Pallone Unveils Comprehensive Infrastructure Package

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 11, 2017

LIFT America Act Invests in Infrastructure, Creates Jobs

& Protects Public Health and the Environment

Washington, D.C. – Today in Carteret, Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06) unveiled legislation to invest in America’s infrastructure, create jobs and modernize our economy for the 21st century. Congressman Pallone’s bill provides for funding for a comprehensive 21st Century infrastructure package including key areas such as broadband, drinking water, healthcare, the electric grid, brownfield redevelopment and renewable energy. The Leading Infrastructure For Tomorrow’s America Act, or LIFT America Act, sets out five years of funding for essential infrastructure improvements, job growth, and greater protections for public health and the environment. Carteret Mayor Daniel Reiman, Kevin Duncan, Chair of the Middlesex County Building and Construction Trades Council and Doug O'Malley, Director of Environment New Jersey joined Congressman Pallone at the event.

“At a time when our nation’s infrastructure is either crumbling or in desperate need of modernization, it’s time we make real and significant investments for the future,” said Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06). “The LIFT America Act is a blueprint for critical investments in our nation’s infrastructure that will also create jobs, protect public health, and the environment. I look forward to working with all of my colleagues to advance these key investments in American infrastructure.”

The LIFT America Act includes investments in several key areas including:

· $22.56 billion for drinking water infrastructure to protect public health and create jobs, including increased investment in drinking water State Revolving Funds and additional funding to replace lead service lines, address lead in school drinking water, and prepare for the impacts of climate change;
· $2.25 billion for Brownfields redevelopment to revitalize communities and create jobs by returning valuable land to productive use;
· Over $17 billion for energy infrastructure, including $4 billion for modern, secure, efficient, and resilient electric grid infrastructure, $9 billion for resilient and renewable energy supply including methane pipeline replacement, and more than $4 billion for energy efficiency efforts and smart communities;
· More than $3 billion for healthcare infrastructure, to re vive the successful Hill-Burton hospital infrastructure program, fund medical facility infrastructure in Indian Country, support state labs fighting Zika and other infectious diseases, and support community based health care infrastructure; and
· $40 billion for the deployment of secure and resilient broadband, to expand access for communities nationwide while protecting privacy and promoting security by design;

“Investing in our nation’s infrastructure makes sense for everyone. It will provide good jobs for the skilled men and women of the unions I am proud to represent. It will improve our local economies, and keep our nation competitive in an ever globalizing economy,” said President Bill Mullen of the NJ Building & Construction Trades Council. “We need to rebuild New Jersey’s bridges and roads, but there are also opportunities to build hospitals, improve our energy grid, and turn unused contaminated sites into vibrant parts of our communities. The LIFT America Act is a chance for our elected officials in Washington to come together and put Americans to work.”

“Fixing and expanding our infrastructure should be a no-brainer for Congress," said Doug O'Malley, director of Environment New Jersey. “From fixing lead pipes to strengthening our electric grid to weatherizing our schools, Rep. Pallone's LIFT Act provides a vision forward for how to strengthen our communities, our environment and economy. This should be a bipartisan push and we urge the full delegation to support this."

The LIFT America Act will invest in programs with proven records of job creation, including the drinking water State Revolving Fund and the Brownfields Redevelopment program. The legislation requires the use of American made iron and steel for drinking water projects and hospital construction and requires the payment of prevailing wages. The bill will also spur new high-paying technology jobs by supporting deployment of smart buildings, smart grid, and Smart Communities technology. The LIFT America Act also provides much-needed funding to repair and replace aging infrastructure that will have significant public health benefits, especially for children. The bill includes funding to get lead out of school drinking water, replace polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB)-laden lighting fixtures with safer and more energy efficient alternatives in schools, and reduce diesel emissions from school buses.

President Obama Announces Climate Agreement

President Obama addressed the nation on the global agreement to combat climate change that was just reached in the Paris climate talks, December 12, 2015.

The Paris Agreement establishes a long term, durable global framework to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. For the first time, all countries commit to putting forward successive and ambitious, nationally determined climate targets and reporting on their progress towards them using a rigorous, standardized process of review.

