New Jersey Lawyer for June 2022 offers readers a comprehensive look at climate change, New Jersey’s energy future and the disastrous consequences that rising temperatures pose to state residents.
“The time has never been more important to explore this issue in detail,” wrote Dawn Monsen Lamparello and Asaad K. Siddiqi, who served as special editors to the edition. Lamparello is co-chair of the NJSBA’s Renewable Energy, Clean Tech and Climate Change Committee. Siddiqi chairs the editorial board of
New Jersey Lawyer and is an NJSBA trustee.
New Jersey is currently in a “state of transition” to curb the effects of climate change, guest contributor Shawn M. LaTourette, the state Commissioner of Environmental Protection, wrote in an article titled “A State of Transition—Reducing and Responding to Climate Change in the Garden State.” The primary goal of New Jersey’s global warming response is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80% from its 2006 levels by 2050, he wrote. To support the transition, the state has put forth the Global Warming Response Act 80x50 Report in 2020, a plan that evaluates New Jersey’s greenhouse gas emissions and provides guidance, policies and regulatory and legislative recommendations to meet the state’s emission reduction goals.
“The question is no longer if or when climate change will affect us, but about the scale and pace of our collective response. How will our businesses become carbon neutral, our homes energy efficient, our cars zero-emission, and our communities more resilient to incrementally rising tides and suddenly roaring rivers?” LaTourette wrote.
The edition also features practice guidance for attorneys in any field, including tactics for handling client calls and how to eliminate waste in your legal practice. NJSBA President Jeralyn L. Lawrence also offered insights from her speech at the NJSBA’s Annual Meeting and Convention in May on “Putting Lawyers First.”
The full list of guest contributors and their works include:
Cosmas P. Diamantis, who serves on the Board of Directors for the NJSBA’s Land Use Section wrote: “How New Jersey’s New Land Use Law Makes Way for Electric Vehicles.”
Barbara J. Koonz, a geologist and partner at Greenbaum, Rowe, Smith and Davis has an article: “Negotiating Solar Renewable Energy Agreements: What You Should Know.”
Thomas Prol, former NJSBA president and an environmental lawyer with Sills Cummis & Gross P.C. authored: “Fulfilling the Promise of the Civil Rights Movement with Environmental Justice.”
Joshua V. Berliner, an environmental law attorney at McManimon, Scotland & Baumann tackled: “C-PACE Legislation Gets a Major Upgrade, Serving as a Catalyst for Meeting New Jersey’s Climate Change Goals.”
Lewis Goldshore, an environmental, agricultural and land use law attorney in Princeton looked at: “Climate Change and Renewable Energy’s Impacts on New Jersey’s Agricultural Industry.”
State Sen. Bob Smith, Joseph Gurrentz of the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University and Matthew Peterson, general counsel to the state Senate Judiciary Committee have a commentary: “Just Look Up: How New Jersey’s Legislature is Responding to the Very Real Threat of Climate Change.”
NJSBA members can read the full edition by logging on to njsba.com.