GUEST OPINION: NRA-Defended Lawsuit Preserves Predator Hunting in Alaska

Brian McCombie/NRA-ILA

Great news for hunters in Alaska: Predator hunting, in accordance with Alaska law, can continue on the nearly 77 million acres of National Wildlife Refuge land in Alaska. And the National Rifle Association (NRA) helped make this happen.

Predator hunting was threatened, thanks to a federal lawsuit brought by the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), in CBD v. Bernhardt. The NRA and Safari Club International and others intervened as defendants in the lawsuit and argued against the CBD’s various claims against predator hunting on Refuge lands.

“This is an important victory for hunters and I’m proud NRA was an integral part of this litigation,” said Director of Hunting Policy for NRA-ILA Erica Rhoad. “Because of this case, states will continue to have the right to manage their wildlife as they deem appropriate.”

Hiking lead staff members of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service\’s Alaska Region to a large caribou herd in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. (Image by Danielle Brigida, USFWS.)

According to Associate Litigation Counsel for NRA-ILA Michael Jean, the genesis of the lawsuit goes back to August 2016, when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, under the U.S. Department of The Interior (DOI), promulgated a rule that limited predator hunting—hunting that was otherwise authorized by state law—on National Wildlife Refuge land in Alaska. As reported by this NRA Hunters’ Leadership Forum website,

“not only did the Obama Administration’s blatant overreach counter America’s lauded state-based wildlife conservation

practices. It was also at odds with Alaska’s constitutional mandate to manage its fish and wildlife under the principles of sustained yield. Just as important, the difference between Alaska and other states is that many Alaskans subsistence-hunt for survival.”

However,

in accordance with the Congressional Review Act, as reported by NRAHLF.org, the DOI submitted that rule to Congress

. Then, in February 2017, Congress passed and President Trump signed H.R.J. Res 69 into law. H.R.J. Res 69 rescinded the DOI rule that limited predator hunting, prohibiting the DOI from promulgating a substantially similar rule in the future, allowing hunting to continue in accordance with Alaska law.

CBD challenged both H.R.J. Res 69 and the Congressional Review Act under the “Take Care” clause of the U.S. Constitution, which directs the Executive branch to take care and faithfully execute the law. CBD\’s argument was that because Congress did not directly amend any substantive law, the DOI didn’t know what the law was and could not faithfully execute it. The lawsuit launched by CBD named current DOI Secretary David Bernhardt as the defendant.

This grizzly was spotted from a camp on the Sheenjek River in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. (Image by Alexis Bonogofsky, USFWS.)

In May 2018, U.S. District Judge Sharon L. Gleason dismissed the suit in its entirety, relying on arguments made by the NRA and SCI. CBD appealed.

Yesterday, on Dec. 30, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed that ruling dismissing all of CBD’s claims.

According to Courthouse News Service,

the judges “found that the Center for Biological Diversity failed to make a valid argument

that Congress violated the constitutional balance of powers when it passed a 2017 joint resolution allowing certain hunting techniques to be reinstated throughout Alaska’s expansive wildlife refuge system.”

The article also noted, “Because Congress properly enacted the joint resolution, and therefore validly amended Interior’s authority to administer national wildlife refuges in Alaska, Congress did not prevent the president from exercising his constitutional duty to faithfully execute the laws,” wrote U.S. Circuit Judge Sandra Segal Ikuta on behalf of the panel. “Indeed, the president now has the constitutional obligation to execute the joint resolution.”

The legal precedent here is important, too, as it can be used to keep National Wildlife Refuge hunting regulations in accordance with host states’ hunting seasons and regulations.

Follow NRA Hunters\’ Leadership Forum on Twitter @HuntersLead.

About the Author:

Brian McCombie is a field editor and editorial contributor for the NRA\’s American Hunter. He writes about firearms and gear for the NRA\’s Shooting Illustrated website, as well as handling public relations and marketing for companies and manufacturers in the shooting sports industry. He is a member of the National Rifle Association and the National Shooting Sports Foundation. Brian likes hunting hogs, shooting 1911s chambered in 10 mm and .45 ACP, watching the Chicago Bears and relaxing with his two cats, Peanut Morgan and Simon.

Freeholder Cappelli and The State Of The County

The statement below is by Camden County Freeholder Director Cappelli (photo) in regard to the annual state of

the county address for 2020.

“Good afternoon everyone and thank you for being here. I want to start off by saying that as we enter our 176th year, the state of the county is strong. Thanks to our dedicated and caring residents, the resiliency of our communities, and expanding economic opportunity for all, we enter this new year with limitless possibilities ahead.

For the past 12 months we have celebrated the 175th anniversary of Camden County’s incorporation. We sought to do this in two ways: by hosting 175 events where we could come together for a shared experience, goal, or purpose; and by tirelessly striving to improve the quality of life, access to opportunity, and availability of resources. Through both, we sought to make Camden County a place that you would be proud to call home.

Today, we begin not only a new year but a new decade. In doing so I want to take a moment to highlight not only the accomplishments of the last 12 months, but some of the milestones we accomplished in the last ten years.

We began the decade in a precarious position, gripped by the worst economic recession since the Great Depression. While today’s national economy may be growing, many of us remember the sleepless nights all too well, lying awake worried about losing a job, how we would pay the cable bill next month, how would we save for retirement? But, our community didn’t give up. You supported one another and took advantage of every chance that became available. Today, incomes are rising, poverty is decreasing, and unemployment is at incredible, record lows. The state of today’s economy in Camden County is due in large part to your resilience and willingness to persevere.

