Thanks to your support, we’ve been able to achieve a number of victories that protect our water, safeguard communities from toxic pollution, preserve open space, promote renewable energy, and prevent the construction of dangerous and ineffective energy sources, like coal plants.

Some of our recent achievements include:

Stopping Laws that Threaten Clean Water and Healthy Communities We believe the people of New Jersey should have clean water and the peace of mind that the places where our children play are free of toxic pollution. In 2009, the Legislature tried to push through two bills that would have put those rights at risk. Through our legislature efforts, we were successful in getting Governor Corzine to veto a bill that would have delayed implementation of important water quality planning rules designed to protect environmentally sensitive areas. The other bill would have limited public notification of contaminated sites to property owners.

Promoting Clean Energy and Working to Fight Climate Change Renewable energy is critical to our environmental and economic health. We’ve been successful in pushing for legislation that makes clean power more prevalent in New Jersey. Three important bills that passed in 2009 include one that permits wind and solar in industrial zones, another that defines renewable energy as an inherently beneficial use in the Municipal Land Use Law, and a third that requires developers to offer solar energy systems when building new construction.

Preserving Natural Habitats Years of work by the NJ Chapter paid off with the preservation of the 392-acre Petty’s Island, located in the heart of the Delaware River Estuary. The island, which is home to wildlife like bald eagles and herons, was official preserved on Earth Day 2009 to serve as an ecological, cultural, and historical preserve. After a 10 year battle, the Windy Acres site was purchased as Green Acres. The site, adjacent to the Round Valley Reservoir in Clinton, was being considered for a residential development but is now preserved open space. We helped stop a 400-plus condominium development proposed to be built on 180 acres of open space next to Jockey Hollow National Historic Park in Morris Township. We won a local victory in Clinton, after successful grassroots campaign that stopped the construction of an office building next to Spruce Run Reservoir. The same members in were active in the fight to prevent a 172-acre truck depot from being built in Warren County.

Protecting Barnegat Bay The Sierra Club and coalition partners were successful at getting state regulators to require cooling towers at the Oyster Creek Nuclear Power Plant. Without cooling towers, billions of gallons of hot water are being dumped into the Barnegat Bay, killing fish and poisoning the ecosystem. The installation of cooling towers at the nation’s oldest nuclear power plant is an important victory for the protection of the bay and our marine ecosystem, which fuels the fishing and tourism industries.

Organizing Against a Dangerous Coal Plant Experiment The Chapter has led the fight against PurGen, a $5 billion, 750 MW coal plant and carbon capture and sequestration project proposed in Linden. Because PurGen poses serious public safety and environmental risks, the Sierra Club formed the Arthur Kill Watershed Alliance to stop this dangerous experiment. We had our first victory in December, when the Linden City Council rejected a memorandum of understanding that would have paved the way for the project. In early 2010, a second memorandum of understanding was approved; however the Sierra Club and the Arthur Kill Watershed Alliance continue the campaign to stop PurGen as it goes through the permitting process.

Fighting for Comprehensive Climate Change Legislation Sierra Club staff have devoted significant time and energy to get a comprehensive piece of climate change legislation passed by Congress. In June, these efforts began to pay off as the House of Representatives approved the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES). New Jersey’s congressional delegation, which the Sierra Club worked closely with to generate support for the bill, was critical in the passage of ACES, which provides a sound framework for the country to reduce carbon emissions and achieve critical clean energy goals that are vital to our health, security and economy.

Stopping Proposals that Threaten Environmentally Sensitive Areas We’re always working to protect our state’s natural resources and environmentally-sensitive areas like the Highlands and the Pinelands. In 2009, we stopped a number of proposals that would have endangered our water supply and wetlands. We helped put an end to the Sparta Riverbank Energy Center, a pump storage facility at Limecrest Quarry that was being touted as renewable energy but was really a green scam. We opposed the Mount Hope biomass plant from being built on wetlands in the Highlands and helped to prevent a sewer plan amendment that would have permitted a 280-unit development in the Highlands Preservation Area.

Working Towards Local Laws that Protect the Environment The Sierra Club is proud of its work to uphold the Jackson Tree Ordinance, which requires developer to replace trees disturbed by construction or pay into a fund to do so. In May, the New Jersey Supreme Court overturned an Appellate Court decision and ruled that the Jackson Tree Ordinance is constitutional. The Sierra Club was an amicus in the case. The ruling was a great victory for trees and for the people of New Jersey, whose towns can maintain the ability to protect the environment and properly plan their communities.

2010 will bring a new set of challenges. We need your support as we take on these important priorities:

• Stopping the Susquehanna Roseland Transmission Line, a proposal that will put 200-foot towers on Appalachian Trail and undermine our efforts for clean energy by importing dirty power from Pennsylvania

• Continuing our fight to stop the construction of dirty power sources, like the PurGen coal plant proposal, and working to boost renewable energy and green jobs in New Jersey

• Protecting our communities by working to strengthen the state’s Site Remediation Program, a particularly important goal now that the program has been privatized

• Ensuring the protection of the Highlands and the Pinelands, which is critical in our fight to ensure New Jersey residents have clean, safe drinking water

• Working to preserve natural habitats and open space, as well as protect threatened and endangered species