Governor Murphy is at it again with the baseball metaphors, balking at an opportunity to call “out” the proposed Meadowlands power plant as directly damaging to his own goals toward a clean energy future in New Jersey. In this NJ Spotlight article, he ducks out of the batter’s box with this explanation:
Asked why he has a goal to get to 100 percent clean energy by 2050 but is still considering new natural gas pipelines and four new gas-powered plants, Murphy said the state is working on a new energy master plan and, in the meantime, you must take each decision on its own merits … As for the North Bergen gas plant and the expansion of the Raritan pipeline, Murphy said he has concerns. “When you’re adding up balls and strikes, the fact that the energy is going to New York and not New Jersey is a strike.” But, he said, there are processes in place that must be let play out.
A moratorium on new, unnecessary fossil fuel infrastructure (as proposed here) would be a welcome “rain delay” preventing projects like the Meadowlands power plant from moving forward with construction while we can assess if there is any real need for these projects.
