“Green Swans, in essence, are about regeneration—of our societies, economies, and, most fundamentally, of the biosphere. This is where things must now go seriously exponential, in a good way.” — John Elkington, Green Swans: The Coming Boom In Regenerative Capitalism
“The Earth is what we all have in common.” — Wendell Berry
Ecology, Economics, and Ethics (ENST-305-01)
Ramapo College of New Jersey
September 13, 2025
Professor Polsky & Students: Alex Benedetto, Kailee-Rose Casey, George Charbonneau, Romari Ebuen, Kayla Hurevitch, Kyla Merino, Jordan E. Rivera, Segall Sanchez
Editors: Professor Polsky, Romari Ebuen, Nina Rivera, Jordan E. Rivera, & Sandy Polsky
September 13, 2025
The Honorable Congresswoman Mikie Sherill
Mikie Sherrill for Governor
PO Box 43032
Montclair, NJ 07043
The Honorable Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli
Ciattarelli for Governor
PO Box 225
Annandale, N.J. 08801
Dear Congresswoman Sherill and Assemblyman Ciattarelli:
One of you will likely be New Jersey’s next Governor. If you are successful, to inform your thinking about possible climate change strategies, my Ramapo College Spring class of 2025 has written this report at the intersection of ecology, economics, and ethics specifically for you, your advisors, and your future Cabinet Secretaries and Administrators.
As you know, the federal government has both withdrawn from addressing climate change and stopped supporting our efforts. Yet, the problem is likely to worsen. Therefore, New Jersey urgently needs new approaches to successfully pursue our ambitious goals. Our suggestions, for the most part, are not in the everyday discussion.
Some other things to know about our work:
- This is mostly my class’s report, co-written, with decisions about included subjects, by 10 students with me as their mentor. (I do express just my views here and in the separate Appendices)
- In studying these concepts, we heard from guest speakers, studied leading thinkers, viewed videos from a March Rutgers College Forum on climate change (Past, Present, & Future: Sustaining Innovation in New Jersey Climate Policy), both for background, to understand current thinking, and to build on
- We tried to be nonpartisan, while not ignoring certain realities, knowing it ultimately will take almost everyone to be part of the huge effort to address climate change. We also took advantage of the students’ unique working and other experiences outside of the classroom, which helped us see the issue from multiple perspectives
- You should not assume all co-authors agree with everything in the Report.
It has never been more necessary for New Jersey to show its historic leadership, albeit in new ways. I hope you find this Report useful and will approach it with an open mind, curiosity, humility, responsiveness, and from a sustainability perspective. That modeling, in itself, will send an important signal to your staff and others. In my long experience, this has not been common in New Jersey Government, the Legislature, or other sectors. So a shift in culture that goes through the agencies (and others) would be complementary. I have seen every New Jersey Governor from Governor Kean to Governor Murphy (with some exceptions) add something (sometimes surprising) to the climate change policy mix. Even though you are not yet on the job, I encourage you to think about your legacy for, in turn, your successors to build on.
If you and/or your advisors would like further information, I am available and can ask my students to participate. If you would like to review my prior courses’ related work, I could send the Reports from six and seven years ago. While there is some overlap, those covered some different ground, including opportunities and pitfalls. The Report from seven years ago also summarized several historic documents about New Jersey and the green economy.
If you win, good luck with your term in Office, The New Jersey citizenry, and those who come after us, will be counting on you. In addition, there will be observers from outside the State, and even internationally.
Professor Matt Polsky
191 Summerfield Road
Belvidere, New Jersey 07823
mpolsky@ramapo.edu, innovator3@hotmail.com
(908) 451-2833
Executive Summary
Green Swans, pictured above, are a way to view solutions that lead to much more than modest improvements. They are “breakthrough changes” that, according to business consultant and author John Elkington, are needed “to solve today’s global challenges.” (Elkington, 2020 as cited in Kraaijenbrink, 2022, pps. 2-3). This, of course, includes climate change. Even innovation, as important as it is conventionally practiced, is not a high enough bar.
This orientation is not at all dismissive of the small improvements we usually implicitly assume are all that are possible. These are much easier, also very necessary, and may eventually add up to larger changes. But with the worsening of the problem, and the federal government’s reversal of support to us, we have to assume they will not be enough. It is even possible that the worsening problem may require moving up the already-ambitious goals. So we really must be open to ideas that, while not necessarily all new, have not been seriously considered.
Towards this end, our course paper provides details about various topics that we find are usually missing from New Jersey dialogue. We utilized and built upon what was presented at the March Rutgers’ New Jersey Climate Change Resource Center Forum: “Sustaining Innovation in New Jersey Climate Policy” conference. (“Sustaining Innovation”) We do this by including content from our course.
The Rutgers Forum (Rutgers, 2025; AKA: “The Rutgers Report,” “Their Report”) discusses how current state-level policies get New Jersey only partway to its 2050 goal. It recommends some new strategies to help reach the goal. We add to theirs.
The Rutgers Report underscores that emissions reductions alone, as important as that is, are not enough. Resilience planning is key to protecting vulnerable communities. It discusses the need for policy that supports both adaptation, resilience (especially in coastal and urban areas) and mitigation (cuts to emissions).
The Rutgers Report does not include how government decisions affect people, the planet, and the economy simultaneously, a key tenet of sustainability. Therefore, we add the idea of the “Triple Bottom Line,” (TBL) or People, Planet, and Profit, to show why the government needs to consider, integrate, or sometimes balance, all three. Ignoring the social and environmental sides to focus on just the economy leads to public distrust and poor policy choices.
Relatedly, we recommend the same for the State’s business sectors. State Government could inform, encourage, incentivize, and model the TBL approach to them. Ways to approach this are through concepts we studied in class, such as the circular economy, sustainable business, corporate social responsibility, shared value, social entrepreneurship, and the regenerative economy.
Transportation is New Jersey’s biggest emissions source. The Rutgers Report stresses electrifying transportation and supporting policies like electric vehicle (EV) incentives and public charging infrastructure. This is especially important to focus on now, given the very rapidly approaching end of federal incentives.
While agriculture is not a huge emissions source in New Jersey, our (the student) Report states that methane and nitrous oxide from waste and fertilizer use are important non-CO2 gases to reduce. This supports efforts to manage food waste and promote sustainable farming.
