I’m admittedly much more environmentally progressive than the environmentalists that successfully lobbied the Montclair Township Council to pass a Resolution 18-042 last Monday.

What was passed was a much less progressive resolution that prioritizes economic growth over clean energy choices - even though lower cost, clean choices are widely available in NJ. This resolution lays the groundwork for a rubric that will enable switching all Montclair resident’s electricity supplier from PSE&G to a 3rd party supplier offering a lower electric rate.

The two biggest drivers of climate change are economic growth and population. They are the 2 very big ones. They are also are the very desirable policy goals we have for Montclair. Our new property revaluation notices reflect the significant increased value in just 5 years. Both existing & all the numerous new housing is being snapped up at record prices. Economic & population growth!

Yet, our primary objective will be to realize lower cost while requiring a relatively small increase in renewable energy content above what the State already mandates.

This initiative would have us do much less than our fair share. Worse, this resolution would not give the voters of Montclair a choice.

The resolution should have required green energy to be the majority objective while still requiring less expensive electricity than PSE&G’s rates. A true win-win.

As one supporter present Monday pointed out, “winning slowly on climate change is the same as losing.” Another was quoted about there not being other issues if we don’t deal with this one.

Vote yes here to change Montclair’s participation to require a majority % renewable energy requirement (versus the current minority %) while still obtaining a lower rate than what we get from PSE&G.

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