Contact Jeff Tittel, 609-558-9100

Murphy’s Win is a Win for the Environment

The Sierra Club is would like to congratulate Phil Murphy for his nomination as the Democratic Candidate in New Jersey’ 2018 Gubernatorial election. Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club, Jeff Tittel, released the following statement:

“Tonight’s win for Phil Murphy is a big win for the environment. The Sierra Club is proud of our endorsement of Phil Murphy and the work we did to support his campaign. We have proudly supported Phil Murphy because we felt he is the best candidate to deliver on protecting the environment and fighting climate change. The voters have agreed tonight. We believe that Murphy will bring a new vigor and energy to the Statehouse while enacting important environmental initiatives. We are confident that Murphy will fight to protect our environment and protect us from the rollbacks of the Trump Administration. However, we believe that Phil Murphy will be an environmental champion as Governor of New Jersey.

“We’re standing with Phil Murphy as he wins the Democratic nomination because he’s standing with us and the environment. Murphy will help transition us to a green economy by promoting renewable energy over fossil fuels. Under Governor Christie we lost close to half our solar jobs and have not followed through on our potential for wind turbine technology. Murphy supports making New Jersey a leader in wind and solar power once again. He supports a goal of 100% renewable energy by 2050. He will help accomplish this by putting us back into RGGI and committing to 3500 megawatts of offshore wind. Phil Murphy’s goals for renewable energy and green jobs with help New Jersey’s environment and economy as well.

“As Governor, Phil Murphy would be the opposite of Chris Christie. He cares about the environment and the people of New Jersey. He will help fight back against environmental rollbacks by the Trump Administration. He will oppose offshore drilling, unnecessary pipelines, and fossil fuel expansion. Not only will Murphy stop Christie’s rollbacks on air and water protections, but he will move forward with stronger environmental protections. He will also work to constitutionally dedicate environmental settlement funds and promote jobs in clean energy fields such as wind and solar. He has also come out against some of the pipelines proposals threatening New Jersey such as PennEast and Pilgrim. Most of the Democratic candidates are decent on the environment, but Phil stands above them.

“The Ambassador has been outspoken critic of Governor Christie’s failure to protect New Jersey’s drinking water. He has stated his plans to update aging water infrastructure and stopping the diversion of lead remediation funds. He is opposed to any fracking or dumping of fracking waste in New Jersey as well. Governor Christie has stacked many important Councils and Commission with people who represent the gas and oil industries. Murphy will protect the Highlands and Pinelands by appointing the right people to roles meant to protecting the environment.

“With tonight’s win, a change is coming to the statehouse. We’re going to redouble our efforts to get Phil Murphy elected Governor of New Jersey because he recognizes that the land and water belong to all of us. Phil Murphy will work to protect New Jersey from future storm events by promoting reducing greenhouse gasses and switching our state to a green economy. We look forward to working with Phil Murphy if he is elected as the next Governor of New Jersey and will continue to support him during this process. Tonight is the first win in our battle to take back the Statehouse for the environment and the people of New Jersey.”