Here's my second diary on NJ climate action. I'm an independent sustainability writer based in northern NJ. Thanks for having me and please let me know how I can do better, or what you'd like to see covered.
Last year I got fed up with Agenda 21 conspiracy people showing up at town council meetings and derailing sane, sensible planning work. That's why I co-wrote an "innoculation toolkit" called “Agenda 21 and Your Town” to help NJ’s municipal leaders deal with anti-sustainable development activists.
Anyhoo, onto the topic at hand.
As a coastal state, New Jersey is going to feel the impacts of climate change sooner than a lot of other places. This is especially true when it comes to sea level rise and flooding. (Both links highly recommended.)
Even though our Governor doesn’t talk much about how climate change will impact New Jersey, a lot of other people are. (Including his own NJ Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP): Read the June 2013 climate change impacts report.)
With that in mind, I wanted to share five really great NJ climate change resources that are under the radar, but shouldn’t be.
There are people all over our state who are working hard so that New Jersey will be stronger than the next storm. (And everything that climate change is going to dish up in coming decades.)
1. World-Class Scientists:The Rutgers Climate Institute
• Check out their accessible NJ Climate Brochure.
• Read their 2013 State of the Climate: New Jersey report
• Sign up for their newsletter (box is at the bottom of the home page.)
2. Support for Sustainable Businesses:NJDEP’s Sustainable Business Initiative (SBI) and FDU’s Institute for Sustainable Enterprise (ISE)
• The SBI’s next meeting is Feb. 4 from 1-3:30pm in Trenton and features Jeana Wirtenberg, author of the new book Building a Culture for Sustainability-People, Planet, and Profits in a New Green Economy. She’ll discuss lessons learned from nine successful NJ-based global companies. Contact Athena Sarafides at athena.sarafides@dep.state.nj.us to RSVP and more information.
(This SBI meeting announcement isn't on the NJDEP website as of now. I emailed Ms. Sarafides about it. She wrote back that she'd try to get it posted.)
• Don’t miss ISE’s March 4 breakfast seminar featuring sustainability heavyweight John Ehrenfeld, author of Flourishing. RSVP and more information.
If you care about NJ climate or sustainability issues, GO to this event. There will be a room full of business and academia people you'll want to meet.
3. Strong Legislation:NJ’s 2007 Global Warming Response Act
A lot of people don’t know that NJ has a strong climate change law with GHG emissions targets already on the books. Well, we do.
4. Robust Collaborations and Partnerships:New Jersey Climate Adaptation Alliance
The alliance was formed in 2011 by a diverse group of concerned stakeholders who want to make sure that NJ is prepared for coming climate change impacts.
• Sign up for their newsletter and events announcements
• Read their Dec. 2013 Climate Change Policy Gap Analysis Report: Resilience Preparing New Jersey for Climate Change.
5. Public Policy Discussion Forum:North Jersey Public Policy Network
Come to the Feb. 20 event with Geoffrey Feinberg from Yale University's Project on Climate Change Communication and Climate Nexus.
It’s called “America's Future: Communicating with our Neighbors on Climate Change.”
Don’t miss this chance to hear and ask questions of one of the country's best-informed researchers on why climate change is so incredibly hard to talk about. RSVP today.