Hydraulic fracturing - better known as fracking - has been popping up in New Jersey a lot lately. It's a process whereby natural gas is shaken loose and captured from deep underground deposits. Fracking is widely controversial for multiple reasons, all of which relate to the safety of the practice. We've reported on it a few times hereatBlueJersey.
Well, it looks like those urging caution and re-evaluation of the practice might not be alarmist party poopers after all. In Youngstown, Ohio, fracking waste water caused two earthquakes on Christmas Eve and New Years Eve. The quakes measured 2.7 and 4.0 respectively on the Richter scale; they did little damage and no one was injured. However, scientists know for sure that the quakes were in fact caused by the operation of a fracking waste water injection well used by nearby Northstar Disposal Services. How do they know this? Because between March and November of 2011, nine earthquakes took place in the otherwise earthquake-free Youngstown area. Nine! And so the Ohio Department of Natural Resources teamed up with scientists from Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (LEDO) to place seismographs around the area, to test what seemed like the glaringly obvious answer: that the fracking waste water operation was, in fact, causing earthquakes.
The Christmas and New Years quakes provided the LEDO scientists with conclusive evidence - with a 95% rate of certainty, that fracking caused all 11 earthquakes in Youngstown, Ohio between March and New Year's Eve.
Fracking - it makes people sick, makes tap water flammable, fills dangerous pipelines and CAUSES EARTHQUAKES.
Here in the Garden State, the latest action in this fight came in November when the Delaware River Basin Commission decided to postpone a vote on natural gas regulations which could have opened the door to the construction of up to 35,000 fracking wells in the Delaware basin. That basin provides drinking water for 15.6 million people - 5% of the population of the United States. The postponement of the vote was considered a victory by environmentalists, but it was only a delay - not an outright rejection of fracking.
New Jersey should ban fracking, as well as the transport of natural gas acquired through the process - at the very least until the EPA completes its study on the practice's safety, which concludes in 2014. (One can only hope the EPA will incorporate the Youngstown earthquakes into their final report.) This summer, legislation banning the practice was sent to Governor Christie; he issued a conditional veto, weakening the ban to a one-year moratorium with no teeth and all of the important loose ends left un-tied. And though legislators are currently considering override legislation that could protect NJ against future DRBC regulation changes, it's not clear why the DRBC would move on fracking at all without some clarity from the EPA.
UPDATE 11:14, motion by Democrats to table map 'till next month fails.
UPDATE 11:06 (Rosi Efthim): I just put up close-ups of the new districts in 3 sections - north, central, south. It's close-up enough that you should be able to look, find your town, and see which district you're now in - Find Your Town - the New Congressional Redistricting Map.
Update 11am, Jeannine Frisby LaRue cites "serious problems" with the map. Specifically the slicing and dicing in NJ-3 and Bergen County. Go girl!
Update 10:57, DuHaime and Roberts playing ping pong. Is the former Speaker planting the seeds for a lawsuit?
UPDATE 10:47 (Rosi Efthim) Here's the map:
UPDATE 10:34 - The status is still listed as Pending, but when things get underway, you can listen LIVE to the session here, from Committee Room 11 at the Statehouse. (keep refreshing) - Rosi Efthim
10:33 Cherry Hill moved to nj-1 is the pre-map chatter. Oy.
10:26 and waiting for the new maps to be revealed.
(pics to follow....)
NJ-3's new Cherry Hill-free configuration. Click to enlarge.
North Jersey map below. Click to enlarge in detail.
(Teacher/candidate Marie Corfield spells it all out: - promoted by Jersey Jazzman)
Before the end of the year Governor Christie wants the legislature to pass the remainder of his property tax ‘tool kit’ including his education ‘reform’ agenda. And the fate of one of the nation’s best public education systems and thousands of its students hang in the balance.
Out of over twenty four hundred schools in this state, about two hundred are not doing a good enough job educating their students. These schools are mostly in the former Abbott districts, some of the poorest cities in this country, where the Black unemployment rate is almost double the state average, and one in five children live in poverty.
The governor and Acting Education Commissioner Chris Cerf, along with their education advisors, Better Education for Kids (B4K) and Excellent Education for Everyone (E3), do not address this almost criminal disparity of wealth despite the fact that one of the DOE's earlier Abbott district reports cites poverty as a major roadblock to student achievement:
I wonder. Do you think our pro-voucher, Catholic school parent Governor thinks these kids are drug mules too?
You remember this, right? Back from when Christie was gleefully building his national street cred as a bullyboy. Before he blamed that same reputation on the press. The Guv sure didn't have any trouble calling public school kids drug mules for being the unwitting, cute little messengers of what their teachers and schools needed them to push. In his opinion.
