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Forestry Task Force Urged To Support a Moratorium On Logging Pending Climate Reforms

June 7th, 2022 No comments

“Paradigm Shift” Must Prioritize Climate Emergency In Forest Management Policy

Group Urged To Prioritize Forest Preservation Over “Active Management”

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Almost 4 months after its creation, yesterday, the climate workgroup of NJ Senate Environment Committee Chairman Bob Smith’s legislative Forestry Task Force held its first working meeting.

The workgroup is huge, with more than 125 people. There is no official charge or structured issue agenda and no firm deadlines (Senator Smith requested consensus recommendations by the end of the year).

This is not an official Legislative Task Force that is subject to formal rules. Instead, it is an ad hoc creation of Senator Smith that is essentially making up rules of engagement as it goes along, including policies based on private off the record political consultations with Senator Smith.

Before yesterday’s kickoff working meeting, I introduced and distributed the below formal Motion for a consensus vote.

Basically, the Motion recommends 3 things:

1) a policy of “first, do not harm”  by calling upon DEP Commissioner  LaTourette to issue an Administrative Moratorium on further development or implementation of DEP forest management policy, including logging projects on public lands pending adoption of reforms;

2) adoption of a policy hierarchy to prioritize competing and conflicting goals, objectives, and management strategies; and

3) adoption of a policy of “proforestation“.

Here is the Motion – in a subsequent post, we’ll let you know how the workgroup responded:

Dear Climate Workgroup members and Co-Chairs: (apologies to those removed randomly, my email limited to 100)

I write to make a point of order and introduced a formal motion for your consideration and vote of approval prior to commencement of deliberations.

Approval of this motion is a precondition for continued participation in the work of the Workgroup.

The motion has 2 elements: 1) procedural; and 2) substantive, as follows:

1) Procedural

Whereas:

a) the climate emergency, which formed the primary scientific and policy basis of Senator Smith’s formation of and charge to the Task Force; and

b) Senator Smith set a deadline for the end of the calendar year for recommendations from the Task Force; and

c) any policy or legislative recommendations of the Task Force would take at least 18 months to be implemented via reform legislation and/or DEP regulation; and

d) DEP is developing and implementing a myriad of “forest stewardship” policies, plans, programs, and site specific projects which will create long term or irreversible impacts on forest values;

Therefore, DEP Commissioner LaTourette must issue an Administrative Order imposing a moratorium on any further DEP forest management initiatives and projects, pending passage of reform legislation and adoption of DEP implementing regulations.

2. Substantive

Whereas, given the climate emergency and as a result of the current lack of an enforceable priority framework or hierarchy for managing conflicting or competing forest values, goals, and objectives – as well as the unacceptable very real possibility that current laws, policies and DEP regulations could even be weakened as a result of this legislative process over which members have no control – there is a need for adoption of  minimum guardrails to provide a concrete assurance of good faith support for progressive reforms, as follows:

a) The Task Force shall be bound by a policy hierarchy that elevates the climate emergency over all other conflicting or competing goals and objectives.

For an example of the concept of an existing policy hierarch, I offer the solid waste policy hierarchy adopted by Governor Florio’s Executive Order #8

https://nj.gov/infobank/circular/eof8.htm

Gov. Florio’s EO #8 established a policy and planning hierarchy of source reduction, composing, recycling, landfilling and incineration as an “option of last resort”.

EO#8 also established a 120 day administrative moratorium, as proposed in element #1 above.

b) Recommendations of the Task Force shall be bound be a forest management policy known as “proforestation”.

Here is a link to and the abstract from a paper that provides the scientific and policy rationale for preserving existing forests, a strategy deemed “proforestation”:

