WolfeNotes.com

Overall, 2016 was a disaster – our greatest policy disappointments were the continued denial of climate change in Trenton and at the Pinelands Commission and the failure by the Legislature to follow through with the veto of the Christie DEP Flood Hazard rules, a dirty deal engineered by Senate President Sweeney  –  but we had fun anyway.

Here’s some stories we wrote – while many were ignored by the mainstream press, we know we had an impact.

We create content, offer expert analysis, and provide science and law based strategic and technical assistance to community and environmental groups that is unique in NJ. We testify before the legislature and hold accountable regulatory and planning agencies like the DEP, EPA, USGS, Pinelands & Highlands, DRBC, and BPU. We challenge regulations and permits. We support whistleblowers. We name names and don’t pull punches. We even criticize our environmental “colleagues” and media and the corporatized Foundations that fund and manipulate them.

This work involves countless hours in the field and reading and writing. It is a labor of love, but I do have to eat.

We receive no Foundation, government, consulting, private environmental group funding, grants, or salary income. We accept no advertising revenue or reader fees. We work solo and rely on no “fundraising/development/promotional” or “public relations” staff flacks. We provide all this work for free.

If you’ve enjoyed or benefited from our work, please consider providing financial support – we thank our generous friends who have helped keep us going – you can make a non-tax deductable contribution to [delted PayPal because they impounded funds]. Or, shoot me an email and we can arrange something different: bill_wolfe at comcast.net

Hit links below to see stories, events, maps, charts, and pictures:

January

More Dual Sexed Fish Documented In NJ Rivers (look at THAT map!)

Gov. Christie Cans Pinelands Commission Chairman

Huge Turnout of Pinelands Pipeline Opponents In Bordentown Last Night

The Elysian (Fracked) Fields of Princeton – Montgomery

Sparta Mountain Is Public Land, Purchased with Green Acres Funds

Meet Your New Pinelands Commissioner

Christie Energy Plan Attracts Another Huge Fossil Fracked Fueled Power Plant

Environmental Damage Of DEP Sparta Mountain Logging Plan Largely Unregulated

Gov. Christie Uses The Environment To Bash Public Workers

Legislature Invokes Constitutional Power, Moves To Veto Christie DEP Flood Hazard Rules

Port Authority Dirty Diesel Rollback Must Have Had Green Light From Christie DEP

DEP’s Sparta Mountain Logging Scheme Conflicts With Golden Wing Warbler Recovery Plan It Allegedly Is Based On

Senate “Emergency” Session Moves Bill To Respond to Court Decision Striking Down DEP Public Access Rules

Christie DEP Proposes Vast Expansion of Logging On Sparta Mountain (Part One)

February 

USGS Study Documents High Levels of Prescription Drugs In Streams – Source is Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Plants

“People Over Pipelines”

Christie DEP Managing NJ State Parks, Public Lands & Forests As Cash Cows

Is The Legislature Serious About Responding to Problems Highlighted In Flint Michigan?

High Point State Park (photos)

Take A Look At DEP & Audubon “Forest Stewardship” On Sparta Mountain (photos)

NJ Highlands Coalition Joins Public Debate On DEP Sparta Mountain Logging Plan

Calling Bullshit On NJ Audubon’s “Forest Stewardship”

Sparta Mountain Update – A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Audit

NJ Pioneers Another Toxic Superfund Reform

Deadline Passed For Christie DEP To Respond To Legislative Veto of Flood Rules

Anarchy In The Pines (incredible photos!)

The Legislature’s Time Is Better Spent Conducting Oversight Than Passing Environmental Bills For Christie’s Veto Pen

“Amusing Ourselves To Death”

An Artful Dodge On Lessons of Flint For New Jersey

Expanded Logging On Sparta Mountain Could Contribute To Widespread Ecological Harm

The “Crime” At Fenimore Landfill Was Lax Oversight by Christie DEP

Essential Reading For NJ Shore Dwellers – Back Bays & Barrier Islands

Maps, Lies, and the DEP Webpage

A Key Lesson of the Victory That Forced Cancellation of the Amwell Power Plant In Hillsborough

Christie DEP Clean Water Act Report Shows That 99% of NJ Watersheds Fail to Meet Fishable and Swimmable Standards

March

Christie DEP Highlands Logging Plans Would Reduce The Forest’s Carbon Storage Capacity and Worsen Climate Change

The DEP Sparta Mountain “Stewardship” Plan Contradicts Governor Christie’s Veto of “Forest Stewarship” Legislation

Sponsors of the Highlands Act Asked To Block The Christie DEP Logging Plan for Sparta Mountain & Highlands Forests

Christie DEP Budget Flouts EPA Oversight – May Jeopardize Federal Funding

A Road Toward Redemption for The Pinelands Commission

No Solitude (photos)

This is not a flood – it’s a high tide

Historic Bordentown Home Facing Sheriff’s Sale

Green Mafia Strikes Again – Chapters 27 & 28

NJ Audubon Supported Preservation of Highlands Forests, Not Logging – What Explains The U-Turn?

Warning: Climate Bomb Train Ahead

Star Ledger Editorial Board Joins Kabuki Dance on Christie DEP Clean Water Rule Rollback

Christie BPU Commissioners Literally Run and Hide From Protesters of Pinelands Pipeline

Newark Lead Story Hitting the Cover-up Phase

Christie BPU Slated To Approve Another Pinelands Pipeline Tomorrow

Inside Christie DEP Commissioner Bob Martin’s Management Bubble of True Believers (or Cynical Bastards)

The Newark Lead Scandal Is The Tip of the Iceberg and A Predictable Outcome of Christie Policy

Why Is The Bergen Record Misleading Readers and Protecting Dupont?

Pinelands Commission Moves To Restore Credibility – Signals Intent To Regulate Motorized Vehicle Destruction

Lack of NY State Water Quality Permit Blocks Constitution Pipeline

If You Can’t Beat ‘Em, Buy ‘Em

Make Polluters Pay For Lead Abatement

Newark Garbage Incinerator Emissions: “A Billion Lead Bullets to the Brains of Newark’s Kids”

Senate Committee Blinks In Showdown On Veto of Christie DEP Clean Water Rule Rollbacks

NJ Audubon Is Misrepresenting Facts, Science and Regulations In Defending Their Sparta Mountain Logging Plan

Assembly Moves To Veto Christie DEP’s Clean Water & Flood Rule Rollbacks

Billionaire’s Elite Hunting Club Gave NJ Audubon $140,000 To Develop Sparta Mountain Logging Plan

NJ Audubon Partners With Donald Trump

(coming soon – Part 2 – April – June)