Credit: NJ Spotlight News

Jack Ciattarelli is no climate denier. The Republican candidate for governor believes climate change and global warming are real, humans are accelerating the problem and carbon emissions must be reduced.

But he says Gov. Phil Murphy’s ambitious plan to transition to 100% clean energy by mid-century is “too much, too soon and too fast.’’ Ciattarelli, a former assemblyman, said the plan is not realistic and it does not tell the people in New Jersey what they will have to spend to achieve it.

Ciattarelli also has faulted Murphy’s Board of Public Utilities for failing to produce a comprehensive analysis of what his energy plan will cost each and every household in New Jersey, particularly to phase out the use of natural gas to heat homes.

Candidate’s vision for clean energy

“As governor, I will implement a balanced, rational energy policy that includes natural gas and renewable energy to create jobs, keep energy prices down and provide safe, reliable and cleaner power sources,’’ Ciattarelli vowed on his gubernatorial website.

Ciattarelli’s plan would aim to minimize carbon emissions through incentives until emerging energy sources are found safe, reliable and cost-effective. These sources include micro nuclear, geothermal, hydropower, carbon capture and hydrogen batteries.

“Within the next two or three years, we will see an entirely different energy marketplace,’’ Ciattarelli told NJ Spotlight News, referring to those emerging technologies. He does not view natural gas as a long-term solution, but says it is needed now as the state waits for those alternative energy sources to become commercially viable.

Ciattarelli wants to see a national energy policy develop — one that puts New Jersey on an equal footing with other states. “He (Murphy) is trying to solve global warming one state at a time,’’ he said.

But Ciattarelli’s goal to slow action is at odds with recent warnings in the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which warned the world is running out of time to prevent the worst impacts of global warming.

Keeping nuclear component

Ciattarelli supports keeping New Jersey’s three nuclear power plants as a key component of his affordable energy plan, as well as solar energy. Both technologies rely on significant subsidies from New Jersey ratepayers.

“All the technologies in the energy sector are moving at a rapid rate. We should give them time to evolve,’’ he said. That theme also emerged at a conference last week held by the New Jersey Business & Industry Association, where some speakers said too little focus has been given to cost and reliability issues.

Ciattarelli is not a fan of offshore wind — a key component of Murphy’s plan to transition to 100% clean energy by 2050. Offshore wind is projected to produce 27% of New Jersey’s electricity by mid-century.

So far, the Murphy administration has approved three offshore-wind projects and is investing another $200 million in building the New Jersey Wind Port in South Jersey. Ciattarelli said the focus on offshore wind was an example of moving too fast, too much and too soon.

If elected governor Tuesday, Ciattrelli told NJ Spotlight News he would divert that $200 million to modernize the aging electric grid, calling it ill-prepared to integrate all the renewable energy and electricity the state will need to maintain reliability of the power grid.

That view contrasts with a statement on his campaign website that he would divert the $200 million “to more impactful projects’’ such as dredging and electric-vehicle charging stations. Ciattarelli wants to increase dredging in the state’s rivers and expand Blue Acres to have the state buy out homeowners living in flood-prone areas.

In his two public debates with Murphy, Ciattarelli blamed the state’s affordable-housing policies for exacerbating the ever-increasing sprawl across New Jersey. He would include developmental setbacks and Blue Acres in any policy discussion to encourage development away from river flood basins.

Ciattarelli would scrap plans to decarbonize buildings by switching from natural gas to heating homes with electric heat pumps. The issue is one of the most hotly debated goals in the Murphy Energy Master Plan. Buildings are the second biggest source of greenhouse emissions, behind only the transportation sector.

Critics say the cost of electrifying homes could be an unbearable burden for many residents.