TRENTON, NJ – A new plan to defend New Jersey against the threat of global warming and rising sea levels amounts to little more than another tax on businesses, developers, and homeowners in the form of financial fines for violating strict new government rules.
“Today, we’re announcing sweeping reforms to protect homes and businesses from climate change. NJ will become the first state in the nation to enact comprehensive land resource regulations to protect against extreme weather, coastal flooding, & sea-level rise,” Governor Phil Murphy tweeted.
Hidden within the plan’s pages is a series of increases in fines levied against those who violate the sweeping new changes. Those new fees and fines more than double the existing fees and fines.
Those fees would be charged against communities and waterfront developers. The plan, however, exempts any shoreline construction involving ‘green energy’ such as offshore windmill stations, cables, and facilities.
The goal is to save the Garden State from being claimed by the sea, officially, but the New Jersey DEP states, in context, New Jersey is responsible for 1.7% of national emissions and 0.3% of worldwide emissions.
According to the new plan’s projections, sea levels could rise by 5 feet by 2100. That means New Jersey’s barrier islands would be swallowed by the ocean, and towns like Toms River, Rio Grande, Manahawkin, and others would one day be oceanfront communities if New Jersey doesn’t double the fines on development and redevelopment along the coastal shorelines.
“Sea levels at Atlantic City, Cape May, and Sandy Hook have risen at a rate of approximately 0.16 inches per year (4 millimeters per year) since the beginning of the 20th century (Kopp 2013, NOAA 2019). By 2050, there is a 50 percent chance that sea-level rise will meet or exceed 1.4 feet and a 17 percent chance it will exceed 2.1 feet (Kopp et al., 2019). Under a moderate emission scenario, described below, those levels increase to 3.3 and 5.1 feet by the end of the century,” the report said.
The plan and fines are expected to stop the projected rate of global warming from swallowing up the Jersey Shore, as predicted by some scientists. Murphy believes New Jersey can reverse global warming by implementing these fines and the 1,057-page document.
Meanwhile, the Murphy administration is also forcing communities across New Jersey to build high-density residential apartment complexes and affordable housing in economically preserved and sensitive areas such as South Jersey and Central Jersey, Those affordable housing mandates are forcing towns to allow developers to clear cut thousands of acres of forests and untouched land annually.
