Archive for category News
The Return of Despotism?
Back in 2016, I wrote a post obliquely comparing Trump to Hitler. At the time it reminded me of Marx’s famous quote that history repeats itself, first as tragedy (Hitler) and then as comedy (Trump). I could not imagine that Americans could actually elect this buffoon as our president, and I had grave concerns about our freedoms and about our responsibilities to the biosphere. Many of these were justified.
The good news is that we actually survived those years and that on January 6, 2021, the vastly outnumbered Capitol Police turned back the deadliest full-on insurrection since, well, the Civil War. The bad news is that the feckless and immoral Trumpian effort may not be over.
The latest news is that Trump intends to pardon the insurrectionists if he is returned to office, and they may even be let go sooner if the Republicans win the House and/or the Senate in the 2022 midterms. We should be clear as to what this means. It is the sort of thing that happened after President Lincoln was assassinated, and Andrew Johnson presided over an accelerated reconciliation called Reconstruction.
New C-PACE Bill Passes in New Jersey
Posted by Jonathan Cloud in Climate Change, Editorial, Energy & Environment, News, Policy, State on Tuesday, June 29, 2021
After almost ten years of concerted advocacy, New Jersey’s C-PACE law is finally being amended to make it actually usable by municipalities and commercial property owners to limit their carbon emissions, save money, and create new jobs and opportunities in local communities. While it will still be a number of months before the NJ Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) issues rules and guidelines, the passage of the new bill (A2374/S1953) is a major milestone in NJ’s commitment to meaningful climate action.
Here’s the press release posted by New Jersey PACE and its affiliated sites yesterday:
The Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy program, already approved in 37 states and D.C., with active programs in 24 states, is headed to the Governor’s desk for signature
Trenton, N.J. — On June 24 the New Jersey Legislature approved A2374/S1953 with overwhelming, bipartisan majorities in both the Assembly and Senate. The C-PACE (Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy) bill establishes the Garden State C-PACE Program, to be developed and overseen by the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA).
The bill was sponsored by Assemblyman Raj Mukherji (D-Jersey City) and Senators Bob Smith (D-Piscataway) and Kip Bateman (R-Somerset). This represents the culmination of a ten-year effort by New Jersey PACE (NJPACE), a 501c3 nonprofit organization, to amend NJ’s unworkable 2011 PACE (Property Assessed Clean Energy) statute.
The legislation establishes a program that, through a municipal ordinance, allows commercial property owners to privately finance energy efficiency, renewables, and resiliency projects and repay them over time through a special assessment on the property tax bill, similar to a sidewalk or sewer assessment. These projects are 100% financed with private sector capital—no taxpayer or public monies are used.
Possible Planet Holiday Party & Fundraiser – Saturday, Dec 14, 2019, 2-6 pm
Posted by Jonathan Cloud in Economy, Energy & Environment, News, Sustainability on Friday, November 29, 2019
You’re invited to our
Join us for community, thoughtful discussion, and the opportunity to make a difference.
Saturday, December 14
2-6 p.m.
@ 8 Revere Drive, Basking Ridge, NJ
Bring something to share / BYOB
Bring your voices, instruments & holiday songs!
Meet people who care about restoring our communities and the climate.
Can’t Attend But Want to Support Us?
At the party, we’ll share our mission and initiatives, and you can contribute to the “mother ship,” Possible Planet, or earmark your donation to one of our initiatives:
Ecovillage New Jersey
New Jersey PACE / Regenerative Financing
Possible Planet (General Fund)
New Stormwater Fees the Perfect Opportunity for PACE
Posted by Jonathan Cloud in Energy & Environment, Finances, News, Policy, State, Stormwater, Sustainability, Sustainable Business on Monday, February 18, 2019
[Reposted from NewJerseyPACE.org]
February 14, 2019: NJ’s new stormwater utility bill (A2694/S1073) authorizes municipalities to collect fees on parking lots and other impervious surfaces to fund improvements to failing stormwater systems. But it has many commercial property owners concerned that they will now face significant new charges on their property. If the legislature and the Murphy Administration want to address these concerns in a meaningful way, PACE (Property Assessed Clean Energy) is the obvious answer.