Two years into the decade we faced a seemingly insurmountable obstacle in our mission to reinvigorate Camden City. In 2012, 67 people were murdered in the City, a grisly record that forced strong action and a serious moment of self-reflection for not only members of this board and those in the community, but for individuals all over the state of New Jersey who wanted to see the City Invincible return to its former glory. In 2013, we launched the Camden County Police Department and brought with it a radical idea about how policing in America could look. Our officers, at the direction of Chief Scott Thomson, committed themselves to a new model of community policing that was later heralded by President Barack Obama as a model for the nation. In 2017, murder was down more than 65 percent. Since 2012, violent crime has dropped by 42 percent.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t take a moment to highlight the vision and leadership of Chief Scott Thomson, who retired earlier this year. He took the reins of a grand experiment where few outside of our borders believed he could find success. Ultimately, he turned the CCPD into a vital partner for the communities in Camden City, and he transformed the narrative of Camden City from one of bleak desolation to one of unprecedented hope. We are eternally grateful for his service.

It should be noted as well that the man who has filled Scott’s shoes, Chief Joseph Wysocki, has taken over the role without missing a step and is doing a tremendous job since taking over. We are extremely grateful for his public service and for the leadership he has brought to the department.

Elsewhere in the county, we focused our attention on not only public safety, but on public spaces. Over the decade we invested tens of millions of dollars into our park infrastructure, green spaces, and natural resources. In 2011 we opened

Jake’s Place

at Challenge Grove Park, a first-of its-kind all-inclusive playground for children of all abilities. In 2017, we completed the long-needed dredging of Cooper River and saw the return of nationally-renowned rowing to our shores. In fact, this year we welcomed the Gold Cup, a gathering of the world’s best individual rowers to Cooper River, making our river an internationally recognized venue for the world’s top athletes. Just a few months ago, we opened Gateway Park along Admiral Wilson Boulevard, fulfilling a promise made more than 20 years ago when the vacant and dilapidated businesses that once stood on that site were torn down.

Of course, there were countless other projects heralded by the Parks Department and the incredible team of professionals who are focused on making Camden County a place where we can live, work, and play. Thanks to their hard work, the county has built one of the best park networks in the nation, and there is more still to come.

I could spend all of 2020 just highlighting the incredible work and accomplishments that I’ve seen in Camden County over the past decade, but there is still too much work to be done. Instead, I’d like to begin looking forward and focusing on where we plan to take our community in the next 12 months and beyond.

On January 1, we took the dramatic but necessary step of eliminating all single-use plastics from county facilities and events. Many locations throughout the county have already switched to sustainable, compositable alternatives, and the others will be phasing out plastics in the coming months as their current stock is depleted and their supply contracts end. In 2020, we are focused on sustainable habits and on finding ways to reduce Camden County’s contribution to environmental degradation and climate change. Right now, our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Australia who are living through a catastrophic natural disaster that has been fueled by a rapidly changing climate. It is a stark reminder that we are nearly out of time to address this existential threat.

It’s not only ecological health that we’re focused on, but public health as well. During the last decade, we watched as an epidemic of opioid and substance use disorder gripped our communities and robbed us of the lives of too many young people. As a father, I take this issue very seriously. No parent should have to watch their child succumb to a preventable overdose. We cannot continue to enable the cycle of addiction and drug-related death.

This year, the Board is expanding and continuing several programs we believe to be critical to ending the opioid epidemic. This month, the Addiction Awareness Task Force will resume offering free Narcan training sessions, enabling ordinary community members to save a life during a moment of crisis. In the jail, recent grants now allow us to expand the Medication-Assisted Treatment program which will help reduce drug-related recidivism and overdoses among our formerly incarcerated population. In our communities, we have expanded the groundbreaking Project SAVE Program, which focuses on early invention for low-level offenders suffering from a substance use disorder. Together, we are prepared to attack the scourge of opioid abuse from all angles, and make our community a safer, healthier place.

In addition to safer parks, and safer homes, the Freeholder Board is continuing to identify public infrastructure such as roads, highways, and bridges, in need of repair or restoration. Each year the Board invests millions of dollars in the upkeep of our infrastructure as well as for major projects. In the coming weeks and months our crews will complete significant improvements along Chapel Avenue in Cherry Hill, Haddonfield-Berlin Road (CR 561), and new storm water enhancements throughout our network. As always, we will continue to connect with municipal leaders and residents for help identifying where significant upgrades can be made and are needed.

While many of these initiatives have been ongoing or occur each year, 2020 will represent a unique opportunity for our community. The decennial census count, which dictates the size of our representation in Congress, our federal funding allocation, and a variety of other critical measures, will be completed over the next 12 months.

We began connecting with our federal, state, and local partners last year to ensure a strategic, comprehensive approach to our Census efforts. Camden County is home to several, hard-to-count communities in both urban and rural areas, and we are working to ensure that everyone participates and gets counted. We are determined not to let this opportunity get away from us, as several of our communities have been undercounted in recent years, resulting in the loss of needed funds and even a lost congressional seat.

