 to 9pm at the Ethical Culture Society of Bergen County, 687 Larch Ave, Teaneck, NJ, presented by Bergen Grassroots (DFA). See some of you there, and maybe just maybe we'll learn a few things - about RGGI, and about where our state is headed.

Jeff Gardner :: RGGI Debate: Lonegan v. Tittel (but so much more)

Tags: Bergen Grassroots, Americans For Prosperity, Sierra Club, Steve Lonegan, Jeff Tittel, featured, environment, cap and trade, RGGI, DFA, (All Tags)

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RGGI Debate: Lonegan v. Tittel (but so much more) | 6 comments

Want some background info? (0.00 / 0)

Read up on this topic here:
Conservative Group Wants to Shut Down NJ's Offshore Wind Program
http://www.njspotlight.com/sto...

and here:
Koch brothers declare war on offshore wind
http://www.grist.org/wind-powe...

and here:
Wingnuts Target NJ Wind and Solar for Elimination
http://www.wolfenotes.com/2011...

by: toaonua @ Thu Jul 21, 2011 at 16:36:47 PM UTC

by: you @ soon

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oh, and also here (0.00 / 0)

Americans for Prosperity Claims Greenhouse Gas Initiative Will Drive up Cost of Electricity
http://www.njspotlight.com/sto...

by: toaonua @ Thu Jul 21, 2011 at 16:39:40 PM UTC

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by: you @ soon

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Thanks! (0.00 / 0)

It's not a particularly snappy signature, but here's what I think we need in the next NJ Democratic State Chair.

by: Rosi Efthim @ Thu Jul 21, 2011 at 20:40:18 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

And here... (0.00 / 0)

THE SECRETS TEN STATES & WALL STREET DON'T WANT YOU TO KNOW http://newjersey.watchdog.org/...

NJ WATCHDOG SUES STATE OVER CARBON AUCTION "SECRETS" http://newjersey.watchdog.org/...

WHY RGGI IS FAILING & UNLIKELY TO CUT CO-2 EMISSIONS BEFORE 2030 http://newjersey.watchdog.org/...

NJ WATCHDOG SUES STATE OF $777 MILLION OF AUCTION SECRETS http://newjersey.watchdog.org/...

NEW YORK OFFICIALS RELEASE 2,000 RGGI EMAILS TO NJ WATCHDOG; NEW JERSEY STILL CLAIMS THE RECORDS ARE CONFIDENTIAL http://newjersey.watchdog.org/...

NOT DEAD YET! RGGI REBOUNDS WITH $83M CAP & TRADE AUCTION http://newjersey.watchdog.org/...

DEMOCRAT BACKS NEW JERSEY BILL TO REPEAL RGGI CAP & TRADE http://newjersey.watchdog.org/...

PSEG FIGHTS TO KEEP CAP & TRADE RECORDS SECRET http://newjersey.watchdog.org/...

REPORT? WHAT REPORT? NJDEP IGNORES GLOBAL WARMING LAW http://newjersey.watchdog.org/...

PSEG & NJDEP TO RATEPAYERS: IT'S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS! http://newjersey.watchdog.org/...

NEW JERSEY QUITS CAP & TRADE; FUTURE OF RGGI IS UNCERTAIN http://newjersey.watchdog.org/...

NEW JERSEY TO KEEP $102 MILLION IN RGGI DIVORCE SETTLEMENT http://newjersey.watchdog.org/...

N.E. CARBON MARKET REELS AS RGGI AUCTION HITS ALL-TIME LOW http://newjersey.watchdog.org/...

WAR OVER RGGI CONTINUES WITH NEW LEGISLATION & LITIGATION http://newjersey.watchdog.org/...

by: RightOne @ Fri Jul 22, 2011 at 14:35:31 PM UTC

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Interesting site (0.00 / 0)

NJ Watchdog - some good reads.

by: Jeff Gardner @ Sun Jul 24, 2011 at 14:15:55 PM UTC

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NJ Watchdog is a Tea Party astroturfing entity! (0.00 / 0)

I have to share this with you now - long but necessary to read:

Follow the bouncing astroturf ball from a "Watchdog.org" alert posted today (and notice the "Blue Dog" theme of the web site) one can only assume this is Tea Party/Koch-connected? (check these out also: Neb. Governor: Palin Qualified to Be President ( http://watchdog.org/8345/neb-g... ) and this Missouri Governor spends $400,000 flying on state plane ( http://watchdog.org/8347/misso... ) Yikes

1) NEW JERSEY'S "SECRETS" ARE PUBLIC RECORDS IN NEW YORK
http://watchdog.org/8343/new-j...

2) Watchdog.org part of the "Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F...

Originally sponsored by the government transparency and accountability advocacy group, the Sam Adams Alliance, the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity currently operates independently, having received 501(c)3 tax status from the Internal Revenue Service on June 5, 2009.

3) Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity
www.franklincenterhq.org/about/staff/

Elizabeth Hillgrove
Elizabeth Hillgrove is a staff writer and researcher with the Franklin Center. Ms. Hillgrove's passion for journalism and politics evolved from her interest in history and literature. Ms. Hillgrove received her training from the National Journalism Center in Washington D.C. She then served as a beat reporter with the Washington Times before earning a Koch Summer Fellowship with the Sam Adams Alliance.

4) Sam Adams Alliance
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S...

Sam Adams Alliance works on behalf of individuals and groups who support free market and free enterprise causes, and greater government accountability at all levels of government. The organization does not take overt policy positions, and evaluates the causes it supports on a case-by-case basis, judging them by the amount to which they advance individual freedoms and responsible government.

Personnel
Eric O'Keefe is the Chairman and CEO of the Sam Adams Alliance. O'Keefe also serves on the Board of Directors of the Institute for Humane Studies, the Center for Competitive Politics and Wisconsin Club for Growth.

5) Institute for Humane Studies (Sam Adams CEO Eric O'Keefe on their Board, operates Koch Summer Fellowships)
http://www.theihs.org/koch-sum...

6) "Tea Parties": an astroturfed Koch family movement (FreedomWorks, Instapundit, Rick Santelli)
http://24ahead.com/tea-parties...

...ChicagoTeaParty.com was just one part of a larger network of Republican sleeper-cell-blogs set up over the course of the past few months, all of them tied to a shady rightwing advocacy group coincidentally named the "Sam Adams Alliance," whose backers have until now been kept hidden from public. Cached google records that we discovered show that the Sam Adams Alliance took pains to scrub its deep links to the Koch family money as well as the fake-grassroots "tea party" protests going on today. All of these roads ultimately lead back to a more notorious rightwing advocacy group, FreedomWorks, a powerful PR organization headed by former Republican House Majority leader Dick Armey and funded by Koch money.

7) Anatomy of the Tea Party Movement: Sam Adams Alliance
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
Long before Sam Adams Alliance's recent website redesign, they altered an internship recruitment page that connected Sam Adams Alliance to Koch Industries: "Interested parties can apply for a Sam Adams Alliance internship through the Charles G. Koch Summer Fellow Program administered by the Institute for Humane Studies and the State Policy Network." The internship is still listed on the IHS website. Charles Koch founded the IHS. The internship page existed up until the site's ongoing redesign, but recently the Koch reference was absent from the Sam Adams Alliance website.

by: toaonua @ Thu Jul 28, 2011 at 00:40:09 AM UTC

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