WolfeNotes.com

What The Hell Has Gone On?

How Did We Get From Love To Permanent War, Climate Chaos, Ecological Collapse, Genocide, Biden, & Trump?

[Update: 3/12/24 – Watch this excellent discussion which explores the question of how Israel descended into mass fascist genocidal madness. ~~~ end update]

Marvin Gaye from his classic 1971 album “What’s Goin’ On”

I just want to ask a question:
Who really cares, to save a world in despair?
Who really cares? (Ohhh)
There’ll come a time (There’ll come a time)
When the world won’t be singing (When the world won’t be singing)
Flowers won’t grow (Flowers won’t grow, no)
Bells won’t be ringin’ (The bells won’t be ringin’)
Who really cares? (Who really cares?)
Who’s willing to try? (Who is willin’ to try?)
To save the world (To save the world)
That’s destined to die (That is destined to die)
When I look at the world (When I look at the world)
It fills me with sorrow (It fills me with sorrow)
Little children today (Children today)
Are really gonna suffer tomorrow (Really suffer tomorrow)
(Oh!) What a shame (What a shame)
Such a bad way to live (Such a bad way to live)
Oh, who is to blame? (Who is to blame?)
We can’t stop living (When we can’t stop living)
(Ohhh!) Live, (Live)
(Live for life) Live for life
(But let live everybody)
Live life for the children (Live life for the children!)
(Oh, for the Children!)
You see, let’s… (Oh!) let’s save the children (Oh)
Let’s…let’s save all the children
(Save the babies! Save the babies!)
(And if you want to love, you got to save the babies!)
(Oh you’ve got the feeling, you’ve got the feeling)
(You will save the babies! All of the children!)

(Caption: Figure 1. Part of a dense cluster of wells in Armstrong County and Indiana County. PASDA has another dataset of wells that has even more locations, 220,015 in total as of January 11, 2022.)

Testimony in support of the proposed NJ “Green Amendment” (SCR 43) yesterday highlighted the State of Pennsylvania, which was one of 3 States that have enacted a “Green Amendment” to the State’s Constitution. They did this back in 1971 and the legislative initiative was first introduced in 1969.

There was no mention of the fact that back in 1969, there was a strong and emergent environmental movement that deployed activist tactics and made strong demands, and from outside the system.

But before all that, Pennsylvania made fossil history:

• THE FIRST GUSHER; Celebration at Titusville, Pa., Marks Discovery of Oil There Century Ago

Getting back to SCR 43, in a highly unusual move, the Legislative sponsor of that Constitutional amendment remotely testified to the Committee via Zoom (or some other electronic platform). The man was clearly elderly and not in command of the facts or the law – in fact, he falsely claimed that the Delaware River Basin Commission banned fracking in Pennsylvania portions of the Delaware watershed based on the Green Amendment.

Both my kids went to Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburg and my first love was from a mining town just north of Scranton (her dad was the US Attorney for the Eastern Pennsylvania District appointed by President Jimmy Carter), so there’s a special place in my heart for Pennsylvania, which I wrote about 13 years ago, see: (be sure to take a good look at the photos):

• Greetings from Pennsylvania – The Carbon State

Here’s just some of the carbon data on Pennsylvania:

• the fourth largest coal producing state;
• the fifth largest coal burning state
• high reliance on coal – 78 coal-fired generating units ,  20,475 megawatts (MW) of capacity – 41.5% of the total electric generating capacity
• with greenhouse gas emissions from natural gas as bad as coal,
• Pa. is the third leading producer of natural gas 

For decades, NJ Governors and DEP Commissioners have railed against and filed lawsuits to stop the air pollution “transport” from Pennsylvania that caused NJ to violate Clean Air Act ozone and fine particulate standards.

All this devastation happened during the reign of the “Green Amendment”.

Do you still think it is an effective tool?

[End Note: For a comparison of strategies and tactics, you might want to look at the Sierra Club’s national “Beyond Coal” campaign and the results of the Pennsylvania Chapter.

[Update: here the assessment from anti-fracking activists in Damascus, Pennsylvania:

In 1971, the future of Pennsylvania’s environment looked bright.

