Today, many of the same groups say Corzine, now seeking a second term as governor, has failed to live up to his promises and has disappointed them on a range of environmental issues, including open-space preservation and toxic-waste cleanups.
His fall from grace in the eyes of environmentalists is in many ways surprising: As a U.S. senator, Corzine won unstinting praise from many advocates, including the League of Conservation Voters, for his voting record and leadership on environmental issues.
In addition, Corzine's commissioner at the Department of Environmental Protection, Lisa Jackson, was picked by President Obama to lead the Environmental Protection Agency. And Democrats are traditionally seen as friends of the environment.
But it's clear that in 31/2 years, Corzine has frustrated environmental advocates.
"We think, even after discounting the economic and budget problems that weren't his doing, his record has been overall very disappointing," said David Pringle, campaign director of the New Jersey Environmental Federation.
In just one sign of environmentalists' displeasure, the New Jersey chapter of the Sierra Club is endorsing independent candidate Chris Daggett in the governor's race, the first time it has backed an independent candidate (although some years the group has not endorsed anyone).
"Going in, we had high hopes for this administration, given Gov. Corzine's record as a senator and based on campaign commitments," said Jeff Tittel, the group's director. "We've seen many of those commitments broken. Not only have environmental protections been weakened, but it seems like we're turning the state over to developers and development interests. Unfortunately, Gov. Corzine has not lived up to our expectations."
Critics say Corzine has failed to take the lead on the environmental issues.
Four years ago, his environmental platform was praised as one of the most comprehensive ever offered by a gubernatorial candidate in New Jersey; today, the campaign's Web site describes no plan for the environment for the next four years, although one brief page touts what it calls the governor's accomplishments in reducing greenhouse emissions, safeguarding the water supply, and creating a green economy.
Asked about its accomplishments for this article, the Corzine administration noted that New Jersey had become the third state to set greenhouse-gas-reduction goals and had enacted the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a cap-and-trade program to reduce carbon emissions.
Corzine also counts among his chief achievements a new state energy master plan, whose goals include reducing overall energy use 20 percent by 2020 and having 30 percent of the state's energy consumption come from renewable sources by 2020.
Other environmental successes cited by supporters include stopping bear hunting and banning horseshoe crabbing to aid red knots, shorebirds that rely on horseshoe-crab eggs for food during their long migrations.
Matt Elliott, clean-energy advocate for Environment New Jersey, said the goals in the energy master plan put New Jersey at the nation's forefront. He praised Corzine for developing the plan but said that, ideally, the plan would include more mandates rather than unenforceable goals.
Four years ago, Corzine's Republican opponent, Doug Forrester, accused him of being too close to politically connected developers. For example, Corzine angered some environmentalists when he hired former Cherry Hill Mayor Susan Bass Levin, who was viewed as favoring developers, to lead his first gubernatorial campaign. But environmentalists were won over by Corzine's promises.
Today, environmental advocates seem to agree that Corzine has sometimes sided with developers over the environment.
One top concern of environmentalists is Corzine's failure to secure a permanent and stable source of funding for open-space preservation. Instead, he has relied on voter approval for borrowing money in bond referendums. Some environmental groups worry that a $400 million bond proposal on the ballot in November could fail because the economy is so bad, jeopardizing the state's open-space programs.
Pringle, of the New Jersey Environmental Federation, said several pieces of legislation signed into law by Corzine favored development interests at the expense of the environment.
The 2008 Permit Extension Act, for example, extended state and municipal development permits for two extra years, even if they had already expired, to respond to the slowdown in the economy. An "economic stimulus" bill approved this year allows developers to receive up to 75 percent of tax revenue created by their projects for up to 20 years, and places a moratorium on a nonresidential-development fee intended to build affordable housing. Critics called both provisions giveaways to developers.
Another bill Pringle pointed to would allow polluters to select and pay for private consultants to oversee and clean up contaminated-waste sites. The bill was intended to speed up cleanups, but environmentalists worry it gives polluters and developers too much control.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Restaurants & Food
Green
Philly.com Promotions