“Climate change and loss of biodiversity are widely recognized as the foremost environmental challenges of our time. Forests annually sequester large quantities of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2), and store carbon above and below ground for long periods of time. Intact forests—largely free from human intervention except primarily for trails and hazard removals—are the most carbon-dense and biodiverse terrestrial ecosystems, with additional benefits to society and the economy. Internationally, focus has been on preventing loss of tropical forests, yet U.S. temperate and boreal forests remove sufficient atmospheric CO2 to reduce national annual net emissions by 11%. U.S. forests have the potential for much more rapid atmospheric CO2 removal rates and biological carbon sequestration by intact and/or older forests. The recent 1.5 Degree Warming Report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change identifies reforestation and afforestation as important strategies to increase negative emissions, but they face significant challenges: afforestation requires an enormous amount of additional land, and neither strategy can remove sufficient carbon by growing young trees during the critical next decade(s). In contrast, growing existing forests intact to their ecological potential—termed proforestation—is a more effective, immediate, and low-cost approach that could be mobilized across suitable forests of all types. Proforestation serves the greatest public good by maximizing co-benefits such as nature-based biological carbon sequestration and unparalleled ecosystem services such as biodiversity enhancement, water and air quality, flood and erosion control, public health benefits, low impact recreation, and scenic beauty.”

I look forward to your endorsement, support, and adoption of this motion.

Respectfully,

[Update: After a strategy call about 2 weeks ago with several NJ environmental folks, it was agreed to propose the above and I was asked to draft it.

Curious, but I just now got an “Action Alert” from the Highlands Coalition requesting support of a petition to Gov. Murphy – not the Forestry Task Force – to support a moratorium on logging, sans the priority on climate and proforestation.

I’m done even trying to work with folks in NJ.

The HiCo petition mentions the need for DEP stewardship regulations for public lands.

You better be careful what you ask for – the Forestry Task Force, which is controlled by DEP, NJ Audubon, and NJ Foresters, will recommend that DEP adopt “forest stewardship” rules that are even worse than the current crap.

For example, DEP staff let the cat out of the bag yesterday that they were exploring: 1) expanding local forest products production (justified by a sham claim of  lower lifecycle carbon emissions and sequestration of carbon in wood products); 2) joining the California, RGGI, and private carbon markets in credits for forest sequestration; and 3) continuing to promote ecological justifications for logging.

They are now going to call this the climate forestry plan.

You think Elliott, Julia and the HiCo are going to do jack shit about any of that?

Did anyone actually listen to what the DEP “experts” actually said?

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No Sponsored Content. No Ads. No Foundation Grants. No Member Fees. No Fundraisers. No Money.

November 21st, 2021 No comments

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We’re hanging out right now with nothing in particular to do, but feeling resentful of all the bullshit fundraising requests we get from just about everyone under the sun.

They all come along with a self serving line of crap about how effective they are, yada yada.

So, we thought we’d look into some of our own metrics here, and report the following:

Since we began here around 2009, we’ written 3,518 posts (many with photos).

Total reader page views at Wolfenotes: 794,207.

Average time on page 3:09.

That’s with no budget, no staff, no volunteers, no equipment, no office, no internet support services, no funding, no promotion or marketing, no ads, no reader fees, no fundraising, no groveling Op-Ed’s, no mainstream media cheerleading quotes and links, no false praise and endorsements of politicians, no appearances at press conferences, no speaking engagements, no invitations to meetings, no bullshit – pure solo and no money at all.

And most of it was written on the road from a van, a bus, or a local library or coffee house or bar.

Sometimes in the desert, or the national forests, or BLM lands – or Walmart parking lots – wherever we could find a WiFi connection.

I wish Google analytics had a function to track impact or effectiveness, measured perhaps as influence on policy outcomes; the positions or behavior of environmental groups, regulators or legislators or activists; or media coverage.

I think I could show those kinds of impacts, but it would take an enormous amount of work. Fuck that. Let the Wm. Penn and Dodge Foundations focus on the sham metrics their grantees send them!

Regardless, I think I win the cost effectiveness contest!

Don’t send money, I’ve got a blockchain scam going! hahahahahaha!

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Right On Cue, NJ Gov. Murphy’s “Green” Cheerleaders Change The Subject And Divert From Fossil Moratorium

November 16th, 2021 No comments

NJ Spotlight Maintains News Blackout Of Fossil Moratorium, With A Little Help From Murphy’s Friends

[See End Note for clarification]

Repeating a disturbing pattern, Governor Murphy’s “green” cheerleaders and the stenographers in NJ media – especially NJ Spotlight, purportedly the leading NJ media outlet for energy and environmental policy coverage out of Trenton  –  have once again helped Gov. Murphy avoid accountability on his actual climate record and maintained the news blackout on the critically important issue of the need for a moratorium on expansion of fossil infrastructure.

