Corporatist Climate Crusaders Go After New Jersey Gas Stoves
Jim Willis on NGL Pipelines
Editor & Publisher, Marcellus Drilling News (MDN)
[Editor’s Note: Goldman Sachs alumnus and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy goes after your gas stoves and other appliances to steer more money his way with corporatist climate scam.]
When a government bureaucrat says, “We’re not coming for your gas stove,” you know what that means, right? It means just the opposite. It means they ARE coming for your gas stove. On July 26, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) voted in an “open” meeting to adopt new regulations to “decarbonize” buildings across the state. New Jersey’s tyrannical Governor, Phil Murphy, signed an executive order (edict) in February that sets a goal for zero-carbon-emission space heating and cooling systems in 400,000 homes and 20,000 commercial properties by 2030. The only way to do it is to force people to quit using gas stoves and gas furnaces. Yet the BPU said, following its vote, it is “not coming to take your gas stove.” They are liars.
Phil Murphy and buddy John Kerry: two corporatist climate crusaders (scammers).
The new NJ program to get residents to stop using gas stoves and furnaces will begin with massive government (i.e., taxpayer) subsidies because nobody can afford to switch to all-electric appliances. When that’s had a chance to succeed, and it bombs, the BPU will change to forced conversion. Just like the Crusades of the Middle Ages that tried to force Muslims to convert to Christianity, the new Climate Crusades of the 21st century will force fossil energy users to convert from the disfavored use of natural gas. You don’t have a choice, as this article from the RTO Insider indicates.
Assuring consumers that the government is not “coming to take your gas stove,” New Jersey’s Board of Public Utilities (BPU) opened a two-day conference Tuesday into the contentious issue of how to dramatically reduce the use of natural gas and promote alternatives in pursuit of cutting carbon emissions…
BPU President Joseph L. Fiordaliso began by dismissing what he sees as widely circulated misinformation that the state planned to mandate the use of electricity for heating, hot water and other appliances.
“Natural gas is not going anywhere anytime soon,” Fiordaliso said. State officials say a transition away from gas will be adopted voluntarily by consumers…
The BPU convened the conference, which ran Tuesday and Wednesday, after Gov. Phil Murphy (D) signed an executive order requiring the agency to solicit stakeholder input and draft recommendations by August 2024 on how to shrink the natural gas sector. The state is seeking by 2030 to cut greenhouse gas emissions to 50% below 2006 levels.
State policy does not mandate a shift to electrify building water and heat systems, but a series of policies introduced by the Murphy administration heavily promote the shift, including rules approved by the BPU on July 26 that would create a series of “startup” building electrification programs backed by incentives…
A separate executive order signed by Murphy calls on the state to electrify 400,000 dwelling units and 20,000 commercial spaces or public facilities by 2030.
Opponents of the plans, including business groups and fossil fuel interests, say electrification is expensive and the state’s strategy is heavy handed and doesn’t take into account alternative fuels. Meanwhile, some environmental groups say the state is electrifying too slowly.
Eric Miller, New Jersey energy policy director at the Natural Resources Defense Council, speaking on the same panel as Brabston, said the need for a solid strategy to cut emissions from natural gas use in buildings can be seen in the history of the energy generation and building sectors, which are the second- and third-largest generators of carbon emissions. While emissions from energy generation have been about halved in the past two decades, building emissions — which account for 26% of state emissions — “are about flat,” because of the lack of a policy, he said.
The solution is a Clean Heat Standard, under which the state sets a steadily increasing goal for the percentage of clean energy used by buildings, he said. Such an initiative would be flexible enough to “allow a broad range of technologies” to replace fossil fuels, he said…
Utilities also will have to carefully manage the effects on customers, [Abe] Silverman said. He cited a section of the natural gas grid that — from an “operational perspective” and for financial reasons — should be shut down even though there are gas customers in the area that don’t want to shift to electricity.
There’s one brave politician criticizing this forced conversion therapy being foisted on NJ residents. State Sen. Anthony Bucco, R-Morris, says Gov. Murphy is using the “opaque regulatory process at the BPU to limit public input” and ram through policies he could never get through the legislature. Read it and weep:
As Gov. Phil Murphy moves ahead with his green energy plans, Republicans are accusing him of rushing the process and not being honest about the potential costs to residents.
“Instead of asking the Legislature to review and consider this major proposal in an open and transparent manner, he’s rushing it through the opaque regulatory process at the BPU to limit public input,” state Sen. Anthony Bucco, R-Morris, said.
The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities has scheduled a vote on Wednesday for what they term the “Decarbonization of buildings.”
Murphy signed an executive order in February that set a goal for zero-carbon-emission space heating and cooling systems in 400,000 homes and 20,000 commercial properties by 2030.
Critics say that is Murphy’s attempt to eliminate natural gas in New Jersey and force residents and businesses to convert to all electric appliances.
When the BPU released their plan in June, Catherine Klinger, executive director of the Governor’s Office of Climate Action and the Green Economy, said part of the plan is to ask utilities to “help educate customers about the benefits of home electrification.”
Neither Murphy nor the BPU has addressed the costs of converting homes to all-electric but industry groups have claimed it could cost homeowners over $100,000 to do so.
Bucco said in a statement: “Gov. Murphy is quietly moving forward with an expensive plan to phase out natural gas and fully electrify homes and businesses that will cost hundreds of billions of dollars to implement.”
The industry trade group Affordable Energy for New Jersey estimated phasing out natural gas would cost the state and its residents $1.4 trillion.
Since Murphy has set most of his goals and benchmarks through executive order, the Legislature has not been asked or needed to approve his policies.
Bucco says that should tell taxpayers something is up.
“If you’re constantly doing things in the dark of night, it’s probably because you know what you’re doing is wrong,” Bucco said.
Did you catch that? Murphy’s forced conversion will cost his state $1.4 TRILLION! It’s completely insane.
Editor’s Note: It certainly is insane as a matter of public policy but, more importantly, it is one measure of the money (trillions) to be made pushing the corporatist climate scam. Phil Murphy is a Goldman Sachs alumnus and will probably return to that world, where the idea is to grab as much cash as possible from consumers for such schemes using government as the tool for doing so. Think of his governorship as a temporary assignment from that sector and it all makes sense—for him.
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