PACE can provide 100% long-term financing for projects designed to reduce stormwater runoff by building retention systems, green roofs, and permeable paving. These improvements add to the value of the property and allow the owner to avoid some or all of the fees likely to be charged by the new utilities. When coupled with other clean energy and resiliency improvements, PACE projects are typically cashflow positive from day one. The capital is invested in the property by private lenders, but is off-balance sheet to the property owner, and the interest and other costs can often be treated as operating expenses. There is no public money involved. The municipality simply makes the Special Assessment mechanism available to the property owner, and provides a pass-through for the repayments.
Hitler or Hillary? A Stark Choice
Why we all need to stand up and be counted
The mere fact that Donald Trump has been designated the Republican nominee for President should give us all cause for concern. No one with such a clearly authoritarian personality has ever been a plausible candidate for the most powerful office in the world. The campaign that we see unfolding before us is not a reality show, but a sobering reality. It is not unreasonable that we should ask ourselves what would happen if we were to stand by and not speak out against it.
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Why We’re Asking
Posted by Jonathan Cloud in Economy, Energy & Environment, News, Sustainability on Saturday, September 6, 2014
Asking for money is one of the more challenging things that every charity has to do. The first question we need to answer, however, is “Why are we asking?” If we don’t have a clear and compelling answer, we’re handicapping ourselves from the start.
So here’s why.
- It’s to give people the opportunity to contribute to the world they believe in.
- It’s to give us the ability to keep working on creating a world that works, by providing “regenerative community solutions,” i.e., practical ways of restoring and building communities that last and become self-reinforcing and self-sustaining.
- Ultimately, it’s to empower the world of generosity, the you-and-me world, rather than the you-or-me world.
In The Soul of Money, Lynne Twist, who has raised more than $150 million in individual contributions, tells the story of her own first monetary contribution:
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Crowdfunding for PACE in New Jersey
Posted by Jonathan Cloud in Economy, Editorial, Energy & Environment, Local, News, NJ Shore, Policy, State, Sustainability, Sustainable Business on Thursday, August 7, 2014
The challenges we face in New Jersey as a result of climate change are significant, and so therefore are the opportunities. The experience of Superstorm Sandy showed us just how ill-prepared we are for the more frequent recurrence of extreme weather; and how important it is that we set an example for taking action to mitigate our own greenhouse gas emissions, as other states are doing around us. And there’s also no doubt about the urgency of it — as you can see from this remarkable video:
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Jigar Shah’s Creating Climate Wealth (2013)
Posted by Jonathan Cloud in Energy & Environment, Global, National, News, Review, Sustainability, Sustainable Business on Saturday, January 4, 2014
Jigar Shah has a disarmingly powerful message for today’s young capitalists: fixing the climate crisis is the biggest financial opportunity of our lifetimes. Indeed, Shah is on track to become a role model for a new generation of entrepreneurs who are committed to leveraging mainstream investment for social transformation.
In Creating Climate Wealth, Shah makes the case that clean energy represents a ten trillion dollar investment opportunity—if we are just willing to look at what already makes economic sense in addressing the impacts of climate change. The premise of his book, as he states it in a recent video interview, is that 50% of the climate challenge can be tackled profitably with existing technologies, if we have the right business models.
Off Fossil Fuels by 2040: Proposed Democratic Resolution for Feb 1 Meeting
Posted by Jonathan Cloud in Democrats, Energy & Environment, National, News, Policy on Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Bernards Township Democratic Committee Resolution No. 2010-01
A RESOLUTION urging Congress and the President of the United States to enact legislation to phase out the use of all fossil fuels by 2040, and urging the President of the United States to declare 2010 a year for national dialog on this program.
WHEREAS, the Bernards Township Democratic Committee is a duly organized local political committee under the laws of the State of New Jersey;
Latest News & Updates
Posted by Jonathan Cloud in Editorial, Local, News on Sunday, January 24, 2010
Jonathan Cloud (Editor & Publisher)
I’ve been working to add some sections and some content to the site and get it ready for a launch of some kind, when we decide that it’s ready for “prime time.” There are some challenges in the formatting, and I welcome your comments.
- I’ve posted Bill Allen’s upcoming discussion of “OFF by 2040” at the February 1 Bernards Democrats’ meeting to the Events page. Eventually I’ll add a Calendar to this page so it will be easier to see what’s happening.
- I’ve posted a recent correspondence between Larry Nault, Bill Allen, and myself, starting with Larry’s communication as an article and then adding our responses as comments, as an example of how things ought to appear (at least in my view).
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