Since cars and trucks are such big polluters, expanding transit use is a key part of the solution. The Rutgers Report supports investments in buses, trains, and walkable neighborhoods to cut greenhouse gases (GHGs). We take this further to promote much more bicycling than we see now.
Their Report does not mention a carbon tax. But, given the above, it is possible that New Jersey may need and become more ready to consider one. It would more comprehensively and rapidly catalyze carbon reductions.
At the same time, consistent with The Green Swan, we may need economy-wide changes, which is also consistent with a broader view of “The Green Economy.” Putting a price on carbon emissions could facilitate that as well.
Our Report mentions a Climate Superfund that would be a partial way to do this. It stresses that this would support environmental justice, another aspect of sustainability.
A change from the current dominant linear economy (make>take>waste) to a circular one with nearly all resources reused would be a vast improvement. This includes much expanded reuse, recycling, composting, and the product designs that facilitate these. This also includes reducing methane emissions from landfills.
The Rutgers Forum discusses switching to clean energy, but not as much about how to manage solar panels, wind turbines, and batteries at the end of their lives. Also within the circular frame, our Report offers ideas about how to reuse or recycle these so they stay sustainable over the long term.
The circular economy, in all of these aspects, could even be the ultimate direction of most of the State economy.
Our (student) Report emphasizes the growing threat of climate change to public health in New Jersey, with rising temperatures contributing to more heat-related illnesses and respiratory problems, particularly in underserved communities. Since New Jersey is warming faster than most other states, these risks are expected to increase. We call on the next Governor to prioritize the health of vulnerable populations and improve the State’s response to climate related health challenges.
The Rutgers Report emphasizes the importance of decarbonizing the power sector. Our Report points out that as New Jersey already relies on nuclear energy for a large share of its low-carbon electricity, maintaining or expanding it can help meet the 2050 reduction goals. However, this time, we will have to avoid the mistakes of the past with this energy source.
Introduction
Background: New Jersey Context
Climate Change Goals of New Jersey
New Jersey has tried to fight climate change for years by cutting down on pollution from greenhouse gases. The Global Warming Response Act (GWRA) of 2007 set an ambitious goal of reducing emissions of carbon dioxide by 80% from 2006 levels by the year 2050. This was before the United States’ goal of net-zero carbon by 2050, in support of the global climate agreement called the Paris Agreement. (Or was in the Biden Presidency.) The GWRA pushes every sector of the state, like transportation, energy, and industry, to clean up how they operate.
But even though New Jersey has made progress, the Rutgers “Sustaining Innovation” Report (2025) says more will need to happen to meet this goal.
How New Jersey is Doing So Far
By 2021, New Jersey had already cut emissions by about 25% (NJDEP, n.d.), which is a good start. But if it were to keep going at the same pace without making changes, only a 12 percent further decrease ? would occur by 2050. New Jersey needs to increase its pace of reduction to reach another 75% reduction.
How to Reach the Goal
To hit the 80% reduction by 2050 target, Sustaining Innovation suggests a few main steps:
- Use more clean energy like solar and wind instead of gas or coal
- Put more electric cars on the road and build more charging stations
- Make homes and businesses energy smarter and waste less
- Try out technology that captures pollution from factories
- Pass stronger laws that keep us moving toward the goal and help people prepare for climate change (Rutgers, 2025).
So, New Jersey has made progress, but it is not enough yet. There needs to be more serious actions in every area, or we will not be able to reach our goal. The Rutgers Report tries to fill some of that gap with these and other suggestions.
Current Environmental Statistics of New Jersey
As part of “taking stock,” mentioned in at their Forum (2025), or looking at where we are at now, here are some examples of statistics noted:
- Regarding temperature, New Jersey’s temperature has warmed 4.1 degrees Fahrenheit since the 1990s (Rutgers, n.d.). An increase in warm extremes is expected to occur over the next few years, with less cold temperatures
- Days with rain of more than 2 inches has increased 49% in the northeast (Rutgers, n.d.), leading to heavier rainfall
- Sea level has risen by 19 inches at Atlantic City since 1911 (Rutgers, n.d.) and is projected to heighten the intensity of flooding. For instance, flooding during even sunny days in Atlantic City has increased from less than once per year in the 1950s to 8 per year in the 2000s ((Rutgers, 2020)
- Potentially within our class’s lifetime, if the Paris Agreement Goals, are not met (which is likely the case), sea level rise is projected at 1.3-2.7 feet by 2070, and as much as 4 feet by 2100 (Rutgers, 2020).
- Flooding and saltwater intrusion threaten drinking water and farmland along the coast (Rutgers, 2020)
- Even by some of the lowest projections, by the year 2050, much of the coastline will start to be flooded by the sea, eliminating some of the already established protections against flooding.
Recent Policy Reversals
The current political and economic challenge in front of New Jersey and other states is that work gets significantly harder without the support of the federal government. These cuts will have immense impacts on the future of climate resilience in the United States. The federal government is the core of much of the funding, so if the tap is switched off, states cannot easily replace the funds. This section will focus on a portion of the cuts that will directly affect New Jersey’s goal to attain a 50% reduction by 2030.
The largest issue facing New Jersey’s transition currently is the problems facing offshore wind. On January 20th, 2025, the funding for the Atlantic Shores Wind Farm construction project in New Jersey was paused and is under review. A federal Executive Order withdrew wind energy leases for offshore wind construction. This will deeply impact New Jersey’s transition goals to clean energy and will cut high-paying construction jobs.
Another blow is the Administration’s repeal of carbon pollution standards for fossil fuel power plants, potentially leading to over 1,200 premature deaths nationally in just 2035 (EDF, 2025) On Day One of the new Administration, the U.S. withdrew from the International Climate Accord. Massive cuts were made to the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA), which will put poor communities at the greatest risk of climate disasters. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) cut 20 billion dollars in climate grants (Igini, 2025), including $500M for creating lower carbon cement. Cement production currently accounts for 8% of human carbon emissions. (Klean Industries, 2025) The U.S. Department of Energy’s innovation-supporting Loan Programs Office saw a 60% staff cut by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) (Patterson, 2025), which will damage the country’s ability to fund innovative energy programs.
Things have become much harder.
The Importance of the Environment in Improving the Economy: How Climate Mitigation and Natural Capital Coincide
For the economy of New Jersey to be sustainable, there needs to be an emphasis on a continued balance between healthy ecosystems and development of the economy. It is a basic tenet of sustainability that ecosystems and the economy are not forces in opposition but interconnected pillars that support our society. If one of the pillars crumbles, then the whole structure will fall. The State relies on its ecosystems. Climate change, which has already started to impact the State, also threatens ecosystem health.
