NJ Should Exit RGGI Now
By “Firesign58”
Steve Lonegan, NJ state director for Americans for Prosperity (AFP), correctly identifies in his latest email how eco-marxist progressives are actively working Cap and Tax in individual states, where they feel resistance is less organized.
Posted: September 29th, 2010 | Author: Art Gallagher | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Cap and Trade, RGGI, Steve Lonegan | Comments Off on NJ Should Exit RGGI Now
NJ, NY and 8 other states in the Northeast now participate in ‘RGGI’ – a carbon auctioning (energy rationing) syndicate that has already increased energy costs in the participating states.
Lonegan is crusading for NJ’s withdrawal from this repressive and unnecessary program. The program has had no impact reducing greenhouse gas emissions in NJ and has created a ‘slush fund’ for the participating state governments.
In effect, this program is a backdoor energy tax on every resident and business owner in New Jersey.
The citizens of NJ, struggling under a crushing tax burden and high energy costs, understandably want to exit the RGGI program.
New Jersey was brought into RGGI by then-governor Democrat Jon Corzine. Chris Christie, current governor of NJ, wants to use proceeds from the carbon auctions for a huge offshore windfarm off the coast of Ocean City, NJ. While Christie has done some great things in his short tenure as NJ governor, his perception of the need and value of this program, and his goal for these taxpayer funds, is misguided at best for a state with high unemployment, a huge deficit, and no need for a pie-in-the-sky offshore windfarm.
The New Jersey Restaurant Association (NJRA), AFP and other groups are now petitioning Governor Christie and state legislators to repeal state “Cap and Tax” law, as well as exit from RGGI: http://bit.ly/cD7pun (American Spectator article).
Lonegan begins his ‘November is Coming’ tour this Friday at the brand-new Bayshore Tea Party campaign office, a state-of-the-art phone banking and Get Out The Vote center. New Jersey’s participation in RGGI and state energy policy are sure to be primary topics of the ‘November is Coming’ tour.
Other states are considering, or already participating, in ‘regional greenhouse gas’ initiatives like RGGI. New Jersey’s actions on “Cap & Tax” are being watched closely. New Jersey could be a model for other states either to encourage economic recovery or to allow economic stagnation and malaise to continue. Americans for Prosperity and local homegrown organizations will continue to fight the battle at the state level.