I want to highlight and thank Freeholder Carmen Rodriguez for the time and effort she has already spent helping to educate the public, and prepare for, the census, especially in the City of Camden. Her dedication and passion for this issue has undoubtedly increased the percentage of those who plan to participate, and we want to thank her for the work that she has already done and continues to do.

As we head into this 176th year in Camden County, we have so much to look back on, and so much more to look ahead to.

This year, we will continue to expand economic opportunity, protect the vulnerable in our community, push to make our communities safer, and ensure that our residents get their fair share of resources, funding, and representation.

I want to thank everyone for being here today and for their continued commitment to bettering our community. I also want to thank my fellow freeholders, as well as the public servants and employees that work to make Camden County a better place each and every day.”

NRA-ILA: Crime in Virginia is Falling – Governor Focuses on Making You a Felon

MONDAY, JANUARY 6, 2020

SUPPORT NRA-ILA

Disgraced Governor Ralph Northam and his anti-gun allies in the newly elected legislature have made it clear they are hell-bent on enacting gun control. They

want to take your guns

and they

want taxpayers to fund it

. They’ve seen the same research that has shown

that gun control doesn’t work

Violent crime in Virginia fell for the second consecutive year, and the Commonwealth has the fourth lowest violent crime rate in the nation – also for the second consecutive year. Virginia had the 25

largest decrease in the violent crime rate from 2017 to 2018, while holding its spot as the fourth safest state. Virginia is outpacing the nation in reducing violent crime; the national rate decreased 3.6% while Virginia’s decreased 5%.

It isn’t just overall violent crime that has decreased in Virginia. The murder rate fell by 17.3%, and firearms-related homicides specifically fell by 13.8%. For all of the Bloomberg talking points Northam and his minions regurgitate, there were eight homicides with a rifle

of any type

in Virginia in 2018. There were 3.75 times more homicides with knives (30 total) than rifles of any type and about twice as many fatal assaults with hands, fists, or feet (15 total) than rifles of any type.

Virginia has 14 times the population of Baltimore but 1.4% of the homicides (391 in Virginia statewide compared to 309 in the city of Baltimore). Clearly firearms aren’t the problem, and gun control doesn’t work.

The robbery rate fell 17.3% in Virginia from 2017 to 2018, and there was a decrease in both the number of robberies committed with a firearm (down 7.5%) as well as the percentage of all robberies that were committed with a firearm (down 2.4%).

The rate of aggravated assaults increased 0.7%, and changes in the number of aggravated assaults committed with a firearm tracked with the number of overall aggravated assaults (increases of 8.1% and 7.9%, respectively). The share of aggravated assaults that involved a firearm was steady while the percentage of assaults involving a knife or other cutting weapon increased 1.4%. There was a larger increase in the number of aggravated assaults committed with knives (9.2%).

So violent crime decreased. Homicides and robberies committed with a firearm both decreased while the percentage of aggravated assaults involving a firearm held steady and the overall aggravated assault rate only marginally increased. One might think, to listen to anti-gun legislators and activists, that Virginia is some kind of apocalyptic frontier with no law, no order, and danger around every corner. The data shows that Virginia is safe, both comparatively and categorically.

None of this is to suggest that any level of crime is acceptable. There is still violent crime in Virginia, and there are still criminals to find, arrest, and prosecute. However, the best way to tackle the crime that does occur in Virginia is to focus on those who commit the crimes – not criminalizing gun ownership and lawfully owned firearms.

Virginia would be best served by efforts focusing on criminals rather than bringing Bloomberg’s fantasy of criminalizing legal gun ownership to life. These efforts have been acknowledged by the Bloomberg-funded researchers at the

Bloomberg School of Public Health

and have had

actual real-world results

. Anti-gun researchers

, found that so-called “universal background checks” don’t reduce crime

just as we know that

bans on commonly owned firearms don’t reduce crime

Focusing on actual criminals does work.

Please contact Gov. Northam and let him know you oppose his unconstitutional gun control measures. You can contact Northam using the

Governor\’s Office contact form

or call his office at 804-786-2211.

Help us hold the line.

Join us in Richmond

on January 13

and sign up to

volunteer

to help us defeat Northam’s unconstitutional gun control agenda.

NJ SIERRA CLUB: Bomb Train Safety Bill Released from Assembly Committee Today

Monday, the Assembly Appropriations Committee released A3783 (Eustace). The bill requires owners or operators of certain trains to have discharge response, cleanup, and contingency plans to transport certain hazardous materials by rail; requires NJ DOT to request bridge

inspection reports from US DOT.

“We need this legislation and we need it now. New Jersey is already seeing hundreds of shipments of explosive fossil fuels, whether it is bomb trains carrying Bakken crude oil or LNG, and we could be seeing more in the future. PHMSA recently approved a special permit that will allow hundreds of trains carrying explosive LNG through New Jersey communities and neighborhoods. Not only do these hazardous shipments put people at risk by cutting through densely populated communities but they can also cause ecological disaster and water supply nightmares,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “We need this legislation to protect communities that have dangerous train cars traveling through them every day. It has passed in the Senate and now the Assembly needs to act quickly and get to Governor Murphy’s desk to sign.”