Learn everything you need to know about how the agreement will work here.

President Obama's Weekly Address 10/24/15: Protecting our Planet for Future Generations

WASHINGTON, DC — In this week's address, the President laid out the importance of serving as good stewards of the environment and maintaining the planet for generations to come. Since taking office the President has prioritized protecting the places that make America special. He has repeatedly said that no challenge poses a greater threat to our future than a changing climate, which is why he’s taken bold actions at home and encouraged historic action abroad on the issue. In his address, he encouraged Congress to reauthorize and fully fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund which has protected more than 5 million acres of land for more than half a century, without costing taxpayers a dime. Republicans in Congress let the fund expire despite strong bipartisan support. And he reminded us that we all have to do our part to address climate change, promote clean energy and energy efficiency, and ensure a cleaner, more stable environment for future generations.

Bayshore Watershed Council: Help Needed to Install Osprey Platforms Sunday, March 29

Greetings all,

The Bayshore Watershed Council is seeking volunteers to help repair and install new osprey platforms in the Borough of Union Beach on Sunday, March 29, 2015. We will meet at 9am in the gravel parking lot at the western end of Front Street.

Date: Sunday, March 29, 2015
Time: 9:00am
Meeting Location: Gravel parking at the western end of Front Street in Union Beach, NJ

We need at least 10 to 15 volunteers to help carry nesting platforms, carry tools, dig holes, or take pictures and video. Please bring knee boots, hip or chest waders to wear and a pair of work gloves. Please bring a post-hole digger, shovels, and rope.

Heavy rain or snow will cancel.

If you would like to help, please RSVP at the bayshorewatershed@comcast.net or just show up.

Ospreys are returning and in need of nesting platforms. Nesting platforms are critical for attracting Ospreys into new areas to spread out the distribution so they're not all concentrated in one part of the state.

These majestic raptors with their distinctive stick-built nests on nesting platforms depend on a healthy and abundant food supply. Since their diet consists primarily of fish, Osprey activities in the Bayshore region provide a good indication of water quality and the general health of Raritan Bay & Sandy Hook Bay.

So far, the Bayshore Watershed Council has had great luck with installing Osprey platforms. Nearly all platforms have been active and have produced young. New sites will hopefully provide Ospreys the best chance for successfully raising young downstream from NY City.

Positive Information For Millions of Americans or Snippy Partisan Swipe: "America a rising manufacturing star?"

I subscribe to the "Daily Grind", a conservative right-wing newsletter put out by the people behind the Americans for Limited Government blog NetRightDaily. To say that I read their content would be a misnomer,but I do quickly skim over the content occasionally and agree with some of what they have to say. When those occasions arise, it's generally because the articles start off as a commonsense appeal for bipartisanship legislation that address many of issues affecting our country but quickly disintegrate into conservative speak and political bashing of  Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, President Obama and liberal/progressive ideology, while completely forgetting that Republican conservatism as practiced by those in House and Senate are just as much to blame for the current political problems that we face. 

Case in point, below is a recent article that touts the potential reemergence of the American manufacturing sector due to the improvement of the manufacturing climate in U.S.  Many companies that fled this country over the past 3 decades for cheap labor and less restrictive regulations are now looking to come back to this country because labor and energy costs have become more competitive in recent years. 

By the end of what was a good news, positive story about the return of manufacturing jobs to this country and what it would mean for millions of Americans, becomes a snippy, partisan swipe at the Obama Administration for trying to ensure that we have clean air to breath and water to drink. 

Take a feel good story and turn it on its head in an attempt to score a political point.  It's maddening! 

NetRightDaily
By Rick Manning 

The Boston Consulting Group just released a study comparing manufacturing costs around the world, and the United States fared surprisingly well. Writing about the U.S. and Mexico, the authors explain the improved manufacturing environment saying, “Because of low wage growth, sustained productivity gains, stable exchange rates, and a big energy-cost advantage, these two nations are the current rising stars of global manufacturing.” 

The big energy-cost advantage is the key. 