This is big-time stuff, in case you mistook it for some kind of grassroots movement. Today's rally was coordinated by a PR company called Jaffe Communications, who brag about the expensive-sounding advertising buys in targeted legislative districts, including billboards, bus advertising, and posters. To say nothing of the firm's coordinated pitch of Op-Eds to news outlets.
Didn't catch this Washington Post piece from a few days ago, about the OWS marchers who came through New Jersey a few days ago on their way to D.C. Apparently, they got a pretty chilly reception when they came through Princeton.
Washington Post reporter Elizabeth Flock is embedded with a group of occupiers, who are now through NJ and into Delaware. They plan a D.C. arrival Nov. 23, the day Congress considers extending the Bush tax cuts.
What happened outside the Princeton bar, after the fold.
How would you like to be the speaker who goes to the podium before two international celebrities? And do it while you are nursing a very bad cold? Well, New Jersey Assembly candidate Troy Singleton was in just that position last night, and he hit a home run.
Last night's Get Out the Vote rally in Willingboro featured nine time Olympic Gold Medal winner Carl Lewis and Oprah celebrity Newark Mayor Cory Booker. But Singleton was a star in his own light.
Singleton's district, the seventh, is one of the few competitive legislative races this year. He and his running mate, Assemblyman/Doctor/Lawyer Herb Conaway are competing against the flip-flopping Mayor of Mount Laurel, Jim Keenan, and Christie Clone Chris Halgas.
Singleton already has a list of accomplishments that would make him one of the best prepared Assemblypeople in Trenton. As chief of staff to former Speaker Joe Roberts, Singleton knows the ins and outs of the State House. He's a labor leader and serves on the Turnpike Authority, the Burlington County Bridge Commission and is a trustee of Rowan University.
Lewis and Booker were inspiring in their remarks last night. But listening to Troy was the highlight.
When we flip on a light switch in our homes, few of us think about the ramifications. Electricity is relatively cheap, so we don’t think of the cost. Most of the time it’s available on demand, so we don’t think about reliability or distribution, and since we don’t see the pollution that resulted from its production, we don’t usually think about the environment. We just flip on the switch, and there’s light.
But at times, we’re all aware of some of the problems and pitfalls in lighting and heating our homes. We experience power outages, usually attributable to extreme weather. We gripe about our electricity bills, especially during the summer months when our air conditioners run non-stop. We see the environmental cost with dirty air from coal-burning plants and the ever-present threat of a Three Mile Island or Fukushima Daiiachi disaster in our back yard.
The paradigms about the generation and distribution of electrical power in New Jersey are shifting. It’s not just the move from reliance on dirty fossil fuels to clean energy sources. We also must take into account the need for energy storage to account for the time difference between when renewable energy is available (like solar during daylight hours) and when it is consumed (for example, at night or during overcast days.) We need to recognize that the generation of renewable energy is not done at a few large capital-intensive power plants, but is more of a geographically distributed entity, one which our transmission systems and regulations may not be optimized for. And we need to look into the future where electric vehicles will become more prevalent, resulting in more consumer demand for power in the home, and access to power-hungry recharging stations along the state’s thoroughfares.The cost of solar power is becoming lower than that of nuclear, and with the closing of the Oyster Creek nuclear plant in 2019, a large chunk of the state’s indigenous generation capacity will need to be replaced. And a new player, geothermal energy, is becoming a viable way to heat and cool our homes (for more on geothermal, go to the 4:00 mark in the Chivukula video, below.)
It's Day #13 at Occupy Trenton, and participants have been there 24 hours/day, sunshine and heavy rain. And Mayor Tony Mack has told them they're welcome where they are and that the state has treated them unfairly - and illegally.
The meeting, open to the public, is scheduled for 5:30pm at City Council Chambers, 319 State Street, on the 2nd floor. Right now, the Agenda doesn't show Occupy Trenton listed, but it may not have been updated on line. Occupy participants were told yesterday by the mayor that he himself would be speaking out.
On Friday, equipment, including cameras and computers, and other items used by the participants were seized by the state, and there were a few hours of chaos for occupiers. You can read more of our coverage here.
Occupy Trenton is still welcoming participants, and there have also been donations of food and drink.
Participants, I'm told anecdotally, are being told by Trenton police that the state is actively looking to find regulations, laws or ordinances allowing them to make it more difficult for the Occupy Trenton participants to be where they are, which is across the street from the State House, in New Jersey's capitol city.
Unless you have some sort of telepathic connection to the Internet, you are reading this article on a computer. Perhaps that computer is in your home – a place that provides you with shelter and comfort. Perhaps you are viewing this piece on a computer at work – you’re among the fortunate Americans who have a job. Or maybe you’re less well off, don’t have regular access to a computer, and are reading this on a system at one of the many struggling libraries in New Jersey.