The cheerleaders and stenographers did exactly the same thing just 2 years ago in 2019.

This time around, here’s the concerted diversion sequence – watch how quickly and strategically the news managing cheerleaders and stenographers sprang into action:

The result is that on November 16, there remained a virtual news blackout of the moratorium issue and Senate action – just what the Gov. wanted (other than my note).

Media silence and stenography are just what DEP Commissioner LaTourette wanted. He wants no focus on his multiple failures – or the gross conflicts that his prior revolving door work as a corporate lawyer for fossil LNG export Fortress Energy.

And just what the NJ corporate polluters at NJ BIA and the Chamber of Commerce wanted: no focus or discussion of the need for binding DEP regulations to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.

And I didn’t even mention the absurd Assembly bill heard on the same day and at the same time the Senate Environment Committee was hearing the moratorium Resolution – that would purportedly “codify” the goals of the Murphy Energy Master Plan. The bill codifies Gov. Murphy’s priorities, but completely ignores the primary and overriding goal of the EMP, which is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions!

See how that all works?

If anyone thinks that this flurry of diversionary press conferences, press releases, Op-Eds, and news coverage are purely a coincidence, I’ve got some oceanfront property in Florida for sale.

The pattern of abuse is so blatant that it is incredible that it is not exposed and publicly denounced for the gross manipulation it is.

The most recent example is yesterday’s approval by the Senate Environment Committee of a non-binding Resolution that would urge Gov. Murphy to impose a moratorium on new fossil projects. The Resolution was sponsored by retiring Senate Majority Leader Weinberg, and could be viewed as a legacy accomplishment.

Despite the Senate Committee’s approval – and a newsworthy announcement by Committee Chairman Smith that he would seek a voter referendum to amend the NJ Constitution to impose a moratorium – there was literally a news blackout.

How could that happen? Let me briefly explain.

If we are going to slow down or minimize catastrophic and runaway climate chaos, the first step is to stop expanding the extraction of fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas and building new fossil infrastructure like pipelines, compressor stations, LNG export facilities, and power plants.

Scientists have been warning about this looming catastrophe for well over a decade. Climate activists call this a “keep it in the ground” strategy.

At the national level, climate activists made some progress on these issues when President Biden issued an Executive Order that announced a “pause” on new oil and gas leases on federal lands (Executive Order (see Sect. 208) .

But Biden rapidly folded in the face of Big Oil and Republican resistance and instead of codifying the EO’s “pause” into a more permanent moratorium, according to the Associated Press, oil and gas permits are being issued by the Biden administration at a record pace.

Prior to the Biden short lived “pause”, here in NJ, in 2019, climate activists formed a coalition of over 100 groups, called “Empower NJ”, to pressure Gov. Murphy to impose a moratorium on several pending fossil infrastructure projects.

In July, frustrated by the lack of success of their political campaign and continued inaction by the Murphy DEP, the Empower NJ Coalition filed what is called a formal “petition for rulemaking” to DEP to demand regulatory action by DEP, including a moratorium on fossil.

In October the Murphy DEP declined to act on the rulemaking petition.

Instead – just like Biden’s capitulation to Big Oil and Gas’ political power – DEP Commissioner LaTourette appeared before NJ corporate hacks at a climate denial conference to tout continued reliance on fossil fuels an effectively mock climate activists.

Remarkably, while the moratorium issue and the petition for rulemaking got virtually no press coverage, NJ Spotlight did report DEP Commissioner LaTourette’s support for fossil – at an NJ BIA conference stacked with climate deniers – and misleading statements about the effects of a moratorium.

So, there’s the real issues and the real context.

So, we’ll close by repeating the question we began with: Why the continuing news blackout on the fossil moratorium issue?

[End Note: I’m getting blasted by a knowledgeable reader for being soft on the environmentalists:

I think you gave the enviros (CWA , Sierra ENJ) a free pass – they did not  even try  to make climate moratorium and env major campaign  issues – they all endorsed like sheep.

The reader is correct. I agree that they failed miserably to make their own moratorium campaign and DEP petition for rulemaking endorsement requirements and political issues.