While China struggles with higher energy costs, the United States is just scraping the surface of its natural bounty of fossil fuels. The innovative unlocking of a vast sea of natural gas and oil over the past decade has transformed the United States’ position in the future of where world manufacturing will grow and prosper. In fact, CNBC reports that natural gas prices alone have fallen by between 25-35 percent in the past decade in North America. This drop in energy costs is contrasted by a 135 percent rise in natural gas costs in China. 

And the U.S. manufacturing sector is beginning to respond with federal government measures of industrial production up 0.4 percent for its sixth consecutive monthly gain, the Federal Reserve reported last week. Manufacturing output advanced 1 percent in July, its largest increase since February. 

CNBC quotes Hal Sirkin, a senior partner at The Boston Consulting Group saying that the old assumptions that manufacturing is cheaper in Asia and South America have “fundamentally changed.” 

“This means companies will start to move manufacturing out of those expensive countries if they can, to cheaper countries like the U.S.,” Sirkin said. 

Increased U.S. manufacturing means more much needed good paying jobs, and while the days of hundreds of workers operating alongside one another building a car is outmoded, a resurgent U.S. manufacturing sector is welcome in what has otherwise been a jobless recovery. 

These are the exact kind of jobs that our nation still desperately needs as the Bureau of Labor Statistics has found that more than 7.5 million Americans are working part-time because they can’t find a full-time job. What’s even more startling is that for the U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that the number of food stamp recipients remains at crisis levels with more than 45 million people receiving food assistance each month for three straight years. 

Ironically, the very Obama Administration which purports to want to help those in need is pushing regulations like EPA’s proposed power plant rules. Regulations that put the very energy cost advantage our nation currently enjoys at risk by deliberately driving up energy costs by closing down dozens of coal burning power plants. The same agency is also pushing ozone standard regulations that the House Energy and Commerce Committee says “is already contributing to uncertainty and holding back investment.” 

America’s free enterprise system and abundant natural resources have given our nation another opportunity to rebound from the moribund new normal of despair that President Obama and those of his ilk seem to embrace. 

The only question that remains is whether America will choose a path toward prosperity or the continual downward drift to the ash heap of history. 

Rick Manning is the vice president of public policy and communications for Americans for Limited Government.

President Obama's Weekly Address 5/31/14 : Reducing Carbon Pollution in Our Power Plants

WASHINGTON, DC — In this week’s address, President Obama discussed new actions by the Environmental Protection Agency to cut dangerous carbon pollution, a plan that builds on the efforts already taken by many states, cities and companies. These new commonsense guidelines to reduce carbon pollution from power plants were created with feedback from businesses, and state and local governments, and they would build a clean energy economy while reducing carbon pollution. The President discussed this new plan from the Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C., where he visited children whose asthma is aggravated by air pollution. As a parent, the President said he is dedicated to make sure our planet is cleaner and safer for future generations.

WATERSPIRIT Action Alert - Say No LNG

There is an application before the US Maritime Administration for a Liquid Natural Gas facility, “Port Ambrose”, off of Long Branch, NJ and 17 nautical miles south of Jones Beach, NY. Clean Ocean Action asserts that this is the same proposal that was vetoed by Governor Christie in 2011, but with a different name. This port license can be for both import and export, which can potentially lead the proposed port to being the region’s hub for exports for natural gas, leading to more pipelines throughout NJ, accelerated hydraulic fracturing in the region, even more toxic radioactive waste, and increased energy costs. This is a real threat to the pubic health, ecosystems, and clean safe water.

If you are a concerned citizens, a homeowner, a business owner,a member of a civic or community organization, swimmer, diver, fisherman, boater, beachgoer or anyone who will be adversely affected on the Jersey Shore, please come to the public hearing in Sea Bright on Thursday, July 11th and bring your friends, this effects all of us!

