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June 26–July 2
Trenton Does It Again
The offshore wind industry just received more subsidies from the New Jersey taxpayer. On the last possible day before the summer recess, the New Jersey Legislature passed a bill that gives federal tax credits that otherwise would have gone to state ratepayers to the Danish firm Ørsted and other wind industry firms in recognition, the bill says, of “the high rates of inflation and unprecedented macroeconomic challenges arising from the global pandemic and war in Ukraine.”
Recently, the Sweeney Center at Rowan University issued a report claiming the state would be at a competitive disadvantage in attracting and retaining wind industry companies if Trenton did not agree to share the federal tax credits.
The state Assembly approved the bill 44–31, with all legislators in the First and Second legislative districts voting against it. The Senate vote was 21–14.
In 2019, when the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities was awarding the wind farm contract, Ørsted agreed that federal tax credits would go back to ratepayers. Now, they claim they had not anticipated the inflation and supply chain impacts on costs. For some, it looks like a private firm bid what they needed to bid to win and came back for more later.
Meanwhile, the bill that might have provided some help for police in dealing with problems caused by underage drinking and marijuana use died as time ran out before the summer break. As originally written, the bill would have attached $100 fines for underage alcohol possession and provided more leeway for police to search minors seen with open containers.
In successive passage through committees, shore communities lost out as the bill was watered down. Republican members in the Senate expressed disappointment with the changes from the original language, but Sen. Michael Testa (R-1st) did say “half a loaf is better than no loaf.” The shore communities got no loaf.
County Applicants for Student Loan Forgiveness
This week, the Supreme Court shot down the Biden administration plan for student loan forgiveness. The plan was a $400 billion program to forgive student debt based on criteria that would have seen a large number of 40 million borrowers eligible to have their loan balances erased or greatly reduced. The decision means repayment begins in October after the end of pandemic deferments.
Immediately, the Biden administration announced a new pathway to loan repayment relief that will almost surely be challenged.
Economists are of two minds, with some arguing that the reimposition of student loan debt will harm the economy and others asserting that it will not. New Jersey has 1.3 million student loan borrowers with outstanding debt.
What does this mean in Cape May County? Data at zip code levels released to Politico by the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) shows that over 5,000 permanent residents of the county felt they met the criteria and filed for forgiveness. The numbers are an underestimate since no data was released where a community totaled less than 100 applications, which was the case in some of the county’s more affluent communities.
Cape May Court House, zip 08210, led the list, with 1,099 individuals who applied for loan forgiveness. Next in line were the three communities on Cape Island, where 884 applications were filed. In all, nine of the county’s zip codes had enough applications to be noted in the DOE data.
That’s a sizeable number of county residents who will have to begin repayments unless something changes.
El Niño
After three consecutive years of a La Niña impacting our weather, climatologists say we will follow with an El Niño this year. The journal Nature states that an El Niño could elevate the odds of drought and flooding in many areas of the world, also bringing higher exposure to mosquito borne diseases.
For us in Cape May County, El Niño may mean a milder hurricane season. An El Niño, climatologists say, usually brings a quieter hurricane season in the Atlantic basin and a spike in such activity in the Pacific.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) says La Niña cools and El Niño warms. Even though we may avoid elevated risks for major storms in the east, the warmer temperatures pose their own problem. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) says an El Niño increases the odds for record high temperatures. The WMO is worried about a possible repeat of 2016, which was the warmest year on record and saw a strong El Niño.
Happenings
Red Knot numbers are up this year, as efforts to protect and rejuvenate the Delaware Bay ecosystem appear to be paying off.
The New Jersey Coastal Coalition is issuing a new report, which will help participating communities better pinpoint flooding vulnerabilities. One aim is to use the report to aid in competition for federal resiliency funds.
The Delaware Bay and River Authority updated the public as the preliminary design work for a new fleet of ferries nears its end. A new fleet of ferries at about 75% of the capacity of the current ships is actually seen as a way to increase overall capacity if four such ferries are built, while contributing greater operational efficiencies.
In a matter of minutes, the governing body in Wildwood Crest ended the extended surfing period in response to community complaints.
The Franklin Street School’s transformation into a community center and branch library is progressing smoothly.
Upper Township renewed the liquor license for Strathmere’s Deauville Inn despite the presence of objectors at the Upper Township Committee meeting.
An Ocean View man pleaded guilty to charges of sexual assault involving a minor while a Court House man surrendered himself to authorities on charges of child porn.
An autism advocate has visited over 300 law enforcement agencies to spread the word on how best to de–escalate the interactions between those with autism and police. He was sworn in as an honorary police officer in Avalon.
New dolphin deaths continued on county beaches in June as the county Chamber of Commerce made known its support for the Cape May County opposition with respect to offshore wind.
Four were rescued in an after–hours call by Wildwood Beach Patrol after they fell into the ocean off an outflow pipe.
For years, a county born filmmaker worked to achieve his dreams. His new film premiers exclusively on Amazon Prime June 28.
According to a Monmouth University poll, most of us agree that fundamental rights are under attack. We just don’t agree on which rights we mean. One example is the predominantly Republican support for the Second Amendment as opposed to the opposition to restrictions on abortion access.
Two female Greater Rhea joined the South American section of the Zoo. They are the largest birds that are native to South America and are found in Brazil, Bolivia, Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay.
The court denied the most recent request to dismiss charges against the man accused of causing the deaths of two people during a pop-up car rally in Wildwood, Sept. 24, 2022.
Spout Off of the Week
Avalon – After the elections are over, your neighbors will still be your neighbors. The candidates won’t be there to ring up your groceries, fix your car, or help you out with yard work; your neighbors will. The candidates will be in their wealthy political world. They’ll both be doing their thing, you and I will live, work, learn, shop, eat and worship together. We are what makes America great. We’re the ones who choose to be decent, loving, caring, and compassionate human beings. Vote for whoever you choose to in the election but remember, We the people choose to shape our communities. Not them.
Read more spouts at spoutoff.capemaycountyherald.com.