Since 2008, oil train traffic in the U.S. has increased by more than 5,000 percent. North Dakota Bakken Shale oil is one of the most explosive types of oil in the world. One quart of oil contaminates one million gallons of water and one rail car carries 34,500 gallons of oil. LNG shipments carry high densities of hazardous natural gas. When a spill occurs, the LNG forms a vapor cloud that remains close to the ground because it is denser than air. This prolongs the hazard in both distance and time.

“We cannot afford to play Russian Roulette with our environment and our people. First responders need to know what is happening in our communities so that they can plan for spills or emergencies. Towns need to have contingency plans in place to clean up and minimize the risk. When a train carrying Bakken crude oil derails, it is a disaster. If it happened in New Jersey, it would be a tragedy of epic proportions. That is why we need this legislation,” said Tittel. “We need this bill to make sure there are response and emergency plans if something happens with one of these rail cars at a moment’s notice. These response plans will allow the public to be informed, especially ahead of time to help prepare for an emergency.”

The bill requires operators carrying Bakken crude shipments to have discharge response, cleanup, and contingency plans to transport certain hazardous materials by rail. Previous Bakken train derailments have led to train cars setting on fire, homes being destroyed, forced evacuations of entire towns, threatened water supplies, and human casualties. Governor Christie vetoed this bill when it was originally passed and an attempt for an override was made.

“We need this legislation because if there is an accident or spill, it can catastrophic consequences to our communities. This bill requires the railroad to have a warning system in place and a contingency plan that will deal with any potential spill or accident. This legislation also gives towns important tools to deal with a response or emergency clean up and will give the town notice when a train is coming through. It is important that the state legislature is resisting Trump Administration rollbacks to rail safety,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “This bill will help protect the people of New Jersey from dangerous spills and derailments. We need our legislature to move quickly on this bill to help protect susceptible communities.”

source: New Jersey Sierra Club

NJ Sierra Club Opinion: Menhaden Fishing Quota Bill Released from Committee

The Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee released S3796 (Andrzejczak). The bill requires the DEP Commissioner to establish individual transferable quota system for menhaden purse seine fishery. Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club, released the following

statement:

“Menhaden are an important species and the food supply and stability of our fisheries, but this bill would lead to overfishing of this critical fish. Our concern is that the bill will privatize the regulation and mandate by setting up this quote system. By locking in quotas for different fishing interests, we believe it will lead to overfishing. What is an even bigger problem is the trading system of quotas. Menhaden are a critical link to the food web and are known as forage species. This means they function as a food source for larger species like bluefish and striped bass. This legislation will essentially be a destructive domino effect throughout the marine food chain. It will not only impact these important species, but impact New Jersey’s commercial and recreational fisheries.”

GUEST OPINION: US assassination of Qassem Soleimani Adds Uncertainty to Unstable Region

Following the news (3 January 2020) that a US drone strike on Baghdad airport had killed General Qassem Suleimani, commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s elite Quds Force;

Richard Thompson, Editorial Director at GlobalData, offers his view on the implications of this escalating conflict:

\”Suleimani’s killing increases fears of war in the region and of major disruption to regional oil supplies through military or cyber-attacks against oil facilities.

\”Unlike the short-term spike in oil prices that we saw after the attacks against Saudi oil facilities in 2019, this is likely to add a security-risk premium to oil prices for the foreseeable future.”

“Fears that Iranian reprisals will further destabilise the region and disrupt Middle East oil supplies saw oil prices jump about 4% following the news of Suleimani’s assassination.

“The assassination of Qassem Suleimani by the US is a major escalation in the conflict between the US and Iran in the Gulf and it adds considerable new uncertainty to an already unstable region.

“It is certain that Iran will strike back against US interests in the region and those of its allies. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has described the killing as a criminal act and has promised retaliation. The question now is what will that retaliation look like and what will be the further consequences of that.

source Global Data

Detroit Free Press Is An Absolute Disgrace

January 2, 2020

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on

a news story in the January 2

Detroit Free Press

By Bill Donohue | The Catholic League

Let\’s say you are a reporter who detests the Catholic Church (there are more than a few out there),

and would like to do an article that reflects badly on it. You come across a story that may qualify, but it is rather routine: it is about high school boys acting inappropriately.

Not satisfied that it will really put the Church against the wall, you decide to enhance the piece by trotting out a story about a noted Catholic public figure (Brett Kavanaugh) who was accused of acting offensively when he was in high school. It happened decades ago in some other part of the country, and the charges were never corroborated by anyone, but that doesn\’t matter. It can be made to fit.

Still not satisfied this will embarrass the Church, you add a story about a Catholic priest who, while having nothing to do with the original story, is serving time for what he did in the 1990s.

The story then ropes back to high school boys today in two Detroit Catholic schools who did something really newsworthy: they got into a brawl following a hockey game.

This 2679-word cut-and-paste \”news story\” appeared in the January 2nd edition of the Detroit Free Press.

If I were the editor of this media outlet, and I also hated the Catholic Church, I would reject this story as a sophomoric piece of journalism that would convince the reader that we have a blatant bias against Catholicism. Yet it passed muster and was printed.

To say this story is disjointed would be an understatement: forcing unconnected stories—stuffing them together without any segue—is what we would expect from a high school student hoping to finally make the honor roll.

If a reporter did a story on African American high school students who acted inappropriately, and added to it a story on O.J.—jamming in a story about Bill Cosby—and ended with a note about brawling black high school athletes, it wouldn\’t pass the smell test. The odor of bigotry would be in the air.

