N.J. Admin. Code § Executive Order No. 274 (2021)
Governor Philip D. Murphy
Executive Order No. 274 (2021)
An Order Advancing Climate Action to Secure New Jersey's Clean Energy Future
Issued: November 10, 2021.
Effective: November 10, 2021.
WHEREAS, global atmospheric warming, caused largely by the burning of fossil fuels, constitutes one of the greatest long-term threats currently facing humanity and is leading to significant changes in climate patterns here in New Jersey, across the United States, and around the world, resulting in rising sea levels, increased flooding, more frequent and severe extreme weather events, and numerous other adverse environmental impacts; and
WHEREAS, New Jersey's communities and economy are uniquely vulnerable to the devastating impacts of climate change, with potentially disastrous consequences for public health and safety, as well as for the social and economic vitality of the State; and
WHEREAS, minority and low-income communities are disproportionately affected by climate change, including by the health effects of higher temperatures and increased air pollution, and by the displacement of coastal and low-lying neighborhoods from sea level rise and flooding; and
WHEREAS, reducing the severity of adverse climate change impacts requires steep and immediate reductions in greenhouse gas emissions on an economy-wide basis; and
WHEREAS, traditional methods of energy production that rely on the burning of fossil fuels release harmful emissions of greenhouse gases, which in turn contribute to global climate change; and
WHEREAS, it is the policy of this State that, as a key part of its efforts to curtail the serious impacts of global climate change caused by greenhouse gas emissions, New Jersey must pursue a just and smooth transition away from its reliance on fossil fuels as a primary energy source and build a stronger and fairer economy that relies primarily upon clean and renewable energy sources; and
WHEREAS, on July 6, 2007, the State enacted the Global Warming Response Act ("GWRA"), N.J.S.A. 26:2C-37, and updated it in 2019, establishing a statewide goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 80 percent below 2006 levels by 2050; and
WHEREAS, in one of my earliest actions as Governor, I signed Executive Order No. 7 (2018) authorizing the State to rejoin the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a cooperative program to cap and reduce carbon dioxide emissions from power plants in the participating states, and to begin limiting carbon dioxide emissions from New Jersey's power sector, while simultaneously allowing New Jersey to make transformational investments in clean energy to further reduce greenhouse gas emissions; and
WHEREAS, Executive Order Nos. 8 (2018) and 92 (2019) emphasized the vital importance of offshore wind energy to aid in the State's just and smooth transition to a clean energy economy, setting a goal of procuring 7,500 megawatts of the State's energy from offshore wind by 2035, which will further reduce greenhouse gas emissions; and
WHEREAS, in Executive Order No. 23 (2018), in recognition of the disproportionate exposure of New Jersey's low-income communities and communities of color to unacceptably high levels of environmental pollution, I directed all Executive Branch departments and agencies to consider environmental justice in implementing their responsibilities; and
WHEREAS, pursuant to Executive Order No. 28 (2018), on January 27, 2020, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities issued an update to New Jersey's Energy Master Plan ("EMP") that provided a comprehensive, forward-thinking blueprint for a just and smooth transition from reliance on fossil fuels that contribute to climate change to 100 percent clean energy sources on or before January 1, 2050, with the EMP next scheduled to be updated in 2022; and
WHEREAS, in Executive Order No. 100 (2020), I directed the Department of Environmental Protection ("DEP") to adopt regulations to protect against climate threats, including establishing a greenhouse gas monitoring and reporting program and establishing criteria to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other climate pollutants; and
WHEREAS, on September 18, 2020, I signed a landmark environmental justice law, N.J.S.A. 13:1D-157 to -161, which recognizes the disproportionate exposure to pollution faced by New Jersey's low-income communities and communities of color and requires DEP to adopt regulations to deny or condition permits for certain facilities that would cause or contribute to adverse cumulative environmental and public health stressors in such communities; and
WHEREAS, pursuant to Executive Order No. 89 (2019), on October 12, 2021, the Interagency Council on Climate Resilience issued the first Statewide Climate Change Resilience Strategy, laying out a vision for building a stronger, fairer, more resilient New Jersey that proactively addresses the expected effects of climate change in the State; and
WHEREAS, in Executive Order No. 221 (2021), I established the Governor's Office of Climate Action and the Green Economy ("OCAGE") to coordinate policymaking across the Executive Branch with respect to climate change, and created the New Jersey Council on the Green Economy to support the transition to an equitable clean energy economy and the creation of innovative and sustainable job opportunities; and
WHEREAS, New Jersey's first Scientific Report on Climate Change, issued by DEP on June 30, 2020 pursuant to Executive Order No. 89 (2019), described impacts of climate change that are presently occurring in New Jersey as a result of increased atmospheric levels of greenhouse gases, including increasingly mild winters and related ecosystem harms, more intense rainfalls, and more severe flooding, as well as anticipated impacts including sea level rise, increased air pollution, more severe droughts, and damage to agricultural and marine resources, all of which threaten public health, safety, and the State's infrastructure and economy; and
WHEREAS, DEP's October 15, 2020 Global Warming Response Act 80x50 Report ("80x50 Report"), prepared in accordance with the GWRA, N.J.S.A. 26:2C-41, found that, without steep and permanent reductions in greenhouse gas emissions in the next several years, New Jersey will experience significant adverse effects of climate change; and
WHEREAS, the 80x50 Report further found that very substantial emissions reductions in all areas of New Jersey's economy, and particularly in the transportation, residential, commercial, and electric generation sectors, will be needed to meet the goal of an 80 percent reduction in emissions by 2050; and
WHEREAS, the August 6, 2021 Sixth Assessment Report of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which the United Nations Secretary General called "a code red for humanity" and which describes the present effects of climate change on every inhabited region of the world, emphasizes the need for deep reductions in greenhouse gas emissions in the coming decades and underscores the need for immediate action; and
WHEREAS, emissions reductions in the next decade are critical to reducing the severity of adverse impacts of climate change; and
WHEREAS, it is vital that, here in New Jersey, we take decisive action in the immediate term to ensure that we remain on track to meet our longer-term emissions reduction goals and protect our people, economy, and environment from the worsening impacts of climate change; and
WHEREAS, effective action to achieve the necessary emissions reductions requires a coordinated whole-state approach that addresses all sectors of the economy, including transportation, electric generation, and residential and commercial building energy use, in an integrated manner; and
WHEREAS a concrete, near-term target for greenhouse gas emissions reductions will help focus our efforts and ensure that we take the critical actions that are needed today;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, PHILIP D. MURPHY, Governor of the State of New Jersey, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and by the Statutes of this State, do hereby ORDER and DIRECT:
N.J. Admin. Code Executive Order No. 274 (2021)