Murphy DEP Embraces Christie DEP “Stewardship” Spin On Voluntary Watershed Partnership Programs

Will Murphy DEP Have Continuity or Contrast With Christie DEP?

Once again, the Murphy Administration DEP has missed an opportunity to contrast their policy vision with the Christie Administration and is following the same public relations oriented spin that the Christie DEP abused, this time, on the Watershed Ambassadors Program, see:

DEP MARKS AMERICORPS WATERSHED AMBASSADORS WEEK WITH EVENTS
HIGHLIGHTING WATER QUALITY STEWARDSHIP

That spin includes more scientifically and factually unsupported misleading statements about alleged improvements in water quality. DEP wrote:

“AmeriCorps Week is an opportunity to highlight the work done by Watershed Ambassadors to improve water quality,” said Acting Assistant Commissioner for Water Resources Management Michele Putnam. “Through educational programming and partnerships, AmeriCorps helps all of us become better stewards of natural resources.”

There is no evidence I am aware of that the Ambassadors have improved water quality. This is the second time DEP has spun and misled the public about water quality.

There is no evidence of the performance of the “educational programming and partnerships” that DEP touts. And I don’t think there is even an attempt to monitor and evaluate actual performance in terms of water quality impact.

Voluntary programs like this are great for promoting youth involvement, but from a water quality perspective they don’t work.

Again, we are getting fact free spin and misleading claims from DEP – all while ignoring real regulatory programs that do work and real science and data that show that serious water quality problems remain unaddressed.

That has to stop.

That spin extends to working with the same organizations that collaborated and partnered with and provided cover for the Christie DEP:

Ambassadors will also hold a multi-regional tree-planting project known as “Green the Scene,” a partnership with The Nature Conservancy, during April and May. Ambassadors will restore floodplains, riparian buffer zones, and provide stability to New Jersey streams by working with volunteer stewards to plant 2,500 trees statewide. Event information can be found on the New Jersey Watershed Ambassadors Facebook page at www.facebook.com/NJWAP

Planting 2,500 trees statewide is a microscopic small bore program and not a serious effort.

Worse, that small bore feel good measure comes at a time when NJ needs major urban forestry and reforestation programs that are orders of magnitude bigger to begin even an attempt to adapt to climate change and begin to sequester carbon DEP recommended in the Global Warming Response Act implementation plan.

The Nature Conservancy actively undermines stringent regulation and routinely does land deals that are corrupt of provide cover. The Christie DEP enjoyed TNC’s non-threatening friendly collaboration.

Is McCabe this naive about the implications of all this for the kind of work required for the heavy lifting she needs to do to fix DEP?

Is she ducking before confirmation?

Or is there a woman thing going on with “soft” initiatives from the likes of longtime DEP manger Michele Putnam?