Last year, the U.S. Department of Education found that between 2013 and 2016, Detroit Public Schools listed 45 criminal cases of sexual misconduct, and 233 incidents of sexual harassment involving students. Worse, the district had no Title IX investigation procedure. Moreover, just a few years ago, USA Today did a major study of sexual misconduct in the public schools in every state, rating them on several measures. Michigan received an overall score of \”F.\”

Those who work at the Detroit Free Press have no interest in sticking it to the public schools, which is why they would never do to them what they did to the Catholic Church today. They are a disgrace to the profession of journalism.

Contact Peter Bhatia, editor and vp:

pbhatia@freepress.com

GUEST OPINION: NJ Second Fastest Warming State in US

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) recently released their

State of the Climate

report. The report showed above- to much-above-average autumn temperatures from the Gulf Coast to the Mid-Atlantic region. New Jersey is listed in the top 10 fastest-warming states in the country, with warming trends strongest along the coast. Atlantic City temperatures were the 6th warmest recorded temperatures in that area of the state this

November.

“This new report is alarming and shows that things are getting worse faster. New Jersey is one of the fastest-warming states in the country while also being one of the states most vulnerable to climate change impacts. This is downright scary because New Jersey does not see the sense of urgency and is doing very little about it. We are seeing climate impacts every day with chronic flooding, storm surges, and sea level rise. Water pollution and rising temperatures have led to algal blooms closing our biggest lakes, like Lake Hopatcong, and invasive clinging jellyfish overtaking our waterways like Barnegat Bay,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “This report is even more alarming because even though Trump denies climate change his administration is releasing reports showing dramatic climate change impacts. NOAA is standing up and doing their job. The fact that this report comes from the Trump administration should be an alarm bell going off.”

The report shows that New Jersey has the second highest average temperatures after Rhode Island, with an increase in average temperatures by 3.49 degrees compared with the 20th-century norm. Delaware and New Jersey were tied for highest increase in average temperatures in the contiguous United States over a five-year period ending this past October. Central and South Jersey counties have some of the highest temperature increases in the region. Almost all NJ counties had temperature increases over 3 degrees. Atlantic County had the highest warming of any other counties at 3.3 degrees.

“New Jersey’s temperatures have already increased by 3.5 degrees and will only continue to go up, and we have the highest short-term warming trends. These temperature increases leave New Jersey more vulnerable to flooding and fires. The Pinelands are extremely at risk for wildfires because of climate change, leading to more dislocation of species. A recent Zillow report shows that we are top three in the nation for developing homes in risk zones. DEP released a report projecting sea levels rising anywhere from 5.0 to 8.8 feet by 2100, which is alarming because our barrier islands are only 3 feet above sea level. All the reports are pointing to extreme climate impacts, but we are still building in vulnerable areas,” said Tittel. “This is the umpteenth report coming out about climate change, and the Murphy Administration are still not hearing it.”

There have been multiple recent reports showing how vulnerable New Jersey is to climate change impacts. A few weeks ago, the Department of Environmental Protection released a study projecting dramatic sea-level rise in New Jersey of up to 8.8 feet over 2000 levels by 2100. A different study based on data from the Union of Concerned Scientists shows New Jersey with 9 communities among those in the nation with the greatest percentage of homes at risk of chronic flooding by 2060 and 2100.

“We are still building in vulnerable areas and granting permits under Christie-era regulations that don’t protect against climate change or storm impacts. Some of the worst areas for flood risk are in Ocean County where they are just growing and building. Other areas in New Jersey like Cape May County, Monmouth County, Avalon, and more have built the most new houses in risk zones in the nation,” said Tittel. “Governor Murphy signed an Executive Order for a statewide climate change resiliency plan but with no implementation. It is not strong enough when it comes to being prepared and stronger than the next storm. Now that the Murphy administration have more facts on the imminent danger of sea level rise and climate impacts, they need to do something about it.”

We’re already seeing the impacts of climate change in NJ and it’s getting worse. Fish are already living in storm-drains in LBI. Some roads go underwater every time there’s a full moon and we’re losing coastal wetlands at an alarming rate. According to the Washington Post, New Jersey is one of the fastest-warming states in the nation. Its average temperature has climbed by close to 2 degrees Celsius since 1895 — double the average for the Lower 48 states.

“There are some direct and immediate actions that the Murphy Administration can take in the meantime to begin strengthening NJ. Murphy can create a cabinet level committee to coordinate all agencies in coastal resiliency and reducing greenhouse gasses. This includes updating all state regulations to include climate impacts, re-doing the Water Supply Master Plan, and using up-to-date data in our mapping and planning, and buying out flood prone properties,”said Tittel. “The Murphy Administration need to move forward on strengthening important water protections and regulations including the Flood Hazard Rules, Water Quality Management Planning Rules, CAFRA and Wetlands.”

Climate change is happening and happening even faster. UN Climate Report warns of a global tipping point by 2030 so it is even more important to reduce greenhouse gases as quickly as we can. Our state has the ability to regulate greenhouse gasses but has yet to do so. If the DEP were to begin regulating, including a moratorium on new fossil fuel projects, we could prevent making climate impacts worse.