From the vantage point of 2023, however, the Environmental Rights Amendment has been a disappointment. From its adoption in 1971 to 2013, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court shackled the provision by adopting a narrow balancing test that weighed the environmental harms caused by the challenged actions against their claimed benefits, and permitted the harms unless they “so clearly” outweighed the claimed benefits. With this test the Supreme Court failed to hold the Commonwealth responsible as trustee of the public natural resources, and failed accord the full weight and significance of the constitutional rights contained in the Environmental Rights Amendment.

No Silver Bullet Can Replace The Hard Work Of Knowledge, Activism, Organizing, And Building Power

No Mention Of The Fact That Corporate Power Captures, Corrupts, & Dominates Government, Law, & Regulation

Activism, Individual Agency, Solidarity, & Collective Action – Not Fear, Despair, & Prozac – Are Solutions To Young People’s Legitimate Mental Health Problems In The Face Of Climate And Ecological Collapse

A Rights Based Litigation Strategy Is Anti-Democratic & Anti-Government Diversion From Necessary Political Work

“That’s not a loophole, its a policy choice” ~~~ Ray Cantor, NJ Business And Industry Association (3/7/24, testimony on SCR 43)

“Every word you are saying is being recorded. We have a court stenographer here. We’re going to provide a record of this hearing to all of the legislators …. so be careful what you say, …. it is being recorded” ~~~ Chairman Bob Smith warning to Maya Van Rossum, immediately after she requested an amendment to SCR 43 to include climate and urged NJ to become the first state where the Constitution “speaks directly – directly – to ensuring a safe climate for present and future generations.” (at time 1:10:15)

Part One

Let’s start with the (elephant) whale in the legislative hearing room:

The object of the hunt is a massive white whale, Moby Dick, which, in a previous encounter, maimed the ship’s captain, Ahab, by biting off one of his legs. The self-destructive fury of the quest, much like that of the one we are on, assures the Pequod’s destruction. And those on the ship, on some level, know they are doomed — just as many of us know that a consumer culture based on corporate profit, limitless exploitation and the continued extraction of fossil fuels is doomed. […]

Those who see where we are going lack the fortitude to rebel. Mutiny was the only salvation for the Pequod’s crew. It is our only salvation. But moral cowardice turns us into hostages. ~~~ “We Are All Aboard The Pequot” (Chris Hedges)

Yesterday, the NJ Senate Environment Committee held a hearing to take testimony on Senate Concurrent Resolution 43, to amend the NJ Constitution to provide various rights to a clean and safe environment. You can listen to the testimony here.

Listening to the testimony this morning validated almost all of the criticisms I have of my former environmental colleagues. They are lazy, cowards, opportunists, and simply can’t tell the truth. Let me offer just 3 examples:

1) The “green amendment” in Pennsylvania (enacted way back in 1971) was touted as a model, and the leading case cited was a 2013 Supreme Court decision that basically ruled that local governments could zone to prohibit fracking. That was a huge victory for anti-fracking activists.

That legal victory should have prompted a tidal wave of local government zoning ordinances to ban fracking across Pennsylvania. But that would require a LOT of good old fashioned grassroots organizing and lobbying of local governments. Sadly, that never happened – activists did essentially nothing with this huge legal victory.

But instead of that, take a look at what actually happened (source: Frack tracker)

(Caption: Figure 1. Part of a dense cluster of wells in Armstrong County and Indiana County

PASDA has another dataset of wells that has even more locations, 220,015 in total as of January 11, 2022.

2) Here in NJ, over 30 years ago (1990), clean water activists won a huge legal victory when the NJ Supreme Court killed a toxic ocean wastewater discharge from the notorious Ciba-Geigy chemical manufacturing plant in Toms River. The Court ruled that the DEP had failed to conduct a legally mandatory “anti-degradation review” during the permit process.

Again, that legal victory should have prompted hundreds of challenges to DEP water pollution permits, virtually none of which had conducted the required anti-degradation review the Court cited as the basis for killing the Ciba-Geigy DEP permit. And again, the NJ environmentalists did nothing with that huge legal win and they still do nothing with it. Yet anti-degradation policy was the basis of the DEP “Category One” waters 300 foot wide buffer regulations and the Highlands Act (but not because environmental groups demanded it – it was because I drafted those provisions of the Act!)