In order to know what New Jersey stands to gain by improving its resilience to climate change, it is important to know what is at stake. New Jersey must become a leader in combating sea level rise because it stands to lose an immense amount of natural and human capital.
Not focusing on the climate and sea level rise will damage a large tourism industry at the shore. The destruction of barrier islands and estuaries will make New Jersey more susceptible to natural disasters. The State of California emphasizes protection of the land beyond its estuaries to create more of a barrier to sea level rise (California Coastal Conservancy, 2011).
By focusing on ecological health, New Jersey can preserve these “capital gains.” Not doing so will also damage the revenue that these places have generated for years. According to NJ.com, shore towns sold $52 million for beach passes (Kausch, 2025). New Jersey Business Magazine estimates that there were 123.7 visitors in 2024, mostly at the shore, supporting small businesses that rely on this tourism (Pytell, 2025).
Although the current federal administration is not supporting the State’s efforts to combat climate change, state government can still move resources into vulnerable places, protecting our capital as best we can. If and when the federal government’s attitude changes, we will be that much more ahead.
While there are a number of reasons to reduce carbon emissions, an overlooked one is ecosystem services, or natural capital, which support, and actually underpin, our health and economy. A report from ecological economist, Robert Costanza (2007), of Portland State University, found high value to New Jersey’s natural capital. His team looked at seven areas that benefit from it. They were wetlands, marine ecosystems, forests, urban green space, beaches, agricultural land, and open fresh water. The values in each of these were delineated in the report. For example, beaches alone had an estimated value of $330 million as they buffer floods and storms, as well as provide aesthetic/recreational benefits. With the current negative trends that climate change is having on New Jersey, more visibility to, and protection of ecosystems for the many benefits they provide to New Jersey should be a priority.
The Importance of the Economy in Improving the Environment: Sustainable Business
For the various solutions to climate change that will be presented in this Paper, most have in common that they rely on the current structure of the economy to improve climate change. However, we can go beyond that by looking at business differently. Businesses can, surprisingly perhaps, provide possible solutions.
Businesses affect the environment in a number of ways. The products they create can have negative impacts throughout the entire process, including the production, sale, or disposal of goods. The current economy relies on the traditional linear process of taking, making, and disposing (Antikainen, et al., 2017). By changing business practices at their core, with the encouragement and help of governmental leaders, externalities (or costs imposed on the environment and people that are not part of prices) can be reduced, with more chance of reaching our climate goals. Other areas of their societal responsibility can be improved, as well, including the social dimension (Brown et al., 2006).
There should not be a focus on improving any one area, as these three areas impact each other. For example, by improving social areas such as job conditions, workers’ efficiency and the quality of goods produced will be positively impacted, resulting indirectly in economic growth. In contrast, by only focusing on economics, such as outsourcing goods, as they are cheaper, will require transportation of these goods and emissions that emit greenhouse gases. In addition, workers in some producing locations may not be as fairly paid. Policies should be in place to promote and aid businesses to make better overall decisions for the environment and society, which will then in turn affect economic growth positively.
Our class studied a number of sustainable business concepts that could be utilized to effect this, including the circular economy, TBL, green design, social entrepreneurship, the regenerative economy, and shared value. This could be seen as a different kind of business than we are used to.
Government as a Type of Business: People, Planet, Profit and Rebuilding Trust in Government
The idea of “Running government as a business” is controversial, as they can have different functions, and it is not clear that skills are always interchangeable. However, just as we wrote about businesses adopting a TBL perspective of people, planet, and profit, this type of approach by government, if taken thoughtfully, can be beneficial. In that sense, both business and government would be driven by that same perspective.
A more holistic approach by government, looking at more than just the core function of any one agency, could be helpful for restoring trust, which is critical for addressing climate change. Government may eventually ask the citizenry to make significant changes in their practices. This will be hard to do without that trust if promises are not kept.
A single bottom line perspective is shown by what not to do at the federal level. The Department of Government Efficiency freezing funds and firing thousands of government employees, with too much neglect for its other aspects, is contributing to a culture of distrust. It will be hard to earn it back.
So, government running as a “business,” utilizing the “Triple Bottom Line” philosophy, is crucial not only to citizens’ trust in government, but to the welfare of the state, to improve the effectiveness of policymaking, and to increase social engagement. It should be at the forefront of government decision-making.
The Inflation Reduction Act made clean energy cheaper through various tax credits and grants, which seems to be the only way to practically and aggressively address the need for sustainable energy since it has become difficult to directly raise the cost of dirty energy. And yet, despite tax credits for sustainable energy generation, the cost of renewables in New Jersey still remains high. (Whether it is now cheaper than fossil fuel depends on how you look at it. (See Green Power Energy, 2021 and Parry, 2023).
The current Presidential “War on Wind Power” has killed the federal tax credit for offshore wind development, and it now makes little sense to continue developing it at such a cost. “Big Oil” companies have too much of a say in government. Continuing to allow this to happen is yet another example of the lack of socially responsible thinking that we see in some branches of our government. It reinforces mistrust.
Powering our EVs: Challenges and Bright Spots
The upside to electric vehicles is that they eliminate the need for the internal combustion engine, or ICE, which is what EV companies use as a marketing strategy. However, the current system for EVs still uses electricity powered by fossil fuels- about 50 percent. This is not to say that they do not have other benefits, such as increased efficiency.
But it seems as though our current system too often simply shuffles the downsides to the front end; that is, powered by fossil fueled-powered generating stations causing emissions rather than the back of the car. This means the State needs even more sustainable generation to truly capture the benefits of EVs.
Another issue with EVs is that the mining for materials required to produce EV batteries is also dangerous and immensely damaging to the environment.
Fixing these issues, such as an all-renewable power grid (ideally centered around affordable solar), so that they become a viable alternative to combustion-engine vehicles (at least for some) does not fix that they are often priced out of range for underprivileged people and their communities. To address this, more initiatives to make EV purchase and charging more affordable and accessible are needed even though New Jersey is actually a leader in this field. The State provides a rebate of $4,000 to anyone purchasing an EV, as well as an exemption from state sales tax in order to incentivize their purchase. There are also companies like Greenspot that will offer free chargers and charger installation for businesses that agree to work with their company. The company makes money through maintenance of the chargers (Greenspot, n.d.)
