Puerile Panel Pugilists

I had some doubts at the time, because I had registered for the NJ Spotlight Climate conference and seats were scarce, but after just now reading NJ Spotlight coverage of it, I am really – really-  sooo glad that I went to the Pinelands Commission meeting on Friday morning instead of trudging to Trenton.

Why is it that the so called “experts” and “leaders” and journalists feel so free to spout all kinds of bullshit while they are safely ensconced on panels and at conferences, but so rarely back that rhetoric up with commitments of resources and time in the political trenches where decisions are actually made?

The trenches, you know, like when bills are being drafted and considered by the Legislature, or when regulations are being proposed by DEP, or when funding plans are being crafted to access billions of federal dollars in Sandy recovery aid, or when Executive Order and budgets are issued by the Governor, or when plans or permits are issued, or at any public hearings, editorial board meetings, press conferences, protests, et al – you know, the public policy process.

The only time I see these “experts” and “leaders” engaged in that process is with their hands out, when they are seeking funds to run their organizations or benefit their pet projects – or to provide political cover for some politician that provides access to those resources.

Why, at the same time that they spout this lofty policy bullshit, do they so consistently go flaccid when it comes to naming names? Or speaking up WHEN AND WHERE IT MATTERS?

Try this one out, the lead quote in the NJ Spotlight story:

“It is really amazing how unprepared we have left ourselves — not just for the future, but for the present,’’ said Michael Catania, a cochair of the alliance and executive director of Duke Farms. “There is no excuse for not moving forward now.’’

What really is amazing is how craven and cowardly “we” are, particularly when such pap is projected from the well endowed and manicured lawns of the Duke Foundation.

So, I fired off these comments, which I want to preserve here, because they are likely to be taken down under NJ Spotlight’s “ad hominem” policy, a policy that seems to apply any time a person is named and criticized, regardless the nature and substance of the criticism:

I would ask: who is the “we” that Mr. Catania is referring to?

Is it too hard to say that Gov. Christie has abdicated his responsibility as Gov. and that NJ is the only vulnerable state on the Atlantic coast that lacks an adaptation plan?

That the Gov. has abdicated for political, personal ambition, and ideological reasons because climate change is a taboo in the Republican Party?

Is it too hard to say that in addition to abdication of State responsibilities, Gov. Christie and DEP Commissioner Martin have actually diverted funding and dismantled policies and programs at DEP to address climate change?

To note that many of the key people working on the climate issue at Rutgers used to work on it at DEP.

If “we” are collectively going to get something done of climate, then the people, policies, and politics accountable for the problem must be identified and held accountable.

Think of it as a Climate truth and reconciliation commission.

Finally, where has Catania and these other so called “experts” been for 5 years now? When the Christie policies were being developed and there was a chance to change them?

Leading from under their desks – or chasing state grants and contracts, that’s where.

Perhaps Ms. Baptista and other NJ Spotlight experts could come to Trenton and fight for climate adaptation money in the Open Space legislative debate?

Or the environmental justice legislative debate (which has overlapping program and policy elements with the open space debate).

I’ve been doing that and writing about it in detail here.

But for some reason, both open space and EJ bills and testimony on those topics has been completely ignored by NJ media, including NJ Spotlight.