Thursday, July 11
Citizen’s Hearing on the Jersey Shore
Sea Bright Public Beach, Sea Bright, NJ
Open House: 4:30-5:30pm
Public Comments: 6pm-8pm

And be sure to sign the Surfrider’s Online Petition to Governor Christie

President Obama's Weekly Address 6/29/13: Confronting the Growing Threat of Climate Change

WASHINGTON, DC—In this week’s address, President Obama told the American people about a plan he unveiled a few days ago that confronts the growing threat of climate change, which will cut carbon pollution, protect our country from the impacts of climate change, and lead the world in a coordinated assault on a changing climate. The President’s plan recognizes that there is no contradiction between a sound environment and a strong economy, and he calls on all Americans to speak up about climate change in their communities and remind their elected officials that we must take action to protect our future generations from the ravages of climate change now.

Pallone Praises President Obama’s Climate Action Plan

Washington, DC – Today, Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06), a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce and Natural Recourses committees, praised President Barack Obama’s plan to cut carbon pollution, invest in renewable energy, and prepare communities for the consequences of climate change:

“Climate change is a moral issue, and we have an obligation to our children and future generations to address it immediately. Taking steps to cut carbon pollution must be a top priority, and I applaud the President for his decisive action to circumvent congressional gridlock for the greater good of our environment, health, and national security. It’s about time.

“Unfortunately, climate change is not an issue that we can wait to address. With each day that passes by more irreversible damage is done. If we do not start taking the prospect of climate change seriously, devastating storms like Sandy will become the new normal. Despite the stubborn insistence of some of my Republican colleagues, the science is clear; the changing climate leads to changes in the frequency, intensity, and timing of extreme weather and climate events.

“I will continue my work in Congress to support good environmental stewardship and a comprehensive plan to address climate change.”

Is Climate Change A Sleeper Issue? Last Months Seminar Addressed The Issue

Back on September 20th, the Environmental Committee of the Middletown Democratic Party held a Seminar on Climate Change at the Middletown Library, I announced it but failed to follow up on its outcome.

It was a great event that was very informative and thought provoking; people walked away impressed with what they had heard, the video is posted below. If you're interested you should watch it.

But what jogged my memory about the event was an article posted on Mother Jones yesterday titled  "Is Climate Change the Sleeper Issue of 2012?" which says, according to recent polling data, swing voters are increasingly "green" voters, who are staring to become worried about extreme weather changes and think climate change needs to be further addressed.

According to  recent studies sited in the article, "...researchers conducted a survey in which respondents were broken into three groups, and then asked to support a hypothetical Senate candidate who either (1) denied the science of global warming and attacked cap and trade, (2) accepted the science and called for action, or (3) took no position on the issue. The result was clear: 77 percent of respondents supported the "green" candidate, 65 percent the neutral candidate, and only 48 percent the denier candidate. Both Democrats and independents strongly favored a green candidate over a neutral one, while for Republicans it was basically a wash—neither a pro- nor an anti-climate candidate moved them much. "By taking a green position on climate, candidates of either party can gain votes,"...

Their findings were reinforced earlier this year by researchers at Yale and George Mason University who, in a March 2012 survey, similarly found that taking a stand on climate has the potential to motivate Democratic and independent voters, without causing damage among Republicans. For instance, 82 percent of Democrats and 68 percent of independents agreed that the United States should undertake an either medium- or large-scale effort to cut down global warming...."

So, is climate change now a winning issue for politicians? Maybe, it depends on how the information is presented.

If it is presented in a way that is "relevant to their livelihoods, experiences in their states and localities.", people respond positively and are more likely to support politicians that believe something needs to be done about climate change.

Rush Holt: Drilling Dysfunction on Our Public Lands

From Congressman Rush Holt's Newsletter:

Together with Ranking Democrat Ed Markey and the staff of the House Committee on Natural Resources, I have worked for more than a year to gather and analyze data about safety and environmental violations committed by oil and gas companies. Our report, “Drilling Dysfunction: How the Failure to Oversee Drilling on Public Lands Endangers Health and the Environment,” has just been released, and its findings are alarming.

The report finds that from 1998 to 2011, more than two thousand violations were handed out by the U.S. Department of Interior to oil and gas companies drilling on taxpayer-owned lands. More than 500 of these violations were classified as “major” by committee staff, including 293 violations related to non-functional blowout preventers and 113 citations for deficiencies in casing and cementing programs.