“In order to fight climate change by reducing greenhouse gasses, we must take bold action against fossil fuels. That is why Governor Murphy must put in place a moratorium on all new fossil fuel projects. There are over a dozen fossil fuel projects proposed in New Jersey that would increase GHGs by over 32%. We need to be focusing on renewable energy, such as solar and wind power, that does not release harmful pollution that exacerbate the effects of climate change,” said Tittel. “Governor Murphy talks a lot about climate change, but other states are running circles around him. Gov. Cuomo and Gov. Inslee are going 100% carbon free by 2040 and by 2030. Eight states are going 100% renewable by 2050, even states with Republican governors like Maryland, Vermont, and Mass. are moving quicker on electric vehicles and regulating CO2.”

The Trump Administration is making our situation worse by attacking the environment and climate change protections on a national level. He has weakened 24 air pollution rule. He pulled the United States out of the Paris Agreement and disbanded the Advisory Committee for the Sustained National Climate Assessment. He also revoked Obama-era orders to make infrastructure and building standards incorporate sea level rise and flooding projections. He has eliminated the Clean Power Plan, revoked the California Clean Waiver Rule, and increased limits on methane leaks.

“Study after study are showing that New Jersey is one of the most vulnerable states on the East Coast, if not in the nation. It is clear that New Jersey is Ground Zero for climate change between sea levels rising a projected 5 to 8.8 feet, 4,524 homes in a 10-year risk zone, and a 3.49 degree temperature increase. Our state is still dragging its feet and we must take extreme actions to plan for climate change and sea level rise. We need real action from Governor Murphy, not more press releases and executive orders. We must stop offshore drilling, unnecessary pipelines, and fossil fuel expansion by committing to 100% renewable energy by 2050,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “Nature is already planning for us with flood after flood. We need to act and act now. We must build a green wall around New Jersey to fight back against climate change and protect us from the next storm.”

CATHOLIC LEAGUE FOR RELIGIOUS AND CIVIL RIGHTS: 2019 YEAR IN REVIEW

by Bill Donohue

When the year began, I was anxiously awaiting an opportunity to defend the Catholic Church in one of those storied debates sponsored by the Oxford Union. The debate was scheduled for February. But in early January, about a month after being invited, I was disinvited.

We learned that some sources in the U.S. notified those in the U.K. about me, giving them information they deemed problematic. Why invite someone who may win when the pretext of the debate was to put the Catholic Church on the defensive? So while the Oxford Union proved to be cowardly, we took their decision as a backhanded compliment. It was a smart move on their part. It was also intellectually dishonest.

On the education front at home, students from Covington Catholic High School in Kentucky were slammed by the media for abusing an Indian activist in our nation’s capital at a March for Life event. A video of the event surfaced showing the activist approaching the students, looking for a confrontation. We called out those who unfairly attacked the students, and there were quite a few who did, including Catholics. The students behaved well, unlike the activist, the media, and pundits.

When those in the arts, education, the entertainment industry, and the media go after Catholics, they usually assault our sensibilities. Bad as that is, nothing is worse than having the heavy hand of government chime in: the power of the state is unparalleled.

In this regard, there was bad news and good news in 2019. The bad news is the extent of such assaults at both the state and federal levels. The good news is the Catholic League was on the winning side in case after case.

Senators Kamala Harris and Mazie Hirono showed their anti-Catholic colors by attacking a Catholic nominee for a job on the federal bench. Brian Buescher was nominated to serve on the U.S. District Court of Nebraska, but his alleged crime was his membership in the Knights of Columbus.

The senators reckoned that there was no place in government for practicing Catholics. To wit: The Knights accept the Church’s teachings on marriage, the family, and sexuality, and that is a non-starter for those wedded to the gay and pro-abortion agendas.

We were among the first to come to bat for Buescher, and our effort paid off. After much haggling, he was seated on the court in August.

There was a Trump nominee for a seat on the U.S. District Court for Western Michigan that we took issue with. Michael Bogren said there was no difference between Catholic farm owners refusing to rent their property for the purpose of a gay wedding and the Klan’s right to discriminate against blacks.

We contacted every member of the Senate Judiciary Committee expressing our concerns about his remarks, calling on the chairman of the Committee, Sen. Lindsey Graham, to reject his nomination. Bogren got the message—the tide was turning against him—and he withdrew his nomination on June 11.

When Ralph Northam, the governor of Virginia, appointed an out-and-out anti-Catholic bigot, Gail Gordon Donegan, to a state council on women’s issues, we went into high gear: we launched a massive protest, enlisting everyone on our email list. Three days later she resigned.

Rep. Brian Sims is another anti-Catholic bigot. The Pennsylvania legislator badgered an elderly Catholic woman for eight uninterrupted minutes because she was praying outside a Planned Parenthood abortion clinic. His behavior, which was unprovoked, followed an occasion where he aggressively attempted to intimidate teenage girls, hoping to stop them from protesting against abortion.

We contacted the Chairman of the Committee on Ethics, seeking censure. When that effort failed (the operative code dealt with conflict of interest issues), we redoubled our efforts. This time we supported a resolution to censure Sims broached by Rep. Jerry Knowles. After the summer recess, Sims, feeling the pressure, did something he previously refused to do: he apologized to the woman whom he victimized.

Our most satisfying victory of the year was the massive email campaign we orchestrated opposing an effort by a California lawmaker to break the seal of Confession.

