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Steven Rodas

@stevenrodas.bsky.social

1.3K followers 880 following 160 posts

environmental reporter for NJ.com and @starledger.bsky.social. Based in Jersey City, NJ. Syracuse University alum. https://www.nj.com/user/srodas/posts.html

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Steven Rodas @stevenrodas.bsky.social · Mar 13

Project for @starledger.bsky.social and @nj.com: BEAVERS!

I spent over a year tracing the history of the beaver in #NewJersey and centering the war one small suburban town has had with the rodents. edt: @jessbeym.bsky.social, illustrations from @halseyberryman.bsky.social projects.nj.com/beavers/

Dammed if you do

This N.J. town declared war on its beaver neighbors. Boy did they misunderstand the enemy.

projects.nj.com

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Reposted by Steven Rodas

s. eek smith 👻 @sesmith.lol · 12d

This is a really ambitious and cool forestry project and uh...not sure where they are going to find the funding for it now?

Unburned: An Investigation - Bay Nature

To protect the Plumas National Forest and its communities from the next megafire, the Forest Service plans to burn it—intentionally. Can $274 million do the job?

baynature.org

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Reposted by Steven Rodas

Steven Rodas @stevenrodas.bsky.social · Sep 2

Here are the major ways federal/@realDonaldTrump environmental and energy policies and decisions have trickled down to #NewJersey since January (in no particular order)🧵1/

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Steven Rodas @stevenrodas.bsky.social · Sep 2

End of🧵This could be longer but ending it there while tracking several things not yet set in stone! 18/18

Steven Rodas @stevenrodas.bsky.social · Sep 2

Congressman Jeff Van Drew says he’s working with local mayors to ensure shore towns are protected (but no doubt New Jersey often tops the list of places to pour sand on shores amid stronger and more frequent storms and “nuisance erosion” which hits the state pretty much every winter now) 17/

Steven Rodas @stevenrodas.bsky.social · Sep 2

Recently, the U.S. Army Corps also said sand replenishment projects in Avalon, Stone Harbor and a section of Ocean City — part of a multi-year effort — have lost their federal funding. A critical q: What will the next federal budget look like for beachfills at the #JerseyShore? 16/

Steven Rodas @stevenrodas.bsky.social · Sep 2

Last week, the @energygov.bsky.social withdrew a $716 million conditional loan that was initially offered under Biden in order to help Jersey Central Power & Light connect offshore wind development to the regional grid 15/

Steven Rodas @stevenrodas.bsky.social · Sep 2

While some are considered “smaller,” proposed $$ cuts to @noaa.gov and the EPA have put in peril the future of everything from New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium’s college program to the size of Hackensack Riverkeeper's annual cleanups to the extent of the Marine Mammal Stranding Center’s work 14/

Steven Rodas @stevenrodas.bsky.social · Sep 2

The @urbaninstitute.bsky.social says for New Jersey this translates to $130 million in BRIC funds in jeopardy. Flood Mitigation Assistance is harder to square but — data shows — NJ was in the top 3 of states to receive these funds from 2020-2024: 59 projects for around $121 million 13/

Steven Rodas @stevenrodas.bsky.social · Sep 2

FEMA in the spring announced the cancellation of the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program and removed the Flood Mitigation Assistance funding for 2025. Those are the 2 largest federal pre-disaster hazard mitigation programs 12/

Steven Rodas @stevenrodas.bsky.social · Sep 2

The President took away the $7,500 tax credit for electric vehicles. That’ll sunset 9/30.

