WolfeNotes.com

Discussion about economic competition with our Pennsylvania neighbors invariably devolves into the mindless corporate talking points: NJ must become more business friendly by cutting taxes and environmental regulations in order to compete. (See: “The Dystopia Conservatives Built”:

Choosing life, by contrast, means doing what Colorado’s governor and state legislature are doing by temporarily suspending corporate tax exemptions and raising revenue for job-sustaining schools and infrastructure. Even more dramatically, it means doing what voters in Oregon did last week.

As deficits threatened their education and public health systems, Oregonians confronted two ballot initiatives—one modestly raising taxes on annual income above $250,000, another hiking the state’s $10 minimum corporate income tax.

Despite these measures exempting 97 percent of taxpayers, conservatives waged a vicious opposition campaign, trotting out billionaire Nike CEO Phil Knight as their celebrity spokesperson. But this time, the right’s greed-is-good mantra failed. In a swing state that had killed every similar initiative since the 1930s, voters backed the tax increases—and chose economic life.

So, if we buy the corporate line, how is it that our Pennsylvania neighbors in Philadelphia are going in the right direction, by imposing stiff fees on stormwater pollution?

That’s a wonderful Pennsylvania idea NJ should compete with and embrace – and not only for stormwater, but for consumption of drinking water (S457) as well – and most importantly, for carbon to address global warming.

As superbly reported by Sandy Bauers in today’s Philadelphia Inquirer (here’s the intro, but click on headline and please read the whole story). :

A “green” city plan to reduce stormwater runoff

By Sandy Bauers

Inquirer Staff Writer

Storm water is nasty and dirty and can cause flooding. So the sooner it gets off a property, the better.

But it’s about to become valuable stuff in Philadelphia. Businesses can make money by embracing it. Or face losing money if they let it go.

This week, the Water Department is sending notices to 79,000 commercial customers about a new billing structure for storm water that will begin in July.

Buckeye Pipeline, Linden NJ

Beasts of England, beasts of Ireland,
Beasts of every land and clime,
Hearken to my joyful tidings
Of the golden future time. ~~~~ George Orwell

This is a metaphorical and yet literal story about pigs – we’ll let the reader discern metaphor from fact – noun from verb.

Pigs were the “state of the art” in garbage disposal in 1930. Few people understand that back then, many U. S. cities still saved their garbage for pig slopping – despite the well-known relationship between trichinosis and garbage-fed pigs. When driving past Secaucus, New Jersey, the recipient of New York City’s garbage, one had to roll up one’s car windows to avoid the ghastly smell of the pig farms as late as the 1940s.

I recently traveled to Tremley Point in Linden NJ to take some photographs to support the work of the coalition opposing the proposed $5 billion “PurGen” coal plant.

ISP (former GAF) toxic site, adjacent to Dupont toxic site of proposed PurGen coal plant, Linden NJ. What is in those piles?

Exxon Bayway Refinery, Linden, NJ

Needless to say, shortly after I got off Route 1 on the way out to Tremley Point,  despite the nice new ramps on the Turnpike at Exit 12, I realized that I was in the belly of some form of beast.

Linden Landfill

I got out of my car, to take some shots of the neighborhood.

Park surrounded by oil tank farm and refinery - is that an untarped toxic soil pile?

Good thing I didn't bring my dog. Do the oil companies cleanup their mess like a "pooper scooper" law?

Having a smoke on the porch or in the backyard could get you killed.

National oil and gas pipelines end in Linden

Of course, seeing that I was in a federal Homeland Security Zone, the local police swooped in to question me. This time, I was greeted by a professional and friendly cop. After I explained my mission, he explained the critical infrastructure we were virtually standing on. It turns out – after I asked about all the smoke coming from behind the Public Works yard where they park the garbage trucks (across from the park and swingset) – the policeman explained that Linden is the terminus of national oil and gas pipelines. He went on to mention the practice of “blowing out the pig“.

It sounded polluting and unsafe – and I wondered why they didn’t blow out the pig back in Texas or Ohio or wherever the oil and gas lines come here from.

According to the Wikipedia entry on “pigging“:

“… cleaning pigs push contaminants from the pipeline such as wax, foreign objects, hydrates, etc, which must be removed from the pipeline. There are inherent risks in opening the barrel to atmosphere and care must be taken to ensure that the barrel is depressured prior to opening. If the barrel is not completely depressured, the pig can be ejected from the barrel and operators have been severely injured when standing in front of an open pig door. When the product is sour, the barrel should be evacuated to a flare system where the sour gas is burnt. Operators should be wearing a self-contained breathing apparatus when working on sour systems.“

So, in addition to all the industrial pollution sources that make Linden an environmental justice community, we now learn that there are pigs in Linden.