Another affordability initiative that is gaining traction recently is the concept of battery leasing. This is the idea that you purchase the car for yourself without a battery, and “rent” the battery that powers it as a part of a “battery-share” program. The idea is that because the battery is the most expensive part of an EV, people are able to join a subscription program that will give them access to various battery-swap stations across the country. When the battery in their car dies or is close to it, they pull into a station and swap their battery for a freshly charged one. This has the added benefit of eliminating range anxiety amongst potential and actual EV users and also shortens the time spent waiting for your vehicle to charge. This is certainly a start, and sets a standard, but it is not enough. Investment in these programs and initiatives is crucial in the fight to electrify transportation and work towards sustainability.
Harmful Production Process of EV Batteries
EVs are believed by some to be the future. Figure 1 shows the increasing global demand for them.
Figure 1
–Clean Technia as cited in IER, 2023
They do not need fuel and do not emit any harmful gases when driving around. They can be seen as an amazing piece of technology. But detracting from that is the way they are made. EVs use lithium-ion batteries. The process of making a lithium-ion battery is damaging to the environment as they require a very extensive mining process that produces a large amount of greenhouse gases. The production of the batteries actually produces more carbon dioxide emissions than it takes to create an entire gas-powered car (IER, 2023). So while the growing demand for electric vehicles (see Figure 1) as we search for a way to be more environmentally conscious seems to be progress, EVs may be seen as essentially greenwashing. On the outside, EVs may seem good for the environment but, realistically, unless there is more progress on these issues, EVs will have a tough time living up to their reputation as a green technology.
Recycling Renewable Energy
Renewable energy is one of the most promising solutions to reducing pollution, carbon emissions, and environmental destruction. However, there is a factor ignored by policymakers and business owners: the products’ end of life. The manufactured parts of solar panels and wind turbines, which are sources of renewable energy, do not last forever. Before New Jersey pushes harder to implement these tools, it first needs to find and develop efficient and environmentally friendly ways to dispose of or repurpose them.
In recent years, there have been social and political movements for renewable energy to replace outdated fossil fuel power plants. From a strictly carbon emission standpoint, renewable energy looks like the solution. After all, solar power releases approximately
50 grams of carbon dioxide per kilowatt-hour (on a life cycle basis), whereas coal is at 1000 grams, and natural gas, one of the cleanest fossils fuels, “less than half” of that…” (Green City Times, n.d.)
Carbon emissions are not the only concern. As discussed in the “Circular Economy” part of this Report below, recycling is a major factor in going beyond a linear economy. It should be considered, before manufacturing a product, what will happen to them at the end of their life and where will they end up? That applies to renewable energy products, as well.
Solar panels are good for 25 to 30 years. It is unclear what happens to them next. Within solar panels are limited natural resources of copper, aluminum, silicon, and silver. These resources are highly taxing on the environment when extracted from the earth. If improperly disposed of, solar panels will lead to increased pollution levels which are known to be harmful to people and ecosystems. It is estimated that only 10 percent of current solar panels will be recycled (Hoffs, 2022). This current way is not a solution to our resource conservation problems.
Wind turbines are similar. While they are green during operation, the problem arises when disposing of them. Many parts of the turbines, such as the blades, are difficult to recycle or cannot be recycled at all. Thus, before we push even more for renewable energy, there needs to be a plan for their use, from their creation to their recycling or reuse at the end of their operation.
Public Transportation
Public transportation is significantly lacking in America. New York City, as one prominent model, is deemed to have one of the most efficient public transportation systems in America.
In contrast to New York City’s transportation system, many locations in New Jersey’s transit system pick-up areas are not accessible without a car or they are not within walking distance of any public places. Often bus stops, trams, and railways are in a dire state of disrepair or do not have any modern amenities such as bathrooms, maps, Wi-Fi, seating, cover from the weather, or sidewalks to exit the area.
However, New York City’s also has many problems. It is underfunded, understaffed, unclean, and ill-maintained.
Adopting the European system of public transit could dramatically improve the current public transportation system. The European system provides easy accessibility and connection in contrast to our outdated transportation system.
It would allow people to get to locations more easily. It would add a wider variety of pick-up/drop-off locations within walking distance of public areas such as shopping districts and suburbs, deep city locations, and business districts. This will also increase local foot traffic, putting less stress on highways, which can lead to reduced traffic.
We still use outdated and inefficient models of buses, trams, and railways that are run down and lack sufficient safety standards compared to the newer models. Furthermore, the system’s navigation and most forms of monitoring and scheduling public transportation are outdated or confusing to use. The transportation monitor sites/apps used most and easiest are third-party systems such as TripShot, Moovit, Transit, Citymapper, or Google Maps. These integrate real-time arrival statistics and updated scheduling on stops and pick-up locations, including the uses of tolls, travel stubs, and metro cards. The purchase of these items is now digital or prepaid, allowing for easier use and availability to the population.
Regarding biking, less experienced or non-super fit bicyclists can have a difficult time getting from point A to point B, especially when going uphill. The city of Trondheim, Norway opened up its first bicycle lift called the Trampe which provides easy movement uphill (Lingelbach-Pierce, 2023). The storage of bicycles has always been an issue in populated cities, including bike theft. However, Tokyo has installed underground bicycle parking systems, called Eco Cycle, This uses multi-level underground parking areas with automated technology to store and retrieve bikes, so it is space-saving for urban environments (Springer & Han, 2016). This would be very beneficial to heavily populated cities like Newark or Atlantic City.
Food Waste
Food waste is a significant problem in America. We throw away food that either looks odd, is misshapen, or bruised or any food that does not meet cosmetic standards for produce. They are tossed and considered trash as if we have so much food that we can just throw it away to make room for more aesthetic-looking versions. We dispose of food that could be used to feed the hungry. We throw away up to 10 million pounds of cosmetically-flawed produce, globally (Berkeley Economic Review, 2021). About 30-40 percent of the U.S. food supply is wasted (USDA, 2022).
USEPA estimated that each year, U.S. food loss and waste embody 170 million metric tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent of greenhouse gas emissions, not including landfill emissions (USDA, 2022). And then there are the costs of the use of land, water, labor, energy and other inputs used in producing, processing, transporting, preparing, storing, and disposing of discarded food. This annually costs an estimated $218 billion for the U.S. and $940 billion for the world (USEPA, 2025).