Also after a freeze amid a legal battle, the feds reopened the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program, meaning more than $104 million meant for EV chargers in New Jersey will be coming after all 11/

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Steven Rodas @stevenrodas.bsky.social · Sep 2

The EPA terminated its $7 billion “Solar for All” program created to provide renewable and affordable energy to low-income families. In April 2024, @govmurphy.bsky.social said NJ’s Solar for All award was expected to help 22,000 homes within the first 5 years of funding 10/

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Steven Rodas @stevenrodas.bsky.social · Sep 2

The U.S. Department of Commerce said it would end about $4 million in funds for climate change research at #PrincetonUniversity. Loss of @noaa.gov money means impacts to things like the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory — where scientists study forecasting and prepare for extreme weather 9/

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Steven Rodas @stevenrodas.bsky.social · Sep 2

or a wind farm with concrete foundation in place. Regarding credits in #NewJersey, 30+ solar projects still need approval from grid operator, PJM. That’s likely a year away. Bc of Trump’s tax/spending 2026 construction deadline, those could lose 30% tax credit 8/

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Steven Rodas @stevenrodas.bsky.social · Sep 2

The U.S Treasury this summer said it was tightening the clamps on what renewable projects qualify for federal tax credits. The new rules set the onus on developers to prove they are far into the construction of projects. For example: Solar arrays having racks that hold panels installed…7/

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Steven Rodas @stevenrodas.bsky.social · Sep 2

In July, a Trump executive order was announced to streamline and accelerate the permitting of data centers nationwide (#NewJersey, home to more than 75 data centers, wants to position itself as a leader in the nascent #artificialintelligence industry — despite concerns about energy-use) 6/

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Steven Rodas @stevenrodas.bsky.social · Sep 2

The EJ Law is designed to place higher hurdles on projects in “overburdened communities”

Specific NJ impacts are unclear as of now, but the finding underscores protections for overtly-polluted, low-income as well as many Black and brown neighborhoods 5/

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Steven Rodas @stevenrodas.bsky.social · Sep 2

Trump’s administration proposed taking back the scientific finding that’s been at the core of national actions to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and fight climate change. Among the things the “endangerment finding” is important for? New Jersey’s landmark “Environmental Justice Law” 4/

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Steven Rodas @stevenrodas.bsky.social · Sep 2

The terminal was designed to be a staging area for massive wind turbines.

This is the latest action to dash the prospects of offshore wind in NJ after the first wind farm slated to be built off the coast, Atlantic Shores, abruptly lost a key federal permit earlier this year 3/

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Steven Rodas @stevenrodas.bsky.social · Sep 2

At the end of August, the @usdot.bsky.social said it was ending or taking back $679 million in federal funds for 12 projects meant to support the national offshore wind industry. That includes $20 million for the marine terminal in Paulsboro, NJ, I’ve confirmed 2/

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Steven Rodas @stevenrodas.bsky.social · Sep 2

Here are the major ways federal/@realDonaldTrump environmental and energy policies and decisions have trickled down to #NewJersey since January (in no particular order)🧵1/

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Reposted by Steven Rodas

E. Rosalie @erosalie.infoepi.com · Sep 1

I hope you understand that if you show up at a hospital with an infection no one has ever seen before that the US had somewhere you could call. That place would answer, offer testing you can’t get anywhere else and come visit you to solve if necessary.

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Steven Rodas @stevenrodas.bsky.social · Aug 18

alas, what our landfill enterprise story would have looked like in the @starledger.bsky.social — if we still had the physical paper 🥲

Steven Rodas @stevenrodas.bsky.social · Aug 14

Landfills were a sensible step forward from the era when the Meadowlands was America’s favorite dumping ground. But New Jersey’s permitted operating space has ballooned from 1,382 acres in 2000 to 1,884 acres today.

And most are located in areas already considered disproportionately polluted.

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Steven Rodas @stevenrodas.bsky.social · Aug 14

More New Jerseyans are finding a landfill next door and homebuyers from out of the state are (unintentionally) buying near landfills as well.

NJ is not one of the 8 states that require sellers to disclose if a landfill operates within a mile, according to a @temple.edu research center.

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Steven Rodas @stevenrodas.bsky.social · Aug 14

Trash heaps here would already fill MetLife Stadium 41 times!

New Jersey’s always been full of trash. But it’s about to be stuffed with more people and more garbage, setting up a high-stakes collision that threatens health and quality of life throughout the state, with great video from Andre Malok

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