Gov. Chris Christie, surrounded by Democratic legislators, signed a bill designed to stabilize the solar energy market in New Jersey. Lucrative incentives have led to a glut of solar installations in the state and a price drop in solar energy credits that threatens to halt the industry in its tracks, something neither party wants to see.
“We’re the second largest solar energy producing state in the country, only behind California. So we’ve been a leader in this. We’re going to continue to be a leader in it,” Christie said. “It’s good for our environment and it’s good for business here.”
Assemblyman Upendra Chivikula agreed. “There are lots of jobs that are being created because of the solar industry. And having a stable price will make it easier for people to obtain the financing,” he said. “When they have the financing, they’ll be able to build the projects, thereby creating the jobs.”
In a Q and A with reporters, Christie was asked about the unemployment rate in New Jersey rising to 9.6 percent, well above the national average. He said jobs are being created here at a healthy clip.
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“What we’re seeing here … is New Jerseyans are so optimistic that things are getting better that more and more of them are reentering the workforce. When more and more people reenter the workforce you have to create jobs at an even faster rate to get the rate to go down not up,” he said. “Our labor force participation rate is a good 2 and a half points higher than the national labor force participation.”
He said despite widespread reporting, he has not been asked to be keynote speaker at the Republican convention. “I’ve had other governors call me and congratulate me. ‘Guys, I didn’t get asked,'” Christie said. “If Gov. Romney asks me, you can be sure I’ll say yes, and then we’ll have some fun the last week of August down in Tampa. But you can be sure I’ll have fun either way.”
As for the mass killing at a Colorado movie theater, he veered away from questions about gun control. “I feel awfully for those families. There’s two with New Jersey roots, one who
was injured, one who was killed. This is not an appropriate time to be grandstanding about gun laws,” Christie said. “Can we at least get through the initial grief and tragedy for these families before we start making them political pawns?”
Christie said he agrees with President Obama — that there are enough gun laws on the books and they need to be enforced.
Michael Aron reports from the Statehouse in Trenton.