New Jersey
Four Decades
New Jersey Currents - Fall 2011
new jersey currents
fall 2011 edition
vote environment!
The NJ Environmental Federation (NJEF) has waged and won environmental
and public health protections in the best of times and the worst of
times. In the mid-90s, U.S. Congressman Jim Saxton (R-NJ) championed
passage of the first ever Safe Drinking Water “right to know,” new
programs to protect drinking water sources and related water funding.
This was back when Newt Gingrich’s Contract with America, a platform
designed to dismantle government environmental programs and funding for
them, posed serious threats. We not only stopped them, we actually
secured bi-partisan support to strengthen our nation’s drinking water
laws.
Clearing the Air at the Ports
By Amy Goldsmith, State Director, New Jersey Currents Winter 2010
New Jerseyans now face the nation's second greatest cancer risk from diesel soot in the nation. According to UMDNJ, treatment for asthma alone accounts for 12 percent of New Jersey's managed care costs.
In Newark, school children experience a 25 percent asthma rate, double the state and national rates. The city's residents are hospitalized and experience premature deaths at twice the rate of Essex County Suburbs.
The Oyster Creek Saga Continues
By Peggi Sturmfels, Program Organizer, New Jersey Currents Fall 2010
The Oyster Creek nuclear power plant is located on the Jersey Shore's Barnegat Bay, 1 of 28 designated National Ocean Estuaries. It is the oldest commercial operating nuclear power plant in the U.S. and one of the oldest in the world.