Yet, there are hundreds of thousands of your fellow Garden State residents who don’t have the wherewithal to read this blog. They may be homeless or living in substandard housing. They may be too sick because they have no access to health care. Or they may be more worried about whether they can afford the bus fare to get to the food bank so their family can have a nutritious meal.
Reporting on poverty in New Jersey is not as exciting as following our well-to-do governor’s political rants or lamenting the Yankees’ performance. As liberals, we may be going through some self-satisfying self-congratulations about the fact that we are finally seeing activist protests on Wall Street and around the nation. But let’s remember what precipitated these demonstrations – it’s the growing chasm in our society between the rich and the poor – the extermination of the middle class. Hundreds of thousands of your fellow citizens can’t even afford fare to these demonstrations or, if they’re lucky, can’t get time off from their minimum wage jobs.
In a move that can only be politely called indifference but is likely abject hatred, Chris Christie subjected thousands of New Jersey public workers to a commute that could be called dangerous, unnecessary and a direct distraction and disruption to emergency crews trying to protect and recover the roads and rails of Trenton from not yet crested flood waters.
Back in the spring, I posted a diary about my time in Wisconsin recalling a Republican state senator who voted on a "budget-repair" bill that ended collective bargaining for public employees. I felt then that the chance to be a part of history and participate in a recall. Should things work out today, and the Wisconsin Democrats time things right, I very well might be back in Wisconsin this fall to recall Scott Walker himself.
Democrats were successful in Wisconsin for the first two rounds of the recalls. We successfully filed recall petitions against 6 of 8 eligible Republican state senators and all of the "fake Democrats" lost in the primaries (Wisconsin does not have partisan voter registration). Our ultimate success or failure comes down to today-- election day. If Democrats do not vote, then the Koch brothers get the message loud and clear that they can use their money to tamper with elections. They've funded some dirty tricks in Wisconsin lately, and don't assume that we will not see them in November, as Christie is an ally of theirs.
To begin to dissolve the collective bargaining rights that New Jersey's public workers have counted on for decades, Gov. Chris Christie employed a masterful communications strategy. It isn't easy to convince well-educated voters that the people who live down the street, or across town, are your enemy.
To do it, Christie had to turn ... the bus driver you see every day ... your kid's math teacher ... the guy who works at the library ... the lady who makes lunches for the folks at Vineland Developmental Center .. the cop ... the firefighter ... the woman sitting up all night helping a WWII veteran die peacefully ... into caricature. They are middle class, or working class. But he calls them rich, tells you they're cheating you every day, that they're the ones responsible for a deadened economy. Because they're greedy. Bloodsuckers.
He has to depersonalize them in order to do all that. He's good at it, too. We hear he's going places. And some Democrats stand behind him. The ones that do not deserve to know how many people are standing behind them. Waving across the country now, with some powerful interests behind it, is an effort to get people to turn against each other, blame each other, instead of seeking better governmental solutions, better lawmakers, better spending priorities.
Tomorrow, the NJ Assembly votes on a bill hostile to our public workers. It will make national news. If you can get there, come to the State House at noon. Thousands of people will await the vote. As Couch Potato Politics tells us, it's not too late to call Assembly members.
Meanwhile, here's a reminder of who Chris Christie's talking about when he tells you who New Jersey's public workers are:
We saw it today. The sliding approval ratings of our headstrong governor (more on this later) are being driven downward by New Jersey's women. Women unimpressed by gubernatorial bluster, who may wonder what Chris Christie's attitude towards their gender might be, given that he is incapable of speaking about or to women legislators - like Loretta Weinberg ("take a bat to her"), Valerie Huttle ("a jerk") Sheila Oliver ("liar") and Bonnie Watson Coleman (responsible for a murder) - without unprofessional conduct and insulting language.
On the other hand, maybe New Jersey women don't have to wonder, since everything in Gov. Christie attitude toward his female constituents, particularly those of lower income, is crystal clear. He removed from the state budget the $7.5 million the state was funding women's health and family planning programs, of critical need. He has ignored or resisted all attempts to find alternate ways to restore that funding, while spending freely on other things. And he's caused the state to lose $9 of federal funding for every $1 New Jersey isn't spending on these programs.
Fortunately, there is leadership in both houses of the legislature - with Sen. Loretta Weinberg & Asw Linda Stender in the lead - who will not give up. Yesterday was a killer day in Trenton, and the disgraceful votes in the Senate and Assembly Budget blotted out the rest of the day. So, reaching back a day, here are some pictures from yesterday's rally calling for a full restoration of the funds removed from family planning and women's health programs.