3) The final witness to testify was a teacher at Hopewell Valley Central High School (both my kids graduated from that school). She presented stunning data on the mental health problems of young people in the face of climate and ecological collapse, citing this study from The Lancet:

• Climate anxiety in children and young people and their beliefs about government responses to climate change: a global survey

Findings

Respondents across all countries were worried about climate change (59% were very or extremely worried and 84% were at least moderately worried). More than 50% reported each of the following emotions: sad, anxious, angry, powerless, helpless, and guilty. More than 45% of respondents said their feelings about climate change negatively affected their daily life and functioning, and many reported a high number of negative thoughts about climate change (eg, 75% said that they think the future is frightening and 83% said that they think people have failed to take care of the planet). Respondents rated governmental responses to climate change negatively and reported greater feelings of betrayal than of reassurance. Climate anxiety and distress were correlated with perceived inadequate government response and associated feelings of betrayal.

But this teacher seemed to believe that passing a Constitutional amendment – whose implementation would be totally reliant on expensive lawyers, arguing esoteric legal concepts, conducted in closed courtroom proceedings with no public input or democratic control, decided by one person (predominantly white, male, old and right wing) – was somehow the emotional salve to these mental health traumas!

The most effective psychological relief for this very real trauma and suffering of the children is LEARNING AND ACTIVISM! Learning, activism, solidarity, organizing, civic participation in governing, and collective action cultivate individual agency, empowerment, and build self confidence, not helplessness and despair.

As my good friend Bill Neil once wrote, we need “Citizens, Not Spectators”.

But the proposed SCR 43 totally defeats activism and civic engagement!

Another example of a totally misguided but well meaning person.

But I’m getting way ahead of myself. Lets get back to the testimony on SCR 43.

I wrote a critical set up piece last week, see:

• A Constitutional Right To A Healthy Environment: Radical Reform Or Just More Trenton Kabuki?

In terms of the hearing testimony, Ray Cantor, NJ BIA gets the quote of the day. He and other Big Oil and corporate lobbyists defended the corrupted status quo because he knows his corporate members own it.

No need to take my word for it, just read the scholarly work of Princeton political scientist Martin Gilens, who wrote:

Multivariate analysis indicates that economic elites and organized groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts on U.S. government policy, while average citizens and mass-based interest groups have little or no independent influence. (“Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens”, 2014)

Or read another Princeton political scientist, Sheldon Wolin’s book “Democracy Incorporated: Managed Democracy And The Specter Of Inverted Totalitarianism”. Wolin goes into great detail to explain how democracy has been hollowed out and captured by corporate power.

But, unfortunately, the environmental groups backing SCR43 could somehow not muster the courage to tell these truths: the system is rigged, captured, and corrupt to the core.

Instead, they all pulled punches and tapped danced around by claiming that there were “loopholes” and “gaps”  and “unknown problems” in the current body of environmental law and regulation.

Before I get into writing about the hearing, we need to lay out some basic strategy considerations.

The real questions to ask are:

“how do we fix it?”

“How do we make government protect the public interest, not corporate interests?”

“What are the most effective strategies and tactics to build the kind of political power required to struggle against corporate power that has captured government and flip the script?

Corporations have lots of money, scientists, lawyers, and lobbyists. These highly paid professionals have created the framework of environmental laws and regulations currently in place and they have tremendous undue influence on the implementation of those laws and regulations, as well as the media’s coverage of those issues. Those are their strengths.

Corporations do not have public support. Corporations don’t have the facts, the science, and the public interest. Those are their weaknesses.

Environmental groups lack money, scientists, lawyers, and lobbyists that can remotely compete with the corporate resources. Those are their weaknesses. Environmental groups have strong public support and an ability to frame issues and generate media. Those are their strength.

History has shown that incremental reforms have been made by a combination of factors: activism and political organizing, media,

Part Two

So, let’s weigh those comparative strengths and weaknesses in light of SCR 43.

SCR 43 is a rights based litigation strategy.

That strategy relies on money, scientists, and lawyers. Those are corporate strengths and environmental weaknesses. Oh my: this one’s for you Janine Bauer

A decade after the Flint water crisis was exposed, the city’s residents still haven’t been compensated from the $626 million legal settlement. Meanwhile, the lawyers and the administrators have already received millions in fees…And Flint still doesn’t have clean water.

Litigation strategies do not lend themselves to public involvement. (to be continued … more to follow in Part Two coming soon)

Petition For Rulemaking To Upgrade DEP Surface And Groundwater Standards 

The Highlands Water Protection And Planning Act (Act) was a political compromise. In order to get a bill passed through the Legislature, Gov. McGreevey had to make concessions to local governments in the Highlands and to Republican Legislators.

