New Jersey Governor Chris Christie will be battling another controversy aside from the bridge lane closure scandal. Bloomberg said that a state appellate court recently ruled that the regional greenhouse program of New Jersey has violate state law.
According to a three judge-panel in Trenton, New Jersey need to amend or repeal the current climate-change regulations within 60 days. The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative saw Christie withdrawing from the program by the end of 2011, of which the lawmaker had said was because of RGGI's failure to motivate companies to change business practices with its low auction prices. Bloomberg said the RGGI had set a cap on carbon-dioxide emissions and created a trading program specifically targeting regional firms in the efforts to reduce carbon emissions in the state.
Because of the withdrawal, Bloomberg said that RGGI could no longer force producers to comply with the program. Moreover, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection reportedly did not make allowances for emissions that could be available for purchase or had given emission offsets for companies to avail of.
Christie's withdrawal reportedly drew a lawsuit filed by environmental groups, citing that the governor's Department of Environmental Protection failed to follow protocol based on the Administrative Procedure Act.
The judges have said in the ruling, "(We found) little doubt (that lawmakers meant for trading-program regulations to) enable New Jersey's participation in RGGI, rather than to establish a stand-alone carbon dioxide cap-and-trade program in New Jersey. (The regulations are broadly worded and) can be read to require action by the department absent participation in a regional greenhouse program. The department should have taken action to repeal the regulations or amend them to clarify that they do not create a stand-alone trading program."
In a statement, Doug O'Malley, director of Environment New Jersey called out the appellate court's ruling and said, "Neither Governor Christie nor the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection can simply repeal state laws by fiat."