I think that’s due to a combination of incompetence, cowardice and corruption.

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After 4 Years Of Cheerleading And “Stakeholder” Diversions, NJ Climate Activists Finally Pull The Regulatory Trigger

July 22nd, 2021 No comments

Political Stunt Is Too Little And Far Too Late

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A coalition of climate activists submitted a petition for rulemaking to the Murphy DEP yesterday. The petition seeks to accelerate greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals and block DEP approvals of new or expanded fossil infrastructure.

You can read the petition here. I want to limit my focus today on the political dimensions of this petition.

The petition is endorsed by 58 groups. Surprisingly included was Environment NJ, a group that has served as Gov. Murphy’s primary climate cheerleader. So, I was surprised that they got in Gov. Murphy’s face for a change. But, as we’ll see below, that move may end up being just the opposite of a political challenge to the Gov. and instead be the first step in an all too typical cynical Kabuki.

Notably missing in action is the Foundation, DEP, and corporate funded conservation community, including NJ Audubon Society, NJ Conservation Foundation, NJ League Of Conservation Voters, NJ Highlands Coalition, Pinelands Preservation Alliance, Rethink Energy NJ (the PennEast pipeline opposition group formed by NJCF), American Littoral Society, The StonyBrook Watershed Institute (and all the watershed groups), NY/NJ Baykeeper, Sustainable NJ, NJ Future, and the various other Mike Catania & Chris Daggett, Duke, Dodge, and Wm. Penn Foundation created astro-turf operations. Incredibly, this MIA faction also includes the environmental justice alliance.

Think about that they next time you see those groups quoted in the news about the urgency of climate threats, or appeals to FERC or DEP to deny approvals for pipelines  – or the need for more money to fund “resilience”, “smart growth” “sustainability” or “climate adaptation” or “environmental justice”.

For over a decade, I’ve been urging the environmental community to file regulatory petitions to DEP. For example, here’s one I filed back in 2007 and repeatedly circulated as a model.

The climate coalition’s petition was announced in Trenton and comes in the 4th year of the Murphy administration (and in the dead of summer, with the legislature in recess, and media and people focused on other important things).

During these 4 years, environmentalists have praised Gov. Murphy as a climate leader, and the press has portrayed Gov. Murphy as climate leader and champion of green energy. As a result, Gov. Murphy has a very strong – but false and undeserved – climate reputation.

This environmental group praise and favorable press occurred despite the facts that: 1) he has done absolutely nothing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, 2) his DEP has issued permits for massive new fossil infrastructure projects and logging NJ forests, 3) his BPU Energy Master Plan is woefully inadequate and promotes continued expansion and reliance on fossil fuels, 4) he signed legislation authorizing a multi-billion nuclear bailout, 5) he has made off-shore wind a Wall Street finance and corporate bonanza, 6) he installed a former corporate lawyer, including for a massive new LNG export plant, as DEP Commissioner (amazingly, Mr. LaTourette was installed at DEP just 2 weeks after he successfully lobbied and rammed through DEP final permits for the LNG plant below the public’s radar), and 7) he almost killed the solar industry by signing into law a “cost cap” (while leaving in place a “net metering” solar cap that undermines small scale solar), which he was forced to repeal by subsequent legislation, an embarrassing U-Turn that also promotes massive corporate scale solar on farms, while undermining distributed small scale and rooftop solar. (Since Murphy is a former Wall Street Goldman Sachs man, he knows that investors and corporations require regulatory stability and certainty, so his bungling of solar finance and regulation could not be an accident).

This coalition petition also comes 18 months after DEP began “Stakeholder meetings” to discuss development of a package of regulations DEP calls PACT, for “Protecting Against Climate Threats“.

About 2 years ago, shortly after DEP announced the PACT regulatory initiative, I again strongly urged climate activists to move aggressively in order to get out front of and set expectations for the DEP PACT regulations. I then wrote:

the Murphy DEP should be barraged with petitions for rulemaking from the NJ environmental community on numerous issues, especially to get out in front of and frame the upcoming climate regulations DEP has named “PACT”.