The biggest compromise is the structure of the Act that divides the Highlands region into a “Preservation Area” and a “Planning Area”. That framework is political and has no scientific basis or land use policy rationale.

Both DEP regulatory protections and the Highlands Council’s Regional Master Plan (RMP) are mandatory in the Preservation Area but are voluntary in the Planning Area, where local land use plans and zoning control development.

The Highlands Act supplemented and is in addition to DEP’s existing statutory authority and regulatory standards. The Act did not block DEP regulation in the Planning Area.

The Highlands Act leaves the Planning Area virtually unprotected from over-development, despite the fact that the legislature found that “exceptional” natural resources must be protected by more stringent DEP regulatory standards (emphasis mine)

The Legislature further finds and declares that the New Jersey Highlands is an essential source of drinking water, providing clean and plentiful drinking water for one-half of the State’s population, including communities beyond the New Jersey Highlands, from only 13 percent of the State’s land area; that the New Jersey Highlands contains other exceptional natural resources such as clean air, contiguous forest lands, wetlands, pristine watersheds, and habitat for fauna and flora, includes many sites of historic significance, and provides abundant recreational opportunities for the citizens of the State. […]

The Legislature further finds and declares that the protection of the New Jersey Highlands, because of its vital link to the future of the State’s drinking water supplies and other key natural resources, is an issue of State level importance that cannot be left to the uncoordinated land use decisions of 88 municipalities, seven counties, and a myriad of private landowners; that the State should take action to delineate within the New Jersey Highlands a preservation area of exceptional natural resource value that includes watershed protection and other environmentally sensitive lands where stringent protection policies should be implemented; that a regional approach to land use planning in the preservation area should be established to replace the existing uncoordinated system; that such a new regional approach to land use planning should be complemented by increased standards more protective of the environment established by the Department of Environmental Protection for development in the preservation area of the New Jersey Highlands; that the new regional planning approach and the more stringent environmental regulatory standards should be accompanied, as a matter of wise public policy and fairness to property owners, by a strong and significant commitment by the State to fund the acquisition of exceptional natural resource value lands; and that in the light of the various pressures now arrayed against the New Jersey Highlands, these new approaches should be implemented as soon as possible.

The DEP has regulatory authority to adopt land use and water resource standards that can strengthen protections in the un-regulated and vulnerable 400,000 acre Planning Area.

The legal basis for these standards pre-dated and is independent of the Highlands Act, so DEP can pull the trigger and adopt these stricter standards at any time, with adequate legislative policy findings, scientific basis, and formally adopted existing regulations.

Those State laws and regulations include: The Flood Hazard Act; The Freshwater Wetlands Act; The Stormwater Management Act, The Watershed Protection Act, The Water Supply Management Act, The Water Quality Planning Act, and the Clean Water Act (Water Pollution Control Act), including DEP adopted implementation regulations.

But the DEP is NOT using these regulatory powers and therefore is NOT protecting the Highlands from over-development and other destructive practices, like logging.

Therefor, in keeping with the intent of the Highlands Act and legislative findings of “exceptional natural resource” values (a term of art in DEP regulations),I am now drafting and will be submitting a petition for rulemaking to the DEP. The petition will demand the following more stringent regulatory standards be adopted in the Highlands Planning Area to protect “exceptional natural resources”:

• Upgrade all surface waters to FW 1 and/or “exceptional” Category One waters under the Surface Water Quality Standards;

• Upgrade all groundwaters to Class I-A “exceptional” classification under the Ground Water Quality Standards;

• Upgrade all wetlands to “exceptional value wetlands” under the Wetlands rules;

• Revoke the current 30 year old voluntary BMP Manual for Forestry and subject any forest disturbance or tree cutting (logging) on public AND private land to all DEP land use and water quality standards.

I am putting DEP on notice via this post in the highly unlikely event that they would like to preempt, take credit for, and announce these upgrades themselves.

Via this post, I also am seeking the support of the Highlands Coalition, Sierra Club, NJ Conservation Foundation, Environment NJ, NJ Environmental Federation, and all other State and local groups seeking to protect natural resources. I’m not holding my breath in wait for that.

We expect the petition to be filed soon and will post it when we do.