This scurrilous attempt to allow the government to encroach on the religious rights of Catholic priests and their penitents was met with a frontal assault. California State Senator Jerry Hill introduced a bill that would require the clergy to report suspected child abuse or neglect to the authorities, without regard to circumstances.

Los Angeles Archbishop José Gomez led the fight and we stood side-by-side with him. Hill was forced to amend his bill, but while it was an improvement, it was still objectionable. On June 12, I wrote to Hill about his bill.

“Regarding SB 360, you have been quoted as saying that ‘the clergy-penitent privilege has been abused on a large scale, resulting in underreported and systemic abuse of thousands of children across multiple denominations and faiths.’ Could you please provide my office with documentation to support that claim? I will not be coy: I don’t believe you can. But go ahead and prove me wrong.”

He never replied. What was he going to say?

We continued to fight Hill, and succeeded in eliciting over 7,000 emails, letters that were sent to those on both sides of the issue. On July 8, on the eve of a scheduled hearing on his initiative, he withdrew his bill.

Dana Nessel, Michigan’s Attorney General, has it out for Catholics. In February, she held a press conference on a state investigation into allegations of clergy sexual abuse. She hit below the belt when she told residents to “ask to see their badge and not their rosary” when contacted by investigators. She never sought to badger any other segment of the population.

We unloaded on Nessel on several occasions, and the good news is that both lawmakers and judges finally caught on to her act.

Michigan State Rep. Beau LaFave called her out for saying that a retired Catholic judge should not have been hired by Michigan State University to address sexual abuse. She complained about his ties to the Catholic Church, as if that should be a disqualifier.

A federal district court judge in Michigan who upheld the religious freedom of a Catholic foster care and adoption agency specifically cited Nessel’s “religious targeting” of Catholics. He was unstinting in his rebuke of her anti-Catholic bigotry.

In Pennsylvania, for the second consecutive year, the Catholic League filed an

amicus curiae

brief in the courts defending the rights of priests. We appealed to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in support of the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown decision to fight a Superior Court’s use of a grand jury report as the starting point in triggering the statutes of limitation. It was unprecedented: it sought to change the practice of allowing the clock to start at the time of the injury. At the end of the year, a decision was still pending.

U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr gave a rousing speech on religious liberty at Notre Dame Law School in the fall. What he said was historically accurate and sociologically astute. Yet he set off a firestorm of criticism. We vigorously defended him.

Some sought to shut down his free speech. Faithful America, a radical entity that was initially bankrolled by atheist billionaire George Soros, launched a petition drive asking the Justice Department’s Inspector General and Office of Professional Responsibility to investigate him for allegedly violating his duty to guarantee religious liberty. We struck back with a petition drive in support of him.

Perhaps nothing caused more excitement in Catholic circles in 2019 than the 6,000-word essay by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVIs on the origins of clergy sexual abuse. He was attacked by left-wing Catholic intellectuals and others for daring to cite the role of the sexual revolution, the role played by homosexual priests, and the role of dissent in the Church, as causative agents of the scandal. What he said was undeniably true and we were only too happy to defend him. He is a brilliant and courageous man.

Media bias is nothing new but when

USA Today

ran a lengthy story in early October singling out the Catholic Church for fighting unjust legislation, and the Associated Press (AP) followed within 24 hours with a flawed survey of former priests accused of sexual misconduct, it made us wonder what was going on.

The Catholic Church has been the victim of religious profiling for many years. State laws suspending the statutes of limitation for crimes involving the sexual abuse of minors have long given a pass to the public schools, as well as other entities. We took

USA Today

to task for trying to intimidate Catholics for pushing back. Our email subscribers gave the reporters a piece of their mind; the paper’s response was as flatulent as it was defensive.

We also delivered a message to AP for questioning why the Catholic Church doesn’t track every accused priest who either left ministry or was tossed. There is no law requiring any institution to play GPS cop on former employees who left under accusations of a criminal act. The reporters really showed their true colors when they went so far as to complain that the Church doesn’t demand that accused priests who are no longer in ministry register as sex offenders.

No accused person is registered as a sex offender unless he has been convicted.

When the

USA Today

and the AP stories broke, just one day apart in early October, we thought that would be the end of such non-stories. In fact, it was just the beginning.

The idea that the Church should not defend itself the way every other organization does was mimicked by the

Star-Gazette

in upstate New York; it appeared the month after the

USA Today

piece ran. We also learned that even before the

USA Today

story ran, CBS and NBC, as well as internet sites, were screaming about all the money the Church was paying for lobbyists. A law firm, SeegerWeiss, was tabulating the data. Yet all of these organizations do not hesitate to acquire the best defense attorneys money can buy when they are in the hot seat.

In November, the Wisconsin affiliate of National Public Radio did a hit job on the Church by dragging up old cases of abuse. Is there any institution in the nation that could not be subjected to the same scrutiny? In December, CNN weighed in with the most inane story of them all.

“Pedophile Priests Operated at this California School for Decades.” The CNN story was about one school in California; it examined cases dating back to the 1950s. Its title was factually wrong: every alleged victim was a male high school teenager, meaning that it was homosexual priests (as usual) who were the offenders. The story never mentioned any new cases.

For years the media have been lecturing the Church about keeping molesting priests in ministry for too long. What happens when the abusers get the boot? The media complain that the Church is required to police them. How about other employers? Are they expected to “supervise” ex-employees who have been fired for sexual misconduct? No. The “rule” only applies to the Catholic Church.

