Budget an Environmental Disaster

For Immediate Release
Contact: Jeff Tittel, Chapter Director, 609-558-9100 March 10, 2009

Budget an Environmental Disaster

New Jersey Sierra Club statement on Gov. Jon Corzine's budget:

"This budget threatens the environment and the economy," said Jeff Tittel, Director of the NJ Sierra Club. "Not only will the cuts at the DEP mean that staffing and work hours will be the lowest in decades and worse than Whitman years, but the cuts will put the state's residents in danger."

"These cuts mean that there won't be enough people at the DEP to make sure our air is clean and our water is safe to drink. More importantly, we won't have people to write the permits to fix bridges and roads and put our economy back on track," Tittel said.

"The Gov spoke in support of the LSP bill in his speech. There's no money for open space in the budget but he'll allow toxic polluters to certify that sites are clean instead of the professionals at DEP," Tittel said. "It's worse than the fox guarding the henhouse; it's the fox also certifying that the henhouse is safe."

"He took credit for the permit extension act, one of the worst environmental bills ever," Tittel said. "This budget will not only damage the environment but will threaten our economy. It will hurt New Jersey for years to come."

Kara Seymour, Program Assistant NJ Sierra Club

145 W. Hanover Street Trenton, NJ 08618

609.656.7612

(f) 609.656.7618

<http://www.newjersey.sierraclub.org> www.newjersey.sierraclub.org

• Download full text: Sierra_Club_statement_on_budget.doc