I want to note the delegations from National Council of Jewish Women and Planned Parenthood, who showed in numbers. And that among the men who showed up - sexy beasts all of them - was Rep. Frank Pallone, who towered over everyone else at the podium, and LD-8 candidate Carl Lewis, who pointed out that sometimes it takes a man to stand up for a woman. I have to say it: Feminist men are hot.
Recently, when I was at Netroots Nation, I spoke with AFT President Randi Weingarten about the candidacy of public school teacher Marie Corfield for the New Jersey State Assembly from the 16th District. Along with many of the participants at the conference, we agreed that more teachers need to be elected to public office. Weingarten was enthusiastic, and handed me a button to give to Marie in support of Marie's candidacy. Marie is wearing that button in this video where she addresses Blue Jersey readers at today's Trenton rally.
Disclosure: I am working on Marie Corfield's campaign
This is an open thread. Won't have time to live blog this today, but your comments and reactions to the video streaming of the hearing (link below) is welcome.
UPDATE - Senate Hearing begins about 45 minutes late - a full gallery in the Senate chamber will hear an historic vote on a bill proposed by 'union man' Steve Sweeney, President of the NJ state Senate. Watch here. Feed is not embeddable or we would post it. The hearing is starting late, with the Full Senate link still at this time showing Pending, which may mean there are furious negotiations going on outside the chamber.
#StandUpNJ - Twitter hashtag being used by union participants and their supporters.
Section 76 repealed - As we reported earlier, Senator Sweeney and Assemblywoman Oliver have backtracked on one of the most fiscally unwise and damaging parts of the plan, which would have blocked state employees from using their own health insurance at out-of-state hospitals.
Sen. Loretta Weinberg told Blue Jersey this morning she will not support the bill as currently construvted
Early this morning, outside a fundraiser in Trenton for Assembly Democrats, protesters jeered Assembly Democrats supporting the Christie-Sweeney plan, and cheered Democrats they know will not be selling them out today. Shouts of: "We will remember in November!"
A Tent City has sprung up behind the Trenton War Memorial - dozens of tents constructed there legally or illegally, I don't know yet.
March for Collective Bargaining - Led by historical re-enactors, union folks and their supporters marched into Trenton this morning to stage what they call Trenton Battle Two. Video:
Deciminyan is there, but couldn't get into the hearing itself. The room is full, and fire regulations prohibit any further crowding. Deciminyan's now headed over to Tent City.
I hope Couch Potato Politics doesn't mind. I added video of Jackson's event in Jersey City, one of several across the state over 2 days. Economic injustice was the theme in Jersey City, protesting Citigroup's decision to lay off 276 New Jerseyans at their Englewood Cliffs subsidiary, just weeks after NJ offered another Citigroup subsidiary $12.3 million in tax breaks to relocate 400 jobs to JC from New York. Jersey City video & stills from both days, after the jump - Rosi
The Rev. Jesse Jackson appeared in Downtown Jersey City yesterday to protest Citigroup's decision to lay off 276 workers at a subsidiary in Englewood Cliffs.
The layoffs were announced in March, mere weeks after the state offered another Citigroup subsidiary, Citibank N.A., $12.3 million in tax breaks to relocate 400 jobs to Jersey City from New York.
A prouder moment in my life is hard to define but introducing my children to the Reverend Jesse Jackson yesterday rates as one of the most significant. Having a photo of my daughter standing with Jesse Jackson captured a moment I'll not soon forget.
Jesse Jackson has been a participant and witness in some of the most significant changes in our American society over the last 60 years. He walked with Dr. Martin Luther King to face the dogs, firehoses, Billy-clubs and white-sheeted hate mongers threatening, and for Dr. King, delivering death as a response to the march for freedom and equality for all Americans and the ability of public workers to have a voice in bargaining their working conditions and rights.
As we stood at the foot of the Trenton War Memorial steps and listened to Reverend Jackson talk to the threats being levied against workers' rights, the rights of the poor and middle class to equal access to quality education and healthcare, I recalled the old footage of Dr. King speaking to the people about equal rights and social justice. I reflected on the image of a much younger Jesse Jackson standing at his elbow, learning the lessons of leadership and sacrifice for others. In Jesse's words, I could hear the influence of Dr. King's spirit, 43 years after his assassination.
As we stood and listened to Reverend Jackson, I wondered if these moments would be the cement that my children use to fortify the foundation of their sense of social responsibility and self-sacrifice. I can only hope that they will someday tell their children about the day they met Jesse Jackson and teach to them the lessons that he and Dr. King taught to us.
For the guy helping the mayor run the city, a heroin arrest with sidebar resisting arrest and assault of a police officer charges is a pretty damned bad news situation. Word is Paul Sigmund is headed to rehab. Hope so. And politics & city management aside, it's hard not to wish him the best.
Now, Tony Mack, time to address some problems ... it's all you, man.