[Update: As it’s the 20 year anniversary of the Highlands Act, I reached out to the original sponsors I worked with for assistance:

Christie Abolished Governor’s Task Force on Public Health Emergency Planning

Christie’s first term Inaugural (Jan. 19, 2010 – Bill Wolfe)

In November 2022, current NJ Governor Murphy issued a press release that announced a review of the State’s disastrous COVID response, which caused and contributed to thousands of excess deaths:

TRENTON – Governor Murphy today announced the beginning of an independent review of the State’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, including the state of readiness in early 2020, and how the State responded to the many challenges that emerged over the last three years. The review, which will contain recommendations to enhance the State’s preparedness for a future public health crisis, will be conducted by a team at Montgomery McCracken Walker & Rhoads, in conjunction with the management consulting firm Boston Consulting Group. New Jersey is the first state in the nation to commission an independent and comprehensive review on the COVID-19 pandemic.

The review was to be released by the end of 2023. Media reports say that the private consultants will be paid $400 an hour.

So here’s some absolutely free grist for that investigation.

First, at the very beginning of the pandemic, I wrote to expose the State’s negligence, see:

• NJ State Officials Knew For Years That A Pandemic Could Cause Healthcare System To Collapse And 50,000 Residents Could Die

Second, just now in researching a completely different issue that had nothing to do with COVID, I came across this little bit of history that is almost certain to be swept under the rug.

In the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack and subsequent scares regarding the State’s public health emergency planning, preparation for an anthrax bio-terrorism attack, and overall ability to respond to public health emergencies, on January 14, 2002, Acting Governor Codey issued Executive Order #140.

EO 140 created a Governor’s Task Force on Public Health Emergency Planning (Task Force).

The Task Force was comprised of experts, including epidemiologists, infectious diseases, education and communication systems needed to respond to an emergency, and State Department of Health and Emergency Management officials.

The Task Force was directed to focus on NJ’s public health system, specifically with respect to responding to and “preventing epidemics”.

Here is the Task Force’s charge – note how each task is directly related to the current COVID failures:

3. The Task Force is charged with:

• examining the infrastructure of New Jersey’s public health system (at all levels) to determine whether New Jersey is ready to serve the public health needs of its citizens in the event of a future terrorist attack or other public health emergency;
• recommending a single definition of “public health” to allow the more than 600 boards of health and local health officials to coordinate their efforts and develop one coordinated public health system;
• identifying the statutory and regulatory steps that should be taken to address any issues and/or shortfalls identified;
• examining the relationships between local health officials and State health officials to determine whether there is adequate coordination and communication, whether the creation of county health departments is necessary and whether having approximately 525 boards of health and 115 local health agencies properly utilizes State resources;
• determining whether the following public health system principles are being met:
  
  1. preventing epidemics;
  2. protecting the environment, workplace, housing, food and water;
  3. promoting good health behaviors;
  4. monitoring the health status of the population;
  5. mobilizing community action;
  6. responding rapidly and effectively to disaster;
  7. promoting the quality, accessibility and accountability of medical care;
  8. identifying and reaching out to link high-risk and inaccessible people to needed services;
  9. conducting research to develop new insights and innovative solutions; and
  10. leading the development of sound health policy and planning.
      
• determining whether additional funding of our public health system is necessary;
• recommending changes to New Jersey’s public health system.
• leading the development of sound health policy and planning.
• 4. The Task Force shall issue a report in 6 months presenting its findings and recommendations to the Governor and both houses of the Legislature.

So, who dropped the ball here?

The Task Force was abolished by Gov. Christie’s Executive Order #40 (see paragraph #36).

How can a Governor abolish a Task Force without assuring that its work is complete and recommendations implemented?

I do not know if the Codey Task Force ever issued its Report to the Legislature and Governor.

But if they did, then subsequent Governors Corzine and Christie are responsible for failing to implement the Task Force Recommendations.

If the Task Force did not issue a Report, then Gov. Christie was reckless in not finishing the work and improving NJ’s health system, particularly with respect to infectious diseases.

[End note: because I got strong pushback from NJ people claiming that Gov. Murphy deserves the blame, let me clarify: nothing in this post was meant to absolve Murphy of any responsibility and nothing does. I’ve criticized his administration for failures, including the nursing home debacle and the liability relief lie he signed. But Murphy should have inherited a stronger public health system, had Christie and Corzine adopted reforms made obvious in 2001.]