Yet the enforcement of safety rules was erratic and inconsistent, and all told, the Interior Department collected only $273,875 in fines. That’s roughly equal to a single minute’s worth of oil company profits – the equivalent of levying a 10-cent fine against someone who earns $50,000 a year.

Can anyone seriously argue that these fines are sufficient to deter wrongdoing or that they reflect the very real risks that drilling poses to the environment and public health?

The Longest-Serving Representative with an Unbroken 100% Environmental Rating

The League of Conservation Voters has just announced its 2011 National Environmental Scorecard, and I was pleased to see that they have once again recognized my efforts to protect the environment and public health with a 100 percent rating.

Long before coming to Congress, I was committed to protecting and sustaining our environment – our air, water, land, and the complex web of life. It is that commitment that is reflected in the League of Conservation Voters’ rating. In fact, I am now the longest-serving member of the U.S. House of Representatives to have received a 100 percent rating in each year of service.

Too often in 2011, the privileged interests at oil companies and corporate polluters fought to weaken the laws that protect our natural resources, seeking to exploit a public trust for private gain. We must all work to ensure that, in 2012, they do not succeed.

Sincerely,

Rush Holt
Member of Congress

The GOP's "Environmental Wish List" is Horrifying

The following appeared over at the environmentally conscientious blog treehugger.com, it's an eye-opener for anyone that believes the environment is important and think that the GOP will stand behind their cause:

Unless you've been hiding in a cave -- or perhaps a lavish, sealed-off compound -- for the last few months, you're likely fully aware that the GOP is in full-bore Tea Partying mode. Which means ultra-anti-regulatory sentiment and pro-corporate cheer-leading rule the day. Man, that was a lot of hyphens. Anyhow, Republicans have seized their moment in the sun to pursue a bill known as the 3-D Act (Domestic Jobs, Domestic Energy and Deficit Reduction). It's essentially what the New York Times calls "the right's environmental wish list" -- a series of 12 initiatives that include gutting the Clean Air Act, opening up pristine lands for drilling, and trampling the Endangered Species Act.

Here's the abridged "wish list" from the NY Times, and my response to each entry:

1. Put oil and natural gas leasing on the Outer Continental shelf on a fast track, holding lease sales every nine months and making them dependent on commercial expressions of interest (rather than, say, ecosystem requirements) to determine what parcels should be leased. Ensure that a year after the bill becomes law, there will be three lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico and one off the coast of Virginia.

In other words, this would put oil interests first and make ecological considerations near-obsolete. It would also mean much more drilling in the Gulf and off the East Coast.

2. Open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to an "environmentally sound program for the exploration, development and production of the oil and gas resources ..."

Republicans have been after this for years, but there's a reason they haven't gotten it: Cleaning up oil spills in the Arctic, as we saw with the Exxon Valdez, is excruciatingly difficult -- and spills therefore do immense damage to the native habitats and local economies.

3. Expedite lease sales for companies seeking to extract oil and natural gas from complex geologic formations like oil shale and tar sands in the West.

The GOP wants to bring the devastatingly destructive tar sands operation like the one in Alberta, Canada, to the United States. Remember, that operation produces what is considered the "dirtiest fuel on earth".

4. Set a nine-month deadline for the environmental review of any federal action like such leasing.

Read: less talk, more drilling.

Continue read >>>> Here

Video: Grenafege For Assembly

State Assembly Candidate for 13th Legislative District, Democrat James Grenafege, released a new campaign video today.

Grenafege, a Middletowntown resident, is running to unseat Republican Amy Handlin from her cushy assembly seat in Trenton.

The video contains a brief biographical profile on Mr. Grenafege and details some of the issues that he feels are important to residents in the 13th district as well as the State.

Job Creation, Leadership, Ethics and the Environment are just a few of the issues that Jim Grenafege cares about.

To find out more about James Grenafege and where he stands on the issues, vist the candidates website www.assembly13.org