I specifically warned activists not to wait and get diverted by the DEP’s “Stakeholder” process. I wrote:

A rule petition is a far more effective way to influence DEP than to sit around the table and get played in the DEP’s informal “Stakeholder processes”. That’s just where DEP wants you to be – safely in the room, instead of forcing their hand legally and out in the streets targeting DEP regulations for public protest demands.

I’ve been urging NJ environmental leaders to file these petitions for years, so now I’ll rehash that as a template for citizens.

Well, just as I warned, instead of mounting a public campaign and filing a regulatory petition before the DEP began developing the PACT rules, they engaged that DEP Stakeholder process and not only wasted 2 years and allowed the false perception of Gov. Murphy’s climate record to solidify, but allowed DEP to develop totally inadequate climate regulations.

So, the petition is a classic example of too little too late.

And it will be perceived as exactly the non-serious political stunt that it is, as even Jeff Tittel (retired) of Sierra Club made clear: (NJ Spotlight)

If the department rejects the petition, there is not much recourse for the coalition. “It sets down a marker for the election,’’ said Jeff Tittel, the former director of the Sierra Club, referring to the November gubernatorial election.

Did you get that? Tittel just admitted that the whole thing is essentially a political stunt. This crap is what destroys the credibility of climate activists (and I wonder how much they paid the lawyer who drafted or at least formatted the petition).

If all they wanted was a political “marker for the election”, the petition should have been deployed 4 years ago as a condition of endorsement of Gov. Murphy during the 2017 gubernatorial election.

By waiting this long – at a time when DEP’s long delayed PACT and EJ rules will be delayed until after the upcoming election – they give Murphy a total pass.

Worse, they have provided a cynical opportunity for the Gov. to make some lame public response, announcing his support of the accelerated emission reduction aspirational goals in the petition (while remaining silent on DEP permits for all the pending new fossil infrastructure projects).

Then the coalition groups can declare victory and endorse Murphy for Governor again. They then use this “victory” for fundraising with Foundations and their members.

Meanwhile, nothing real gets done, DEP PACT rules are a joke, new fossil infrastructure is permitted by DEP, greenhouse gas emissions continue to increase, and climate catastrophe is accelerated.

This is a repeat of exactly how we got the toothless Global Warming Response Act.

Mark my words – expect the following events between now and October:

1). Gov. Murphy publicly announces support of the accelerated GHG emission reduction goals in petition. This could include another symbolic gesture in the form of a toothless and aspirational executive order. Of course, this generates huge applause from the green groups and tons of good press.

2) DEP issues a decision at the end of September that quietly supports the petition in principle, but technically does not grant the petition for rulemaking. DEP makes no specific commitments for regulatory changes. This formal regulatory determination (denial) on the petition gets no media coverage and the green groups ignore it. Or if it is covered, it gets spun a a “victory” in light of the Gov.’s announcement of support.

3) Green groups declare a major victory and endorse Murphy for Gov. at a Trenton press conference with the Gov.

In November, the Gov is re-elected and recognized as a national climate leader.

In January, DEP issue proposed Climate PACT rule that do not come close to mandating the emissions reductions or permit changes recommended by the petition.

Of course, the green groups and media ignore or misrepresent this reality.

I’ve seen this before. It’s the same Kabuki that gave us the toothless Global Warming Response Act.

(in a subsequent post, I will highlight some technical and policy flaws with the petition).

[Update: 7/27/21 – Breaking news! (snark).

I now have evidence that NJ climate activists are actually doing something! Yea!

After their Trenton Zoom call with reporters last week (which I mistakenly assumed was an actual State House event), I just learned that Dave Pringle put out an “action alert” yesterday (7/26/21). Cart before horse, and too little too late, again. If I were an activist, I wouldn’t want to learn about this after the fact via reading NJ Spotlight or this blog. At least Pringle correctly targets the Gov., but the only “activism” I can see is a request to sign a petition in support of their petition. I see no campaign, no resources, and no real organizing or field mobilization of activists. Here’s Dave!

