TRENTON – “We are not ready” is the message New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Commissioner Shawn LaTourette delivered to a joint Senate and Assembly panel on coastal issues August 11.
LaTourette said “things will only get worse” in coming years even if the state successfully adopts nuclear, wind and solar power as a substitute for fossil fuel use. We cannot, he argued, offset the damage already done.
“We have no choice but to become resilient,” LaTourette said as he called for “political courage” to address the challenges. “In short,” he said, “the resiliency menu is large, and we must invest in each course.”
Testifying at the same hearing, Raymond Cantor of the New Jersey Business and Industry Association said climate change and rising sea levels are real threats but he urged lawmakers not to overreact. “There is no need at this moment to retreat from the Jersey Shore,” he said.
LaTourette said the state cannot “rely on hard flood control infrastructure or beach replenishment alone to meet our climate resilience needs.” He called on government at all levels to commit “to actions and investments that will take time to show their benefit – just as a warming climate took time to show us its fury.”
