Support for 100% Clean Energy From the State House to Main Street in New Jersey

To build support for the strongest possible 100% Clean Energy Standard legislation (S2978/A4658) to transition New Jersey to 100% clean energy by 2035, a team of Environment New Jersey organizers, working for Green Corps, hit the ground across the Garden State in mid-December to to use some old-fashioned shoe leather in support of clean energy. We canvassed, phone-banked, lobbied and saw clean energy manufacturing in action throughout New Jersey.To start, we canvassed small businesses across Central Jersey in cities and suburbs from the Shore to Somerset, including Rahway, Cranford, Woodbridge, Asbury Park, Somerville, North Plainfield, and Linden.  The goal of signing on small businesses to a letter of support to moving towards a 100% clean energy future not reliant on fossil fuel generation was to show Senate President Nick Scutari (D-22) and Speaker Craig Coughlin (D-19) that a diverse set of employers and sectors across New Jersey support clean energy – and that they all urge action from state lawmakers to move the state away from fossil fuels. We talked to dozens of small businesses across New Jersey, from restaurants to nail salons, laundromats to thrift stores, coffee shops, and more – and business owners of all types agree that the state needs to take the crucial steps to transition to 100% clean energy. The excitement of a clean energy future for New Jersey was there for many small business owners, and pharmacists, doctors, and health practitioners were also eager to sign on to combat health-harming air pollution from fossil fuel sources.

We also phone banked community members in Senate President Nick Scutari and Speaker Craig Coughlin’s districts, as well as across the state. We asked New Jersey residents to call Scutari and Coughlin’s offices and urge them to support the 100% Clean Energy bill. State lawmakers and legislative leaders listen to their constituents’ concerns, and we knew if many district residents called in to support the bill, Scutari and Coughlin would have additional motivation to act. One constituent was particularly fired up about the issue, and they committed to calling in to both offices, emailing their legislators, and submitting a letter to the editor to their local paper!

Enviroment New Jersey organizers joined Sen. Andrew Zwicker, clean energy champion, in the halls of the State HousePhoto by Christian Fiore | TPIN

It was also important to talk with the legislators directly so that we could share support for clean energy from small business canvassing and phone banking with them directly. That’s why we had a Lobby Day at the New Jersey State House in Trenton. We were able to talk to several State Senators and staffers, including Sen. Linda Greenstein (D-14), Sen. Vin Gopal (D-11) and Sen. Nilsa Cruz-Perez (D-5) , and let them know about the broad community and business support for the 100% Clean Energy bill. We even got a selfie with Senator Andrew Zwicker (D-16), who is a steady supporter of our clean energy and climate initiatives. Prime sponsor and Senate Environment Committee Chair Bob Smith (D-17) continues to serve as point on the legislation.

Zago Manufacturing CEO Gail Friedman Rottenstrich gave a tour of her bolt manufacturing facility in Newark to the Environment New Jersey teamPhoto by Christian Fiore | TPIN

We wrapped up our week of action with a tour of the Zago Manufacturing facility in Newark, along with Richard Lawton, Executive Director of the NJ Sustainable Business Council and Rebecca Lubot Ph.D, founder of Lubot Strategies.  Co-founder and CEO Gail Friedberg Rottenstrich showed us how her business and facility are committed to energy efficiency and sustainability in every part of the manufacturing process for bolt production. It was a great opportunity to learn more about how clean energy initiatives are implemented in a manufacturing facility, and how the need for bolts in the off-shore wind supply chain could be met by local manufacturers like Zago. Zago Manufacturing uses solar panels installed on its roof more than a decade ago to power part of their energy usage and is looking to expand its operations using energy-efficient incentives from NJBPU for remodeling its top floor. We shared with Gail how her business isn’t alone in working towards a clean energy future by discussing the broad support we had already seen with other small businesses in New Jersey. We know that sustainability in manufacturing and in other business sectors is achievable – and many business leaders like Gail are passionate about making that happen on a state level too.

The final stop of the week was at Senate President Nick Scutari’s office in Clark, where we dropped off a large packet of close to 5,000 petition signatures collected through our canvass office, as well as more than 100 sign-ons from small business and health professional sign-ons, in support of moving forward with the strongest possible 100% Clean Electricity Standard legislation as possible. In person petition drops are effective in communicating that many constituents and businesses care about transitioning New Jersey to 100% clean energy – and we were able to talk to one of the Senate President’s staffers about our experiences talking with small business owners from around the state, as well as his own district. Though we weren’t able to talk with Senate President directly, our shoe-leather organizing showed broad and deep support for the strongest possible action on clean energy in New Jersey to move off fossil fuels. Even with legislative action delayed until early in the new 2024 legislative session on the 100% bill, it’s critical our decision-makers know there’s a groundswell for action on clean energy.