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The Star-Ledger: Face facts: Climate change is unfolding as predicted


New Jersey Coast:
Over the next century, sea level is most likely to rise 55-60 cm along most of the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf Coasts.
The 3.5-meter contour roughly illustrates an area that might be flooded over a period of several centuries.

Photo credit: United States Environmental Protection Agency


The wildfires in Russia, the floods in Pakistan and the record heat this summer in New Jersey have one thing in common: They are exactly the kind of symptoms scientists predicted we’d experience as global warming occurs.

No, we cannot say for sure that man-made pollutants are the cause. The science is not that precise. But we can measure the effects.

Glaciers that have been stable for centuries are now melting at an alarming rate. Hurricanes are becoming more severe as ocean temperatures rise. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced last month that 2010 is breaking all temperature records. And that is no fluke — the 10 hottest years on record have all occurred since 1990.
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CouirierPostonline.com: EPA readies new stickers, fuel ratings


Photo credit: Associated Press
Beginningwith the 2012 model year, EPA stickers will provide more details onfuel efficiency, emissions and energy costs.


Will your new car get an A in fuel efficiency? A government proposal may add letter grades to showroom window stickers on new cars and trucks to reflect a vehicle's overall fuel economy and greenhouse gas emissions.

The Transportation Department and Environmental Protection Agency said Monday they were considering two options to upgrade the energy and environmental information that will adorn labels on new vehicles in car dealership showrooms, beginning with the 2012 model year. The government is considering a letter grade approach or updating the design of the current sticker to include comparisons of a vehicle's fuel economy and tailpipe emissions.


APP.com: Smart choice: Lennar launches eco-friendly homes


Photo credit: APP.com
New PowerSmart homes are available at Lennar's Greenbriar Oceanaire in Waretown


Lennar, one of the nation's leading home builders, has launched a new line of energy-efficient PowerSmart homes in New Jersey as part of its national green homes initiative.

The new environmentally friendly homes use the latest in green building techniques and construction, resulting in energy-efficient house that save owners up to 67 percent on their heating and cooling energy use (compared to 2001 IECC Code).

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Dodge Blog: Dodge Foundation offices in Morristown go green


Video credit: Dodge Blog

Recently, a team from NJN helped film a video tour of 14 Maple Avenue in Morristown, NJ with the building’s project manager, Pete Maszczak. The Dodge Foundation has a longstanding commitment to be a learning organization and to generously share with others what it has learned in its various endeavors. In this tradition, you are invited to view an engaging virtual tour of the Foundation’s offices, with the hope that it will inspire you to think about and perhaps even learn more about green design.

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Associated Press: U.S. grapples with bedbugs, misuse of pesticides


In this Aug. 25, 2010 photo, Delores Stewart displays bed bugs found in her home in Columbus, Ohio. A resurgence
of bedbugs across the U.S. has homeowners and apartment dwellers taking desperate measures to eradicate
the tenacious bloodsuckers, with some relying on dangerous outdoor pesticides and fly-by-night exterminators.
Photo credit: Associated Press

A resurgence of bedbugs across the U.S. has homeowners and apartment dwellers taking desperate measures to eradicate the tenacious bloodsuckers, with some relying on dangerous outdoor pesticides and fly-by-night exterminators. Just last week the discovery of bedbugs at Monmouth Mall movie theater caused it to temporarily shut down. A pest control company in Newark, N.J., was accused in July of applying chemicals not approved for indoor use throughout 70 homes and apartments units, even spraying mattresses and children's toys.

The problem has gotten so bad that the Environmental Protection Agency warned this month against the indoor use of chemicals meant for the outside. The agency also warned of an increase in pest control companies and others making "unrealistic promises of effectiveness or low cost."

Bedbugs, infesting U.S. households on a scale unseen in more than a half-century, have become largely resistant to common pesticides. As a result, some homeowners and exterminators are turning to more hazardous chemicals that can harm the central nervous system, irritate the skin and eyes or even cause cancer.

