Key Issues: Silence on the Environment

October 22nd, 2013 by New Jersey Future staff

Worries about economy have pushed environmental issues almost entirely off candidates’ agendas

This is the second in a series of articles from our friends at NJ Spotlight laying out the critical policy challenges that the next governor and Legislature will face, as well as their positions on these issues.

The state’s open-space preservation program is broke. Electric and gas transmission projects may soon traverse the New Jersey Highlands and the Pine Barrens, forested land previously set aside for protection. Questions abound on where and whether to pull back from the devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy along the Jersey Shore.

Not that many years ago, those issues and others likely would have emerged as top concerns and would have been hotly debated in a gubernatorial contest. Not this year: The economy apparently trumps the environment.

In the race between Republican Gov. Chris Christie and Democratic challenger state Sen. Barbara Buono of Middlesex County, the environment rarely has been raised as a topic. Silence prevails, though some say the differences between the two candidates on this issue are as stark as they have ever been in a gubernatorial election.

Read the full article on NJ Spotlight.

Posted in Environment and Agriculture, Governor, Land Preservation, Planning and Governance, Regional Planning, Smart Growth, Sprawl, State Planning, Water and Sewer

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