There are ways to reduce this cost. The public can start at home by finding and using their local farmers market where the goods are locally sourced, and transportation and spoilage are less than for big chain grocery markets. There are foods that are in season, which do not need to be transported from other regions. People can learn to be culturally creative with their palettes, dishes, and ingredients. They can practice zero waste in their kitchens. There is composting and gardening. People can learn to set up their garden/composter in their backyard or windows, where they can also grow their food.
There are things that can be done at the government level. Government can encourage local farms to sell, and consumers to buy, local goods. Farmers and retailers can display and sell cosmically flawed food instead of sending it to the landfill. Leftovers can be reused, but when that is not possible they can be composted at the residence. Or, if that is not possible, they can be sent to an industrial composting site where they can be processed and used as a substitute for chemical fertilizers by farmers and others. This is substantially less costly and toxic.
There are precedents. There are a handful of sellers of cosmetically flawed products, such as Misfit Market, Imperfect Foods, Too Good to Go, Hungry Harvest, and Full Harvest. These businesses gather flawed or even overstocked food and sell it to people.
There are a large number of ways to help combat food waste, including more education and offering food waste disposal bins at restaurants with the “waste” going to industrial composting sites.
Agriculture, Farming Techniques, and Our Food
It is understood amongst scientists that plant-based diets and plant-majority diets are far better for the environment than our typical omnivorous or meat-centric diets. Gibbs & Cappuccio (2022) state: “Transitioning to plant-based diets has the potential to reduce…diet-related greenhouse gas emissions by 49%, eutrophication by 49%…whilst garnering substantial health co-benefits” (p. 1). This is not to say that people need to completely cut meat from their diets. But the act of cutting meat even marginally from diets is proven to have an impact and was the rationale behind the “Meatless Monday” tradition. Meatless Mondays would reduce participants’ carbon footprint by an average of 8 pounds each time (Conzachi, 2021).
For this switch to become a widespread reality, a retooling of our food production is necessary. Too many pesticides and fertilizers are used to grow our food. The system of industrialized farming lends itself to a whole host of other issues. This mechanical method of farming may be necessary because it is the most efficient way to grow a lot of food for our growing population. But monocropping is dangerous in that it reduces ecosystem resilience and promotes dependency on these synthetics, damaging surrounding ecosystems and disrupting the delicate balance of systems that depend on them.
Initiatives to fix this system could include subsidies for regenerative farming, or farms that rely on techniques like integrated pest management, crop rotation, and polycropping. These would receive incentives as a reward for participation in more self-sustaining methods of farming.
Enforcing Climate Accountability: Adapting Superfund
The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) was passed in 1980 and established a fund to clean up hazardous Superfund sites (Superfund: CERCLA overview, 2024). The Superfund was financed by taxes on chemicals and petroleum. While it was not designed to address climate change, it could be adapted to assign accountability to major emitters of carbon dioxide.
New Jersey had its own version of Superfund to ensure the cleanup of various hazardous waste sites across the state, which was the first program of its kind in the country. It was “… based on the principle that “the polluter pays” (Day & Johnson, 2004).
Analogously, it works as a precedent if extended specifically for climate change. A bill in the Legislature, the New Jersey Climate Superfund, would apply this principle by putting fees on, and assign accountability to, major emitters of carbon dioxide.
Passing the New Jersey Climate Superfund bill is necessary to equip the state with funding for mitigating climate change in a cost-effective way. It would shift the responsibility to businesses for financial compensation of damage caused by carbon dioxide.
Joint responsibility between companies contributing to one area of damage ensures that the costs are paid, even if only one company shoulders these costs (Rutgers Climate Change Center, 2025). This will allow New Jersey to protect its residents from unfair financial burdens while setting a standard for how the rest of the country could address climate change.
No matter how thoughtful other climate change policies are, lack of funding can prevent their positive impacts. A Climate Superfund would help generate the money. Passing this Act would be a historic win for increasing climate change mitigation, adaptation, and resilience, and should therefore be prioritized.
Carbon Tax
External costs of carbon emissions are not typically paid for by those emitting them. Since our goals to reduce them are necessarily ambitious, and compliance with environmental and sustainable policies can be difficult to enforce, a carbon tax is likely to eventually be necessary. The carbon tax, by itself, does not put limits on emissions of fossil fuels. “One of the key advantages of a carbon tax is its simplicity (Fernandez, 2021, p. 1) and “relatively low“ administrative costs (Pomerteau, 2021, p. 1). It would tax goods that take a significant amount of greenhouse gases to be produced (Dessler, 2022). This is a way to get producers of carbon-emitting products and consumers to pay the externalized costs for which they are responsible. The tax creates an economic incentive for companies to either stop unsustainable behavior, or internalize the cost of pollution by paying a fee. The fee corresponds (in part) with the amount of emissions created (Dessler, 2022). Along with less consumer support of companies that pollute, unsustainable actions would become less practical due to the expenses.
Successful Carbon Tax Example: Sweden
Sweden has had a carbon tax since 1991 that is considered successful. Akerfeldt & Hammar (n.d.) state:
- It is based on the carbon content of fossil fuels, including gasoline
- It exempts biofuels that are certified as sustainable, which has allowed them to grow as an energy source
- It has increased over time, based on “applying the Polluter Pays Principle,” and giving “firms time to adapt”
- “The price signal created by the tax allows for numerous ways to avoid” it
- There is “political consensus” for it because of support by the Swedish population for environmental protection, who make the connection between it and its carbon reduction goal. Other taxes were reduced at the same time, which helped “address distributional consequences”
- The tax is “the primary instrument to achieve GHG reductions”
- While revenues are not necessarily used directly as ways to reduce carbon emissions elsewhere, they can be
- Between 1990-2103, “GDP increased by 61%, while at the same time CO2 equivalent emissions were reduced by 23%”
- Sweden is not the only European country with a carbon tax (pps. 2-4)
This demonstrates how carbon tax policies can be executed in a way that achieves sustainability for the environment by reducing carbon dioxide emissions, while allowing for the economy to grow. The measures taken ensure those with lower socioeconomic status do not have to pay for climate change issues to which they do not contribute much.
It is also possible that businesses that reduce their emissions more than they have to will improve their reputation for environmental sensitivity.
However, all carbon-emitting companies should compete under a level playing field. Even if companies only reduce their emissions by a certain amount, having all company products adhere to this tax will have a collective impact on lessening carbon emissions, buying some time for society to adapt to the effects of past emissions. The carbon tax should be raised over the years until global temperature targets are reached.
