Climate change plans face pushback
(The Center Square) — New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy wants to accelerate the state’s response to climate change with a new plan to shift to 100% clean energy by 2035, but the move faces pushback from Republican lawmakers who are calling it “unrealistic.”
The new clean energy targets, unveiled by Murphy this week, call for weaning the state off fossil fuel sources of energy over the next 12 years and requiring all cars sold in the state to be electric by 2035, instead of 2050.
He also plans to sign an executive order mandating about 10% of the state’s commercial and residential buildings be electrified by 2030, including both retrofits and new structures.
Murphy said the plan includes “bold targets” and “carefully crafted initiatives” that reflect the state’s “unequivocal commitment to swift and concrete climate action.”
“We’ve turned our vision for a greener tomorrow into a responsible and actionable roadmap to guide us, and it’s through that pragmatic, evidence-based approach that we will ultimately arrive at our destination,” the Democrat said in a speech at Rutgers University Thursday.
But Republican lawmakers say Murphy’s climate change plans seek to “turn New Jersey into the California of the East Coast,” while saddling energy consumers with higher costs.
Senate Minority Leader Steven Oroho said the governor’s green energy plan is “extreme, expensive, and totally unrealistic.”
“When our fragile electric grid is already struggling to keep up with demand, it seems like an enormous risk to force all of our homes, businesses, and cars to electrify,” he said. “We’ll be putting people’s lives and our economy at risk so Murphy can earn kudos from his liberal friends.”
State Sen. Anthony Bucco, R-Morris, said the accelerated clean energy shift would be an “absolutely astronomical financial burden for homeowners, businesses, and taxpayers.”
“Gov. Murphy’s original goal of forcing New Jersey to go all electric by 2050 was unrealistic at best, but his new 2035 target is nuts,” he said in a statement.