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NorthJersey.com: Boro installs energy efficient lights


Jeremy Kope, of Kope Electric Inc., installs energy efficient lighting in Woodland Park's borough hall. The new lights for borough hall and for the Department of Public Works (DPW) building are expected to save the town about $1,174 per month on electricity.
photo credit: NorthJersey.com

Contractors this month replaced nearly all the lights in borough hall and in the department of works (DPW) building with energy efficient lighting. It's a costly project, but the only thing taxpayers will see are savings. The projects are expected to cost $74,429, an audit by Public Service Electric and Gas (PSE&G) found, but it's not going to cost the borough a thing. The estimated cost to install energy efficient lighting in the municipal building is $30,710 and the estimated cost to install comparable technology in the DPW building is $43,719, according to the PSE&G audit which the borough council authorized in December 2009. Thomas Minnella, mayor's secretary and borough technology consultant, said Woodland Park will pay for the installation costs by accepting a "reduced savings" for the first 24 months subsequent to that installation. Energy bills for borough hall and the DPW building, combined, will average $1,174 per month less with the new lighting, according to the audit. The reduced savings will be $620 per month during the next 24 months, the audit indicates.

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The Record: Hackensack Waterworks property in Oradell to be redeveloped


Ideas for the Hackensack Water Co. complex include performance space and a museum.
photo credit: NorthJersey.com

Signs of life — literally — are coming to the long-dormant brick buildings on the Hackensack Waterworks property. Bergen County officials plan to hang banners and post signs on the property in September to inform passing motorists, dog walkers and bird watchers about the site's possible future and encourage them to find out more and give input on a website. "It's to get people excited about the fact that there is something going on here so we can slowly build public support," said Assistant County Counsel Kevin Funabashi. Banners will appear on New Milford Avenue on the east and west sides of an old pump station and on a pump station turret, said Carol Messer, director of the Bergen County Division of Historic and Cultural Affairs.

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The Record: Dumping trash, with a conscience


Bergen County residents discard their old electronics.
photo credit: NorthJersey.com


A steady stream of Bergen County residents paraded into a parking lot with about 30 to 40 tons of hard-to-dispose-of items, such as TVs, old computers and tires. Officials say they there has been an increase in recycling of electronics as residents become more environmentally conscious and the opportunities to dispose of them improve. Rick DeMarco, 67, of Leonia, brought 22 old computer monitors to Saturday's collection in his minivan. DeMarco said he is known as a computer tinkerer, leading neighbors to give him their old electronics for delivery. Asked if that was partially because they were becoming more environmentally aware, he said, "Absolutely — and it's all free."

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NorthJersey.com: New recycling bins could cut trash costs


"Recycling bins installed in Garfield in June have increased the city's recycling by 28 tons, according to the bin company, Greener Corners. Glen Rock will install its own bins next week."
photo credit: Greener Corners


With an eye toward improving Glen Rock residents' recycling habits and boosting revenue for the town, the borough and its Central Business District (CBD) will install 26 shiny new recycling bins next week. If the program goes well, more could be installed around the pool, ball fields, and Borough Hall, said council member Mary Jane Surrago. "We'll see how this goes, and then we'll maybe order more," Surrago said. The bins will adorn the sidewalks on Rock Road as well as Demarest Park on Glen Avenue, the Borough Hall and Prospect/Cornwall bus stops, and both train stations. Three separate slots on the bins are each a different shape for different materials: a round hole for comingled recyclables including cans, bottles and plastics; a long hole for paper and cardboard; and a square hole for trash. The clearly marked containers have improved recycling compliance, research has shown.

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NJ.com: Proposed Delsea Energy renewable energy park in Pennsville would be largest wind turbine site in state


"This lot in Pennsville will be host to part of the largest renewable energy source via wind in New Jersey. Pennsville Township is teaming with Delsea Energy LLC to create a Renewable Energy Park on Industrial Park Road."
photo credit: NJ.com

Plans to build a Renewable Energy Park on its old landfill would make Pennsville Township the largest site to generate renewable energy with wind in the entire state. Project developer Delsea Energy, LLC, has been selected to construct seven, 1.6-megawatt wind turbines at various lots on Industrial Park Road including where the old landfill was located. A solar farm would also be implemented. The designation of Delsea Energy followed the township’s bidding process. The project still awaits township committee and planning board approvals. It would be one of the largest clean energy projects in the state, but also one of a few in the country to use three energy-producing sources — wind, solar and waste methane gas — in one site. Delsea Energy’s Vice President of Business Development John Renz, who is heading the project, said wind turbines would have Pennsville using 11 megawatts of energy.


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