Circular Practices: Transitioning From a “Linear Make-Take-Waste” Economy to a Circular One
Applying a circular economy model to support decarbonization in the transportation, energy, buildings, and industrial sectors has great potential to increase environmental actions and improve sustainability in New Jersey. There are various ways to close the loop of a supply chain, but all involve going beyond the currently dominant “Once-Through” linear model. This changes the mindset of what “waste” is, and includes aiming for continual re-use of waste, preferably back to their original purpose; recycling at much higher rates; decarbonization, or reducing carbon emissions of a process; or sequestering it. All of these increase the overall efficiency of the process through incentivizing, promoting, and regulating circular processes. This newer mindset could be a foundational goal of new businesses, as well as worked into existing ones.
Other parts of this Report are relevant here, too, as they can be seen as part of the circular economy in a larger sense. Renewable energy can be part of a circular economy, if, as explained elsewhere in this Report, panels and windmills are reused at the end of their lives. So could fossil fuel emissions if looped back into the production system so that emissions are sequestered, or not released into the atmosphere to further exacerbate climate change. It is the same for hazardous waste sites re-purposed for productive purposes after they are cleaned up. Economic activity is pursued, but with this frame, pollution is minimized.
This forward thinking would prioritize long-term sustainability, efficient resource use, environmental justice, economic growth, resiliency, and promote the health and well-being of residents. Potential new problems could be anticipated and ameliorated before they occur.
Climate Change and Public Health: Why It Matters for New Jersey’s Next Governor
New Jersey is facing a growing problem that is not getting enough attention. Climate change is not just about rising sea levels or stronger storms. It is also a serious public health threat. More people across the state are getting sick from extreme heat, poor air quality, and diseases spread by insects like ticks and mosquitoes. These issues can affect everyone, but they hit hardest in communities already struggling with poverty, pollution, and limited access to healthcare.
New Jersey is warming faster than the rest of the Northeast and much of the world (NJDEP, 2020). As temperatures rise, the risks to public health increase.
NJDEP and the New Jersey Department of Health state several health implications of climate change: “Heat waves and worsening air quality will likely increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, respiratory illness, and cancers.” Another risk are mental health consequences from flooding-caused evacuations of homes. ”Children, the elderly, and people with chronic health problems are most vulnerable…”
Hospitalizations in New Jersey from heat waves “increased approximately 156% from 2004 to 2013” (NJDEP, 2022 as cited in NJSpotlight, 2022, p.1).
Warmer temperatures also worsen air pollution, especially ground-level ozone, which increases the risk of breathing problems such as asthma. One city that faces this problem is Newark, where about one in four children has asthma, much higher than the national average of one in eleven (Rutgers School of Public Health, 2024).
In New Jersey, asthma-related deaths in children are highest among Black and Hispanic communities. The state’s health data shows that the combined mortality rate for children of color is 4.9 per 100,000 people, while for white children it is less than 1 per 100,000 (Rutgers School of Public Health, 2024). Climate change is making it harder for them to grow up healthy. This is one example of how climate change makes health inequalities worse. Asthma attacks are expected to increase as climate change continues to fuel conditions that trigger symptoms.
First, the state should improve how it monitors climate-related health problems. With better real-time tracking of heatwaves, air pollution, and disease outbreaks, doctors and public health officials can respond faster. Early warning systems could help people take action, such as avoiding outdoor activity or visiting cooling centers during extreme heat.
Second, local communities need more tools and funding to protect people. This includes setting up more cooling centers, improving air quality in polluted areas, and strengthening access to healthcare. Public health education should also be expanded to help people understand how to protect themselves from heat, air pollution, and vector-borne diseases.
Third, every major state project, from roads to housing, should consider how it might affect public health in a warming climate. Projects that increase pollution or reduce green space should be carefully reviewed. At the same time, more investment should go into green infrastructure like tree planting, parks, and shaded public spaces, especially in urban heat islands.
New Jersey should also name a statewide climate and health task force made up of experts in medicine, environment, planning, and transportation. This group could work together to create smart, long-term strategies for protecting people. They could also lead public education efforts and make sure that data and funding go where they are most needed. Most importantly, the next Governor should prioritize the most vulnerable communities. That means investing in clinics and hospitals in underserved areas, making it easier for people to get to medical appointments, and targeting pollution reduction efforts in the most affected neighborhoods.
Protecting public health is one of the most important jobs a Governor has. Climate change makes that job more difficult, but it also gives us a clear reason to act. With strong leadership, New Jersey can prepare for these challenges and build a future that is healthier, safer, and fairer for everyone.
Nuclear Power
Nuclear power is obviously controversial. Arguably, it is the most misunderstood and overlooked form of energy. Many people are misinformed and fear nuclear plants due to some major disasters that have occurred across the world. But with modern technology, nuclear energy can be extremely safe and an efficient way to generate energy. Nuclear power generates significantly less CO2 emissions throughout its life than nonrenewable resources like coal or oil. And compared to wind and solar, it does not need to rely on the weather.
The first common misconception with nuclear energy is safety. Due to past events. such as the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as well as meltdowns like Fukushima and Chernobyl, people have become skeptical about its potential safeness. But despite a few meltdowns, nuclear energy is very safe compared to other forms of energy. For comparison, Kharecha & Hansen (2013) found that “despite three major nuclear accidents… [it] prevented…an average of 76,000 deaths per year…between 2000-2009… (p. 1) compared to if fossil fuel had been used.
Modern plant designs have led to a reduction of waste as well as higher efficiency. Stable salt reactors and fast reactors can use recycled nuclear fuel to power the plants. This reduces the concern for the disposal of this waste after its use. While there is no perfect answer, and issues like even less generation of nuclear waste do not go away, a combination of renewable energy alongside nuclear energy can help reduce the use of fossil fuels.
Hypocrisy
One big problem in regard to the environment and politics is hypocrisy. According to Google’s dictionary, hypocrisy is the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one’s own behavior does not conform. Whether Republican or Democrat, liberal or conservative, environmentalist or climate-denier, every side has hypocrites. This negatively impacts people, including those who truly believe in the sustainability concepts, doing their best to live by their values, but do not know whether to trust the messages they are getting.
