The Answer Is Blowin’ In OWEDA

Senator Sweeney (L) responds to Wolfe (R) – Earth Day 2005.  (no typo, 11 years ago) Had he listened, things would have turned out differently.

In celebration of Senator Sweeney’s declining the Governor’s race – which just so happened to coincide with Bob Dylan’s receipt of the Nobel Prize in Literature – we play on his words.

As I’ve previously written, the Off Shore Wind Energy Development Act (OWEDA) is based on flawed economics and contained a poison pill that allowed Gov. Christie’s appointed energy industry cronies at BPU to kill the development of off-shore wind.

This poison pill is known as the “cost test”.

Gov. Christie duped Senate President Sweeney by suggesting a false commitment to develop off shore wind and in state manufacturing jobs associated with making NJ the east coast home of windmill manufacturing. (Christie used the same lie to secure the endorsement of the NJ Environmental Federation).

Here’s how and DEP Commissioner Martin – a former energy industry consultant – and Gov. Christie sold OWEDA:

The bipartisan measure will spur economic growth in the Garden State through the development of renewable energy resources and the creation of green jobs.  The legislation will establish an offshore wind renewable energy certificate program (OREC) and will make available financial assistance and tax credits from existing programs for businesses that construct manufacturing, assemblage and water access facilities to support the development of qualified offshore wind projects.

“The Offshore Wind Economic Development Act will provide New Jersey with an opportunity to leverage our vast resources and innovative technologies to allow businesses to engage in new and emerging sectors of the energy industry,” said Governor Christie. “Developing New Jersey’s renewable energy resources and industry is critical to our state’s manufacturing and technology future.  My Administration will maintain a strong commitment to utilizing energy as industry in our efforts to make our State a home for growth, as well as a national leader in the windpower movement.”

“This is a terrific step for New Jersey,” said DEP Commissioner Bob Martin.”It makes us a leader environmentally, while at the same time providing New Jersey with a major economic boost from jobs that surely will be created by this green industry. Certainly, we would rather have wind turbines, and the environmental and economic benefits they offer, than oil rigs off the coast of New Jersey.”

“We are far ahead of most other states in developing a technology that is better for the environment and will help the state’s economy,” Commissioner Martin said.

Measure that spin in light of reality 6 years later.

Gov. Christie never had any intention of developing off shore wind – instead, we got the opposite of renewable energy: 5 new natural gas plants and a proliferation of gas pipelines.

Incredibly, the Gov.s climate change denying – anti-renewable and pro-gas policy agenda – was announced in plain sight – 3 months prior to passage of OWEDA – in the BPU Energy Master Plan.

The OWEDA deal is paradigmatic of Christie’s corrupt “transactional” deals with NJ’s Machine Democrats (Norcross in South Jersey and Joe D. in Essex County/North Jersey).

Senate President Sweeney was the puppet who implemented these corrupt deals.

Perhaps had he not been such a Norcross and Christie Puppet, Sweeney would still be a candidate for Governor.

Like I said, the answer to those questions in Blowin’ In OWEDA.

[End Note: As I said, OWEDA is paradigmatic of Sweeney – Christie dirty deals

I could cite many more, like the Pinelands pipeline, the sellout on the Legislative veto of DEP flood hazard rules, and the most recent and perhaps most egregious that has flown under the media radar: appointment of a chemical industry rep on the Drinking Water Quality Institute.]