And I thought that NJ had ended the gross, unhealthy and embarrassing practice of using pigs to manage waste:

“According to state estimates, New Jersey pigs consume 1,500 tons of garbage a week – about the same as a small trash-to-steam plant. Much of it comes from Philadelphia, which has contracted with about 20 pig farmers, who collect an estimated 30,000 tons of garbage a year.”

(see: “Pigging Out“, Philadelphia Inquirer)

just another pipeline in Linden

Ship of State - Linden, NJ along Arthur Kill

In the wake of an outstanding major NY Times series expose of Clean Water Act failures, Congress began oversight hearings today (see House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure backgrounder)

These hearings provide clean water advocates a golden moment to talk about failures of EPA enforcement and to propose strong reforms to set a high bar for the Obama EPA and Democratic controlled Congress.

Former NJ DEP Commissioner Lisa Jackson, current EPA Administrator testified today.

Jackson’s appearance provided a unique opportunity to advocate for NJ’s hugely successful Clean Water Enforcement Act. That Act sets mandatory penalties for permit violations and requires annal inspections. NJ funds these compliance and enforcement efforts via polluter pays permit discharge fees.

We could have urged that these aspects of NJ’s clean water program become a national model.

But what did the testimony from the NJ clean water advocate focus on? Horseshit. Literally. 

I’d love to know the inside political story on how this NJ clean water advocate got invited to testify at the hearing.

It’s times like these that make me want to find another line of work.

,

[Update 5 – 10/17/09 – another validation of my analysis – Bergen Record: Gubernatorial contenders strike a civil tone

[Update 4 – validating my point, chalk this up to Daggett’s leadership: Gov. Corzine would consider gasoline tax increase for transportation projects

[Update 3 – 10/11/09: NY Times echoes my point: Independent Candidate Stirs Up the Governor’s Race in New Jersey “Mr. Daggett’s dry talk of substance has filled an enormous vacuum.” 

[Update 2 – 10/10/09:  Star-Ledger endorses independent Chris Daggett for N.J. governor

[Update 1 : Some have misunderstood this post to mean that I support Daggett. That was not the intent of the post. For the record, I take no position on Daggett. I have written mostly favorably of his energy policy proposals here, written mostly critically of his ethics, DEP, and environmental policy initiatives here, and strongly criticized the Sierra Club for how they handled the Daggett endorsement here.]

Chris Daggettt has already won. It doesn’t matter now who gets elected.

Chris Daggett, Independent candidate for NJ Governor

Daggett has managed to change not only the tone and tenor of this year’s campaign, but has created space for real governing after the election.

Just like the upcoming October 8 debate will dramatically change from the previous one, so too will governing in Trenton in the lame duck session as well as by the next Governor.

Daggett did so the old fashioned way, by injecting policy back into politics and by focusing on governing, not just campaigning.

In the process, he has far outdone Obama, while creating a policy opportunity far greater than the President, who championed the empty slogan of “change” in the Presidential campaign and has since governed without a progressive policy framework.

Daggett’s feat has illustrated that campaigning and governing are inextricably linked.

Whether a campaign is based on fear and smear (the Republican and Christie model) or empty rhetoric (the Democratic and Corzine model) does not matter. Both styles do not enable the framing of issues or formation of consensus to emerge on policy. Without a policy framework or consensus, it is impossible to govern effectively.

Thank goodness that this is now obvious. And the result does not inure to the benefit of an individual candidate, but determines the entire context for the remainder of the campaign and the next administration. This is a huge feat.

Daggett accomplished his feat by framing 4 progressive public policy fields and by finally vanquishing the anti-government bogeyman that has brought NJ to this crisis point:

1. The need for investments in infrastructure. Daggett has put the long forgotten Transportation Trust back on the radar screen. He has done so by focusing on transportation needs and stable financing. He has done so in a way that does not play into anti-tax and anti-toll sentiment, or rely on privatization or financial schemes, as Corzine did.

2. The need to change the tax structure. Daggett not only has opened up an important policy discussion on shifting the tax structure to better fit our service economy. He openly pledged to consider raising the gas tax (an issue previously off the table). When combined with Daggett’s environmental policy views, this opens the door for and will naturally lead to considering a broader based energy or consumption tax framework. Critically, an energy or carbon based tax (with low/moderate income rebate) can level the economic playing field between renewable energy costs and subsidized carbon based fuels, and spur private investment in renewable energy. So again, Daggett has won by brilliantly and creatively linking tax policy, the structure of the economy, and substantive policy goals.

3. The need to make protecting the environment a priority. Daggett has illustrated the need to link rhetorical policy goals with implementation. His move to hold a press conference and take clear positions on specific energy projects (off shore LNG, Linden coal plant, et al) immediately after the September 8 energy debate was a clear demonstration of this. By doing so, without even mentioning or criticizing them, Daggett showed why Corzine’s empty energy and global warming goals are so flawed. Daggett was also the only candidate to even mention the environment in the first debate, and he did this in a  way that linked his tax restructuring with investments in open space. Again, a brilliant policy and rhetorical move.