Too often we see celebrities or politicians tell people to live greener, give up certain luxuries to reduce climate change, or push for stronger environmental regulations that directly affect Americans’ daily lives, and then just fly away in a private jet. It is not a good look. A private jet has a much more significant carbon footprint than even the biggest and dirtiest truck.
Politicians must truly act in a manner that they speak and as they portray themselves. We are not saying never travel by air, but do so with reflection. At a minimum, they should be transparent as to the reasons for flying, while minimizing its impact through such means as credible offsets. They should assume they will be held accountable by people who will be paying attention.
Potential Benefits of AI
It has been suggested that Artificial Intelligence (AI) can help optimize power usage and management across the grid. AI can be used to plan out the power usage of homes and businesses to help reduce the peak energy consumption throughout the day or year far more easily than manual or automated analytical techniques.
A graph, often referred to as a “duck curve”, showing electricity demand throughout a day can be used to model energy usage trends (Azemena et al, 2022). The curve, which will often resemble a duck, shows the challenges of balancing energy supply and demand. The curve is especially noticeable in areas with large amounts of solar generation like New Jersey. It is characterized by a midday dip in demand, at peak solar output. This is then followed by a steep increase in demand, as the sun sets. AI can be used to monitor the peak energy consumption for a given grid and encourage energy usage during off-hours. AI could also be used to reallocate system resources such as when and where battery storage could be useful, to only charge when there is a dip in energy consumption (Mendelsohn, 2024). This will reduce the need and better utilize the power that can be generated.
As society continues to shift to electrical power generation, it is going to be important to effectively manage the energy we create. In the March Rutgers Climate Conference, Dr. Jessie Jenkins stated that if everyone living on a street block owned an electric vehicle, and set them to charge at the same time, it would drive peak energy consumption through the roof. AI may be used to provide an optimal time to charge outside of peak consumption.
The major issues standing in the way is that AI is not free. It consumes an immense amount of energy, so it needs to be used efficiently. Companies will need to find green ways to generate large amounts of energy to keep it running.
The Myth of “Green AI”
Some advocates argue that AI can be part of the solution to climate change. Indeed, AI can help optimize renewable energy systems, reduce waste, monitor deforestation, and improve disaster response. However, these “green AI” applications currently represent only a fraction of overall AI use. The dominant trend in AI development is toward larger, more powerful models that consume more resources, not fewer (Schwartz et al., 2020). Without a systemic shift in how AI is built and used, this environmental benefit risks being outweighed by the broader harms.
The Negatives of AI
Many people think AI will be the next big thing. However, there are risks.
This is on top of the existing critique that our society has become less innovative, as profit is focused on more than anything else. Many companies would rather rely on a computer to do something for them instead of a person, with risks to employment. Students use it to write their essays, companies use it to interview new candidates, and even companies like Duolingo use AI to replace a large team of translators.
An Experiment (For Us and The Reader)
Our class wanted to look at the environmental costs of AI, as well as understand why so many companies and students are using it. But as an experiment, and ironically (and transparently), instead of doing all of the research ourselves, a prompt was given to an AI tool, CHAT GPT: “Why is AI bad for the environment?” to see what it writes for us. We then show three students’ reactions to help inform our assessments of its value.
The following is AI generated. It includes the Headings and References in this section.
“The Environmental Costs of Artificial Intelligence
“Artificial Intelligence (AI) is often celebrated as a revolutionary force in modern technology, powering everything from self-driving cars to personalized digital assistants. It promises efficiency, precision, and convenience. However, behind the sleek interface and futuristic capabilities lies a growing environmental cost that is often ignored in discussions about AI’s future. The rapid expansion of AI technologies, especially large-scale machine learning models, poses significant threats to the environment through high energy consumption, carbon emissions, resource depletion, and electronic waste.
Energy Consumption and Carbon Emissions
One of the most critical environmental concerns with AI is the massive amount of energy required to train and operate advanced models. Training large AI models—such as OpenAI’s GPT, Google’s BERT, or Meta’s LLaMA—requires enormous computational power. This training often takes place in large data centers filled with high-performance computing hardware like GPUs (graphics processing units) and TPUs (tensor processing units). These facilities can consume as much electricity as small cities (Strubell et al., 2019).
A 2019 study by researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst found that training a single large natural language processing (NLP) model can emit over 626,000 pounds of carbon dioxide—equivalent to the lifetime emissions of five average American cars (Strubell et al., 2019). And that’s just for training. Once models are deployed, the energy cost continues as they are used by millions of people daily across search engines, chatbots, recommendation systems, and more.
Hardware Manufacturing and Electronic Waste
Beyond electricity use, the environmental impact of AI is also tied to the manufacturing and disposal of specialized hardware. Developing and running AI models requires vast numbers of chips and servers. Producing these components involves mining rare earth elements like lithium, cobalt, and neodymium. These mining processes are environmentally destructive—they degrade ecosystems, pollute water sources, and release toxic chemicals into the soil and atmosphere (Bai et al., 2020).
Moreover, the short life cycle of AI hardware contributes to growing electronic waste. As new and more powerful chips are released, older equipment becomes obsolete faster, leading to increased demand for raw materials and more discarded electronics. Most electronic waste is not recycled properly and ends up in landfills, where toxic substances can leach into the environment (Forti et al., 2020).
Indirect Environmental Effects
AI’s environmental impact goes beyond its direct use of energy and materials. It can also enable and accelerate activities that are harmful to the environment. For example, AI is used in fossil fuel industries to optimize the detection and extraction of oil and gas, extending the life of an already damaging sector (Crawford, 2021). While AI could be used to advance renewable energy efforts, current investments often support traditional, polluting industries because of economic incentives.
In the agricultural sector, AI-driven systems may increase the efficiency of industrial farming, but they can also contribute to unsustainable land use, pesticide overuse, and loss of biodiversity. Similarly, AI-fueled online advertising encourages consumerism by targeting users with hyper-personalized content, driving demand for more goods and increasing carbon footprints through manufacturing and global shipping (Vinuesa et al., 2020).
Bai, X., Xue, Y., & Sarkis, J. (2020). Rare earth elements and the balance problem: How recycling can contribute to sustainability. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 24(3), 589–599. https://doi.org/10.1111/jiec.12902
Crawford, K. (2021). Atlas of AI: Power, politics, and the planetary costs of artificial intelligence. Yale University Press.