After AP ran its story in October, similar stories appeared the next month in the

Denver Post

USA Today

, and WCPO-TV Cincinnati (the ABC affiliate). When we researched if there were any stories like this done on non-Catholic organizations, we found none.

AP ran an unfair story in November and a fair one in December. The former was an investigation into the way diocesan review boards handle cases of alleged abuse; the latter was an update on all the states that were conducting an investigation into past cases of abuse.

What was the problem about the story on the review boards? It was the suggestion that defense attorneys hired by the Church were somehow unfair when they grilled the accusers. That is what they are supposed to do. Should the Church go easy on those who are making serious charges about an offense that took place decades ago, and where in all likelihood some, if not all, of the parties to the case are dead?

Just before and after Thanksgiving, NBC ran a series of stories about Church employees and their views on a range of Church issues. As with the fair AP story, I was interviewed for this big report. I was treated fairly in both instances, and the overall coverage was also fairly done.

There are so many wholly indefensible comments made about priests on TV, especially by late-night talk-show hosts, it is hard to keep up with them all. In 2019, it was not Bill Maher who took first prize, it was Trevor Noah of “The Daily Show.”

Noah got so vulgar and vicious on his Comedy Central show that in the spring we hand-delivered a searing letter to 22 top executives at Viacom (the owner of Comedy Central) asking them to rein him in. “There are other options we can take,” I said, “and I will not hold back. But I thought I should at least apprise you of this matter now in the hope that we won’t have to pursue other options.”

Noah got the message and pivoted: He laid off the Church.

As expected, organized atheists attacked Christians at Christmastime, but what was different in 2019 was the brazenness of these groups—they attempted to cash in on Christmas.

Americans United for Separation of Church and State sent out a survey as part of its bid to gain new membership; it portrayed those who support religious liberty as proponents of discrimination. According to these militant secularists, anyone who accepts the biblical teachings on marriage and the family is a bigot out to sunder the rights of homosexuals.

Freedom From Religion Foundation ran a full-page ad in the

New York Times

that demonized Christians for exercising their First Amendment right to religious liberty. They accused them of trying to impose a “theocracy” on the nation. This was pure demagoguery pushed by atheist extremists.

In both instances, these religion-hating organizations—they hate Christians the most, holding a special place for Catholics—used Christmas to raise money while bashing us. It was a new low. If white racists used Black History month to make money while bashing blacks everyone would brand them as opportunists as well as racists. This is what the religion haters did in 2019 to Christians.

We ended the year with the publication of a booklet I wrote, “The ACLU at 100,” that chronicled the history of the organization in time for its centennial in January 2020. I sought to debunk the myth that it is a non-partisan institution. I also challenged its reputation as a force for freedom in America. It was based on my two books on the ACLU, as well as new material.

The year 2019 led the Catholic League into battle on many fronts, and we came away with many key victories. This is a tribute to the Catholic League staff and, importantly, to our supporters, without whom we would never be able to score a single victory.

Guest Opinion: Lauding Bernards for Diwali holiday, Hindus want all New Jersey schools close on Diwali

Welcoming Bernards Township School District (BTSD) in New Jersey declaring Diwali holiday for students during 2022-23 school year, Hindus are urging all public school districts and private-charter-independent schools in New Jersey to close on their most popular festival Diwali.

BTSD calendar 2022-23, posted on its website, shows schools closed on October 24, 2022 for Diwali.

Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada today, said that holiday on Diwali in New Jersey schools would be a step in the positive direction in view of presence of a substantial number of Hindu students at schools around the state, as it was important to meet the religious and spiritual needs of Hindu pupils.

Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, indicated that since it was important for Hindu families to celebrate Diwali day together at home with their children; closing schools on Diwali would ensure that and would also display how respectful and accommodating New Jersey schools were to their faith.

If schools had declared other religious holidays, why not Diwali, Rajan Zed asked. Holidays of all major religions should be honored and no one should be penalized for practicing their religion, Zed added.

Zed suggested that all New Jersey schools, public-private-charter-independent, to seriously look into declaring Diwali as an official holiday, thus recognizing the intersection of spirituality and education. Zed noted that awareness about other religions thus created by such holidays like Diwali would make New Jersey students well-nurtured, well-balanced, and enlightened citizens of tomorrow.

Rajan Zed urged New Jersey Governor Philip D. Murphy, New Jersey Education Commissioner Dr. Lamont Repollet and New Jersey State Board of Education President Kathy Goldenberg; to work towards adding Diwali as an official holiday in all the state’s public schools, and persuading the private-charter-independent schools to follow. Zed also thanked BTSD Board of Education lead by Robin McKeon and BTSD Superintendent Nick Markarian for understanding the concerns of Hindu community.

Zed further says that Hinduism is rich in festivals and religious festivals are very dear and sacred to Hindus. Diwali, the festival of lights, aims at dispelling the darkness and lighting up the lives and symbolizes the victory of good over evil.

Hinduism is oldest and third largest religion of the world with about 1.1 billion adherents and moksh (liberation) is its ultimate goal. There are about three million Hindus in USA.

Mission of awards-winning BTSD, which runs six schools, is “to provide a superior education which results in academic excellence, responsible behavior, good citizenship and fosters social-emotional development”.