North Jersey Fights Climate Change

New Jersey’s Meadowlands area is probably best known for its sports complex and history of environmental abuse. However, earlier this week, the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission took action to change the region’s reputation. The agency, which oversees the environmental restoration and economic development of the 30-square-mile area, announced that it would implement policies and procedures to achieve the greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals of the Kyoto Protocol. The Meadowlands Commission plans to reduce the district's greenhouse gas emissions by 7% below 1990 levels by the end of 2012. The agency will use a number of strategies to achieve these reductions including: green building, public transportation, land conservation, and landfill gas recovery. In addition, the Meadowlands Commission said it would encourage the 14 municipalities in the Meadowlands area to endorse the treaty. Although this plan will probably due little to reverse the environmental damage of the past, it signifies a growing trend toward local action against climate change. See also ::BioTown USA: Going Off the Grid and ::Wal-Mart, GE, and the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI)