By Christie Duffy
Correspondent
Organizers say nearly 400,000 people marched from around the world. It’s estimated that about 10,000 were from New Jersey.
This weekend’s climate march has drawn people from as far away as Germany and California and close to home, like from the Jersey Shore.
“I’m concerned about the rising sea tides,” said New Patz, N.Y. resident Paul Samodulski.
“This is the next bubble that will burst,” said Artur Van Balan from Berlin, Germany.
“I have six grandchildren and I don’t want them to grow up on a planet that’s burning up,” said Lynn Jacobson from Yosemite, Calif.
The marching continued Monday with a walk to Wall Street. Those involved say the movement has gone beyond scientists and environmentalists to include grandmothers, children, teachers and even coal miners. Jersey marchers emphasize their belief that climate risks have become reality.
“I mean we had Sandy in this state. How could you ignore environmentalism after all the devastation people saw with Sandy? I mean that was a time where we in New Jersey saw with our own eyes what’s been happening and these things have been happening around the world,” said Philip Perry of Bloomfield.
“Whether Atlantic City and Long Beach Island and Jersey City exist in the same way they do 50 years from now really is dependent upon the level of action we take in these next few months and years,” said Environment New Jersey Director Doug O’Malley.
Marchers want to see action from leaders at the United Nations’ Climate Summit tomorrow in New York.
“Action on climate change is not just a secondary or tertiary issue. This needs to be a primary issue for our decision makers,” O’Malley said.
But environmentalists say regulations to combat climate change have taken a back seat in New Jersey. Gov. Chris Christie pulled the state out of a cooperative agreement with nine other states to cap and reduce emissions from power plants. A report issued by Environment New Jersey claims the state is missing out on over $100 million in revenue generated by the program. But the governor says he’s standing firm.
“It is a tax on the people of this state, with no great impact on the environment in my opinion. So I’m not doing it,” Christie said.
“The governor’s facts quite honestly are wrong,” said O’Malley. “The program has gotten stronger. We’ve seen electricity rates in the nine RGGI states reduced by over 8 percent over the course of the life of the program.”
State Senate leaders who want to see New Jersey back in that cap and trade program passed a resolution to that affect last week. The Assembly is expected to take up the measure next.
Gov. Christie has stated that New Jersey is well on its way to making about 20 percent of the energy in this state clean energy by around 2020 — a goal set by his administration.
In the immediate term, all eyes concerned about climate change will be focused on tomorrow’s United Nations Climate Summit.