Forti, V., Baldé, C. P., Kuehr, R., & Bel, G. (2020). The Global E-waste Monitor 2020: Quantities, flows and the circular economy potential. United Nations University (UNU), International Telecommunication Union (ITU), and International Solid Waste Association (ISWA). https://ewastemonitor.info
Schwartz, R., Dodge, J., Smith, N. A., & Etzioni, O. (2020). Green AI. Communications of the ACM, 63(12), 54–63. https://doi.org/10.1145/3381831
Strubell, E., Ganesh, A., & McCallum, A. (2019). Energy and policy considerations for deep learning in NLP. Proceedings of the 57th Annual Meeting of the Association for Computational Linguistics, 3645–3650. https://doi.org/10.18653/v1/P19-1355
Vinuesa, R., Azizpour, H., Leite, I., Balaam, M., Dignum, V., Domisch, S., … & Nerini, F. F. (2020). The role of artificial intelligence in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Nature Communications, 11, 233. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-14108-y”
End of AI section.
What We Have Learned from the AI Experiment?
Here are three of the students’ reactions:
“It was written in a position of fear, so it portrays AI in an overly negative way. In my mind it is a new tool to be utilized by humans that comes with risks. I wish we talked more about how to use it safely instead of saying ‘look at what it created, now let’s not use it and be afraid’. I believe AI has risks that should be mitigated and New Jersey could be the spearhead for learning how to use the new tool. Personally I would remove the ‘Myths about Green AI’ section because we still don’t know and major companies are looking for green energy sources to power AI.”
“Among other things, AI has improved in its ability to pull valid research articles. It mostly formatted the References correctly, it appears, except for the indentation of the first line of each as required by APA.”
“Distinguishing between AI and a person writing is a line that is continuously blurring. Understanding that this writing is AI is some that I would not come to the conclusion to on my own without obvious blaring evidence.”
So it is a very small sample, based on a limited experiment, but these students seem to think the problems feared about AI are overstated.
Toward a Sustainable AI Future
While AI holds enormous potential to transform society, it comes with significant environmental costs that cannot be ignored. From energy-hungry data centers to the extraction of finite resources, the environmental impacts of AI are a growing concern. As technology continues to evolve and expand, urgent action is needed to ensure that it becomes a force for sustainability rather than a contributor to environmental decline.
To reduce AI’s environmental toll, both industry and policymakers must take action. Companies should invest in energy-efficient algorithms and prioritize research into models that require less data and computing power. Cloud providers and AI firms should transition to renewable energy sources and commit to transparent reporting of their environmental footprints. Governments can play a role by enforcing regulations on e-waste, supporting sustainable mining practices, and funding green technology research.
Educational institutions also have a part to play by training future AI professionals in sustainability and ethical design. Only by integrating environmental considerations into the core of AI development can there still be hope of harnessing its benefits without sacrificing the health of our planet.
Clothing waste
Our society constantly cycles through fashion trends faster than ever before. Social media helps drive up the overconsumption of trends that will die within a few months. “Eighty-five percent of all textiles go to the dump each year”, worldwide. The fashion sector emits 2-8% of carbon emissions, worldwide (Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2017 as cited in Geneva Environment Network, 2025, p. 1).
Many companies in the fashion sector contribute to this, as it can be more expensive to do the right thing and recycle their products. But this has to change.
Our class has explored concepts that could be considered, a number of which are consistent with the earlier section on the “Circular Economy”. They are encouraging: (a) the growing clothing reuse sector; (b) businesses that creatively upcycle; (c) possibly latent interest in sewing and repair; and (d) buying more durable clothes that could outlast fashion cycles. In addition, (e) the “Keeping Up With The Jones” mentality could be discouraged.
Conclusions
Despite its notable accomplishments in addressing climate change, a State University that has become a leader on the issue, and much more attention to the issue than ever before, New Jersey is still in a bind.
It already has necessary if ambitious goals. But what it is has been and is currently planning to do, will not be enough. And that was before the federal government retracted its support, and even became a new obstacle to its plans.
New Jersey will have to be innovative, as included in the title of the Rutgers conference, but even more so. It will have to look at a number of things differently, including (a) bringing a holistic, all-of-government approach to the problem; (b) establishing a vision for a sweeping full green economy, and how other strategies could be informed by, and aim towards, that; (c) having a curiosity and openness to ideas, some of which are not new and/or are being practiced elsewhere; (d) having possible strategies for the longer term in its “back pocket,” or things that would be impossible today, but may be necessary at some point.
Thinking big, even for smaller and easier changes, is not a common way for government to operate.
We want a note a limitation to this work. It is not the fully story, by any means. These are just the topics a dozen people thought were most important to bring to our future Governor’s and other readers’ attention.
Recommendations
Public health deserves special attention. Among the steps we have suggested are: the State should improve how it monitors climate-related health problems; set up more cooling centers, especially in those areas that will need them the most; and set up a statewide climate and health task force of experts to study and advise on necessary further actions.
Consistent with sustainability, which in some key ways has been missing as a framework and source of ideas, look at the economy and environment in increasingly interconnected ways. This includes promoting more sustainable business, and utilizing some of the concepts within it, including the circular economy, and all the areas that go with that. Even use these as a vision as the direction for much of the economy.
This also means viewing ecosystems as the underpinning of the economy, such as recognizing and supporting the services it provides, including supporting the shore economy.
We also recommend: (a) take a holistic perspective to how State Government views and addresses problems, which should help in building trust; (b) help the EV sector continue to grow, particularly with the pending loss of federal incentives; (c) do more to promote sustainable agriculture; (d) watch for hypocrisy in politics, with government setting a better example, and the public holding it accountable; (e) aim to make AI a net positive, including substantially reducing its anticipated use of fossil fuels, so that its effects actually help with climate change; (f and g) choose strategies to reduce both food waste and the fashion sector’s carbon emissions; and (h) pass the Climate Superfund bill.
In the medium term, complement more renewable energy with more and safer types of nuclear power, but without the historical arrogance of promising more than can be delivered.
Focus much more on public transportation, including how to facilitate biking, and by studying and replicating innovations practiced in other countries.
In the longer run, if needed, consider a carbon tax. At that point, catch up on what has been learned about the best way to design and implement one.
Appendices (In a separate document)
I. Assessing the Recent Rutgers “Sustainable Innovations” Forum
II, Assessing Eight Other Sustainability Forums
III. A Reprint of “Where NJDEP and Stakeholders Could Take Their Climate Change Efforts”
IV. Historical Climate Change & Related Sustainability Resources
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