Why Don’t We Do It In the Road?

Great Bay Boulevard, Tuckerton, NJ

On The Road

Direct forcing includes the conversion of ,43% of Earth’s land to agricultural or urban landscapes, with much of the remaining natural landscapes networked with roads. ~~~

Rapid climate change shows no signs of slowing. Modelling suggests that for ,30% of Earth, the speed at which plant species will have to migrate to keep pace with projected climate change is greater than their dispersal rate when Earth last shifted from a glacial to an interglacial climate, and that dispersal will be thwarted by highly fragmented landscapes.  [Source]

[Update: 7/10/14 – Kirk Moore has a good story on the hearing:

Critics make last pitch against NJ coastal rules

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[…] A state task force began working on the new rules a year before Sandy, part of a promise by Gov. Chris Christie’s administration to rationalize and streamline the thicket of Department of Environmental Protection rules. …

“We’re the only state in the Northeast that doesn’t have a (climate) adaptation plan,” said Bill Wolfe of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, a frequent critic of the Christie administration.

Stemming from the administration’s push to deregulate, he said: “This is the outcome.”

Wolfe said opponents of the change need to fight it in the state Legislature. The Sierra Club’s Jeff Tittel saw another outcome.

“Nature is going to throw this rule out because a lot of these areas will flood again,” he said.

end update]

This is our 1,800th post, so we go with a fun format.

I stopped 4 times in less than a mile to let turtles cross the road.

There were plenty of birds and other spectacular scenes today, but the greenheads were vicious so I spent little time shooting, and lots more time swatting.

Another species of Green Heads hammered DEP on their coastal rules (Watch TV clip).

That bump on my temple is courtesy of one I missed.

Read a killer Op-Ed on the DEP rules by Bill Potter:

• WHY DOESN’T THE STATE DEP BELIEVE IN GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE?

More to follow on today’s final public hearing and the rule proposal.

Curious coincidence: I criticized the pesticide provisions of the DEP rule, which would encourage greater use of pesticides – allegedly to control invasive plants. And sure enough, as I was leaving, almost got sprayed by this guy – wonder what he was spraying? Suspect mosquitos Thoughts?