Tell Governor Murphy to Stay the Course

Thanks to all of you, Governor Murphy’s administration released the New Jersey Protecting Against Climate Threats Resilient Environments and Landscapes rule in August. These rules will protect New Jersey communities against the effects of climate change. There are interests that did not want to see these rules proposed and they have been working hard to see that these rules are weakened or never adopted. The Administration is hearing from these interests that the protections that the REAL rule provide are too much.

For more information on the rule see: “Thank you, Governor Murphy, for releasing the NJPACT REAL Rules” or “NJPACT REAL Myths and Facts.” We also held a webinar on the details of the rule: “Exploring the REAL Rules.”

It is our turn to tell the Governor that the REAL rules will help protect our communities from flooding. As we are seeing on social media and the news, storms are having catastrophic effects on our communities. Please tell the Governor thank you for proposing the rules and to stand strong and not to weaken the rules.

Ignore the Naysayers-Stand Strong on NJPACT REAL

Dear Governor Murphy:

I would like to thank you for following through on your commitment to strengthen New Jersey against the effects of climate change.  As the storms over the weekend in the south demonstrate, hurricanes and severe storms are devastating to our communities.  New Jersey was spared the intensity of those storms, but NJ has experienced catastrophic flooding and rain events all too recently.  The recent proposal of the New Jersey Protecting Against Climate Threats Resilient Landscapes and Environments rule is another important component to protecting all of New Jersey.  We urge you to continue with your commitment and allow the adoption of these rules without weakening them.

New Jersey is the third highest in the nation in FEMA flood loss claims with only Florida and Texas ahead of it.  The billions of dollars that have been spent in rebuilding our communities in NJ have not fully accounted for the losses. Too many people in New Jersey have had their lives turned upside down due to flooding with lost or damaged homes, and possessions, etc. And even more importantly, we have lost lives to flood events.

We know making New Jersey more resilient will protect lives.  We will also save New Jersey money.  A recent report by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Allstate and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation finds that money spent on resiliency efforts provides benefits in reduced damage, but also reduced economic impacts.  According to the report, for every $1 spent on resiliency and disaster preparedness save $13 in “economic impact, damage, and cleanup costs after an event”

With the above in mind, we urge you to not to accede to those that seek lesser protections for our communities.  We know what we build today will be standing for decades.  We must build for the future and stop basing our decisions on the past or with half measures.   We must do all that we can to reduce the risks to our communities today and the future.  Please keep NJPACT REAL strong and moving forward towards adoption.

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Tell Governor Murphy to Stay the Course

Ignore the Naysayers-Stand Strong on NJPACT REAL

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