From: David Pringle < dpringle1988@gmail.com>

Per our call just now, here’s the info./action alert re: the 7 group Empower NJ Steering Committee with support from 58 additional groups filing a legal petition last week under the NJ Administrative Procedures Act w/ NJDEP calling for rulemaking to cut greenhouse gas emissions 50% by 2030:

     * a couple clips (NJ Spotlight / 101.5), 
     * the press release
     * the legal petition, and 
     *  the alert / sign on petition as a first step or one off in helping
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The People’s House

January 8th, 2021 No comments

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The recent images of the Trump insurrection – while not surprising – are deeply disturbing, so I thought I’d share a more positive frame and memory.

The photo above was taken during a spring 2009 tour of the Capitol for “NJ Environmental Leaders” sponsored by my friend NJ Congressman Rush Holt.

As I recall, we toured the Capitol and attended a luncheon with Holt and recently installed Obama administration officials involved with environmental and climate policy. Expectations for the Obama administration were very high, but soon to be dashed.

The event was coordinated by Obama White House Climate and Energy staffer Heather Zichal. For Zichal’s full bio, see:

I met Zichal when, as a Rutgers student, she worked as a volunteer with the Political Committee of Sierra Club’ NJ Chapter, and then for NJ Congressmen Holt and Pallone, Senator Kerry’s presidential campaign and then the Obama 2008 campaign.

The NJ Chapter endorsed Holt in the 1998 race for NJ’s 12th Congressional District. Zichal played a role in that decision, which was unusual because it departed from Sierra Club’s national policy, which strongly favored endorsement of incumbents, especially pro-environment moderate Republicans. Holt was running against one term moderate pro-environment Republican Frank Pappas.

I was Acting Director of NJ Sierra Chapter at that time and led the Trenton press conference (in Senate annex) when Sierra announced the Holt endorsement. Holt thanked the Club and made brief remarks.

I first met Holt – who lived in Hopewell Valley and was involved with the local watershed group – during the mid 1990’s controversial land use debates in Hopewell Valley involving the 3.5 million square foot Merrill Lynch Scotch Road project,  the Trenton-ELSA-Hopewell sewer line, and the expansion of the Bristol Myers Squibb facility, which was located just south of Holt’s house. I also lived in Hopewell at the time.

Sierra volunteers convinced Holt – our Holt convinced them – that the politics of fighting sprawl development and advocating the protection of water resources were very politically popular.

Holt’s leadership on those issues played a huge role in his Sierra endorsement and later may have been the deciding factor in his upset win in a Republican leaning suburban swing district.

I think the 2009 luncheon address was by a US Navy official, who spoke about climate as a national security threat.

The one thing I distinctly recall from that luncheon was a question I asked during Q&A.

At the time, the Obama campaign was widely praised for its savvy use of Digital organizing and social media as an organizing tool. They had assembled large lists, including environmental activists.

Probing that success, I specifically asked Ms. Zichal if the Obama White House would continue to use those lists to cultivate grassroots support for their climate policies, which were expected to face strong opposition in Congress.

Zichal’s reply was stunning: she flat out told me and the crowd that there were no plans to conduct that kind of political operation and that as far as she knew, the entire social media campaign infrastructure had been abandoned.

I was – to put it mildly – shocked.

That was when I first knew for sure – long before it became obvious with the selection of Lisa Jackson as EPA Administrator, the “all of the above” energy policy, and the half assed effort to pass a cap and trade bill – that Obama was not serious and his rhetoric was nowhere near his actual policy.

At the time, my negative assessment was very poorly received in virtually all quarters.

Sadly, even now, some of my fellow “NJ environmental leaders” never came to share that assessment.

[End notes:

1. As a Sierra professional, I was not involved in Sierra endorsement decisions (they are made by the volunteers). In hindsight, it would have been much better for Sierra to support Holt’s prior 1996 Democratic Primary challenger Carl Meyer of nearby Princeton, who was far more progressive.

I also knew Carl Meyer, who I met before I came to Sierra during the victorious debates over the proposed Mercer County garbage incinerator. I think Carl later was part of the legal team with Chris Hedges in challenging the NDA.

2. Of course, with respect toThe People’s House and speaking of Princeton, there is this political fact:

When the preferences of economic elites and the stands of organized interest groups are controlled for, the preferences of the average American appear to have only a minuscule, near-zero, statistically non-significant impact upon public policy.

~~~ end]

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