(29th LEGISLATIVE DISTRICT) — Assembly Environment Chairwoman L. Grace Spencer (D-Essex) released the following statement Wednesday on the lack of environmental details in Gov. Chris Christie’s budget address:
“Gov. Christie’s budget speech featured absolutely nothing about the environmental protections so many New Jerseyans support and need.
“We heard nothing about fracking, alternative energy, climate change or – most notable in a budget address – finding ways to continue open space and farmland preservation efforts.
“Republican hostility toward a clean environment and renewable energy should not be extending into New Jersey. For decades, environmental protection in New Jersey was a bipartisan effort, but now the governor fails to even mention these concerns in his budget address.
“This is a critical time. We need to rebuild the shore. Climate change is an ever-growing worry. Our open space preservation fund is dwindling. And we need to make sure New Jersey is positioned as a leader in alternative energy for generations to come.
“Yet Gov. Christie apparently has no plans for to take on these concerns, and that should give pause to everyone who cares about a clean environment and preservation.”