Conservation Voters’ Ed Potosnak to Serve on Murphy Transition Team
Press Release •
New Jersey League of Conservation Voters’ Executive Director Ed Potosnak has been named to Gov.-Elect Phil Murphy’s transition team.
Potosnak comes to the transition having grown the 5-year-old New Jersey Conservation Voters from an organization with $20,000 cash on hand in 2012 to a nonprofit with an eight-person staff and a budget of $1.8 million. It was the first statewide environmental organization to endorse Murphy, four months before the primary.
New Jersey LCV Ed Fund Releases Environmental Agenda for Murphy’s First Term
Press Release •
TRENTON – The New Jersey League of Conservation Voters Education Fund (New Jersey LCV Ed Fund) released an environmental policy agenda on Monday to guide Governor-elect Phil Murphy and his administration in addressing top environmental challenges and identifying opportunities during the first term.
The report, Environmental Agenda ’18: New Jersey’s Conservation Roadmap, was developed in consultation with nearly 30 environmental. The goal of the 30-page report is to assist the new governor in reclaiming national leadership on critical environmental issues like transitioning to 100 percent clean energy and jump-starting solar and wind production.
Coalition-Led Ballot Question Approved, Safeguarding Pollution Settlements
News Article • • by ADAM SAMUEL at Tap Into Passaic Valley
Voters provided permanent relief to communities harmed by industrial pollution on Election Day by approving an environmental coalition-led ballot question that prevents money earmarked for environmental restoration from being raided by Trenton lawmakers.
The measure was declared passed with 69 percent support.
“By approving Ballot Question 2, voters created a ‘lock box’ for these funds, ending the irresponsible budgeting practice of Trenton politicians stealing the money from polluted communities to plug holes in the state budget,” said Ed Potosnak, executive director of New Jersey League of Conservation Voters, which led the effort to get the question on the ballot.
New Jersey Voters Handily Ratify Two Ballot Questions
News Article • • by Tom Johnson at NJ Spotlight
Voters yesterday easily approved ballot questions that will provide funding for libraries to undertake new capital projects and will ensure money collected from polluters is used to restore natural resources damaged from spills and other disasters.
Both ballot questions faced little opposition, as the vote reflected. With almost 99 percent of the vote tallied, the library bond issue passed by nearly 300,000 votes. By roughly a two-to-one margin, voters approved the constitutional amendment to prevent diversion of pollution settlement money to the general budget.
Congratulations to the NJLCV-Endorsed Murphy/Oliver Ticket: With Their Victory, the Environment Wins Big
Press Release •
TRENTON – The New Jersey League of Conservation Voters (New Jersey LCV), the first statewide environmental organization to endorse Phil Murphy for Governor, congratulates Ambassador Murphy and his running mate, Sheila Oliver, on their decisive victory Tuesday night.
“The environment played a major role in this election, and we worked hard for many months to elect a governor who is committed to restoring New Jersey to a position of national environmental leadership,” said Ed Potosnak, executive director of New Jersey LCV. “Murphy pledged to put New Jersey on a path to achieving 100 percent clean energy by 2050. A win for the Murphy/Oliver ticket is a win for our environment.”
Environmental Coalition-Led Ballot Question Approved, Creates ‘Lock box’ for Pollution Settlements
Press Release •
TRENTON – Voters provided permanent relief to communities harmed by industrial pollution on Tuesday by approving an environmental coalition-led ballot question that prevents money earmarked for environmental restoration from being raided by Trenton lawmakers.
With 99 percent of the vote counted, the measure passed 69-31 percent.
“By approving ballot question 2, voters created a ‘lock box’ for these funds, ending the irresponsible budgeting practice of Trenton politicians stealing the money from polluted communities to plug holes in the state budget,” said Ed Potosnak, executive director of New Jersey League of Conservation Voters, which led the effort to get the question on the ballot.
As Gas Companies Prepare Pollution Settlements, New Jersey Voters Limit How They Can Be Spent
News Article • • by Daniel C. Vock at Governing
New Jersey is likely on the cusp of receiving hundreds of millions of dollars from companies settling pollution lawsuits. The largest of those is a proposed $225 million settlement with ExxonMobil for pollution near two refineries in the northern part of the state. Sunoco, BP and Shell have also settled with the state for pollution near gas stations. Together, those settlements could bring in another $165 million.
The state's voters decided by a 2-1 margin Tuesday that the bulk of that money -- and all future pollution payouts -- will be spent on environmental projects, not on general state operations.
Environmentalists successfully pushed a constitutional amendment that will now require the legal payouts to go toward projects like building parks, removing dams or adding bike trails. If voters had rejected the amendment, all but $50 million would have gone into the state’s main checking account to pay for things like health insurance, prisons or schools.
Ed Potosnak, executive director of the New Jersey League of Conservation Voters, one of the groups behind the ballot measure, says it will effectively create a “lockbox” for environmental uses.
Victims, Advocates Demand Action on Climate 5 Years After Sandy
Press Release •
ASBURY PARK, NJ – A resident who lost his house during Superstorm Sandy, local officials who led their community’s recovery, and activists who know New Jersey is as vulnerable today as it was five years ago rallied at the Paramount Theatre on Sunday to demand immediate action on climate change.
The Superstorm Sandy event – Hands Across the Boards: 5 Years After Sandy – was organized by the New Jersey League of Conservation Voters Education Fund to commemorate the lives, properties, and businesses lost, and to draw attention to ongoing recovery work and lack of preparedness for the next major storm.
What Victims, Advocates, Elected Officials Are Saying 5 Years After Sandy
Press Release •
“Across New Jersey and the region today, we remember Hurricane Sandy’s devastation and impact on our families as clearly now as we did five years ago. While we are reminded there is still much work to be done in recovering from the last storm and preparing for the next, we should also recall how people across New Jersey came together in an inspirational display of community to help those in their time of need. I am honored to stand with those communities today, five years later, and for as long as needed until all New Jerseyans are fully recovered.” – Sen. Cory Booker
“Without strong action on climate change, we will see increased frequency and severity of storms like Sandy that leave devastation in their wake. The tragic consequences of inaction on climate change are currently on display in Puerto Rico, where the effects of Hurricane Maria have left many of our fellow citizens there without electricity and clean water. The U.S. has a responsibility to lead on this issue and I want to thank the New Jersey League of Conservation Voters and so many New Jerseyans for their commitment to addressing climate change.” – Rep. Frank Pallone, US Congress, 6th District
Conservation Voters Victory Fund Announces $40K Mail Push for Sen. Bateman (UPDATED to include complete mail program)
Press Release •
TRENTON – The New Jersey League of Conservation Voters Victory Fund today announced that it is investing $40,000 between now and Election Day to help Kip Bateman, one of the Senate’s biggest environmental champions, across the finish line in the 2017 16th District Senate election.
The money is being spent on a targeted mail campaign urging swing voters to support the Republican incumbent who has voted to protect drinking water supplies, permanently ban fracking in the Delaware River Basin, and preserve open space.