4. The need to stem the”brain drain” and invest in education. Daggett is the only candidate even talking about this critical issue. Lots of voters intuitively understand this, because they went to college  or their kids are going to college in another state. NJ’s higher education is a national disgrace.

Last, Daggett was called a “dreamer” and ineffective candidate and politician by columnist Tom Moran of the Star Ledger.  Moran has things exactly backwards. By leadership and what a buffoon of a president called “the vision thing”, Dagger has opened vast new space for policy and governing.

Daggett is the only effective politician in the race (whether he wins or loses).

Now if the media would only get with the program….

[Update: Intro warning: If it is not obvious, this is snark! That’s why the original piece closed with reference to Yesmen!)

Washington – Harkening back to President Roosevelt’s New Deal, the Obama administration today announced a new federal agency, the CCC – Carbon Control Corporation.

The new CCC was modeled on FDR’s Civilian Conservation Corps and the Tennessee Valley Authority, depression era agencies that spurred employment, conservation of the nation’s natural resources, and brought affordable electric power to millions of homes.

Obama, joined by Treasury Secretary Geithner and Energy Czar Carol Browner, said the CCC would manage and finance energy and global warming policy goals, while spurring employment.

Headed jointly by internationally recognized Princeton Professors Cornel West, and Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Krugman, the $250 billion per year CCC program will make massive federal infrastructure investments and be funded by three major sources:

1) a surcharge on carbon intensive fuels – domestic coal and oil imports;

2) full refund of the $700 billion Wall Street bailout money; and

3) savings from phase out of the AfPak and Iraq wars and redeployment of 250,000 US troops stationed at over 725 foreign military bases in 120 countries, including Germany, Japan, and North Korea.

“Today, we take the first large step on the sustainable energy path, and call an end to US military empire” said Obama. “The CCC will restore US manufacturing sector jobs and jump-start a socially just and equitable jobs based economic recovery. The era of deindustrialization, deregulation, privatization, and finance based taxpayer subsidized speculative global trade schemes is over.”

“I have directed CCC head Cornel West to begin immediately with an expanded “cash for clunkers” program for refrigerators, hot water heaters, and furnaces and energy efficiency in America’s homes.

We will channel $30 billion to US consumers in the next 30 days. We will have 10,000 wind, solar, and mass transportation projects underway before the snow falls.

At the upcoming Copenhagen global warming conference, I will present a detailed plan to phase out the nation’s coal power plants over the next 10 years and construct a world class national inter-city rail and urban mass transit system.” he said.

Governor Corzine applauded the CCC, saying “Obama’s leadership will assure that NJ meets my global warming and energy efficiency and conservation goals, as well as avoid the need to finance implementation via a securitized gas tax revenue stream and expanded privatization initiatives,”the NJ Governor said, referring to his prior controversial proposals to increase tolls, privatize the NJ Turnpike, and failed plan to fully fund the Transportation Trust Fund .

“These are crucial positive developments in light of the upcoming election – I am so glad that we finally we can deploy NJ’s National Guard to serve our communities here at home, instead of killing innocent civilians in foreign lands” he concluded.

Corzine was joined by a PSEG spokesman, who announced that PSEG would immediately develop plans to close all 4 NJ coal plants; cancel midwestern coal power energy importation contracts; end export of power to the NY City market; abandon controversial new power lines through the NJ Highlands, and south jersey; increase commercial rates and decrease shareholder profits; and provide rebates to low and moderate income families.

“However, because of the ongoing environmental impacts of our power line operations and the way we corrupted and undermined trust in government, PSEG will continue the $18.6 million payment to the Highlands Council.” PSEG spokesman concluded.

In a statement, other major NJ energy providers echoed PSEG, and pledged to shutdown the aging Oyster Creek plant, and cancel a controversial Linden coal plant and offshore LNG. “We will redouble our wind, solar, and conservation efforts” the energy industry said.

Conservative Republican challenger Christie blasted the Obama CCC as a government takeover, and opposed the thousands of new jobs that would be created as “more bureaucracy“.

Independent challenger Daggettt urged Corzine to be “realistic” and repeated his claim that renewable energy is more expensive than coal.

The Obama move was applauded by NJ Environmental Czar Bill Wolfe, recently named to revitalize NJ’s hapless ENGO community. “Health, Beauty , Permanence, Jobs, Peace, and Social Justice are now guiding our government policies and programs, as well as our personal aspirations” said Wolfe.”Like we’ve been saying for 40 years: “Small is Beautiful” and there really are “Limits to Growth“.

This post was brought to you in the spirit of The Yesmen