HULK RETURNS: The “big guy” is back — this time with green groups riled up over an early-stage pitch to drill thousands of gas wells in the Southern Tier. Mark Ruffalo, the actor who played the Hulk in the Avengers movies, is once again raging with anti-fracking environmental groups and Democratic lawmakers. They will join Ruffalo at a news conference this morning to announce support for a bill to ban using carbon dioxide to extract natural gas in New York. “The solution to the climate crisis is to stop emitting greenhouse gasses, not to use one greenhouse gas to help you extract another one from the ground,” Sen. Liz Krueger, who supports the bill (S8357/A8866), told Playbook. “We don’t need this ridiculous idea damaging our land, our water and our people’s health and offering more false solutions to the greatest challenge of our time.” ZERO EMISSION SCHOOL BUS PUSHBACK — POLITICO’s Katelyn Cordero and Marie J. French: School leaders are calling a New York mandate to convert all of the state’s 45,000 school buses to zero emissions a logistical nightmare. Environmental advocates see it as a key part of meeting the state’s emissions reduction mandates with real health benefits for children riding the buses. The state budget approved by lawmakers in 2022 included a requirement that school districts would have to stop buying fossil fuel buses by 2027 and fully transition their fleets by 2035. … Meanwhile, in New Jersey, the state is launching a program to pilot EV school buses in the state by providing grants for buses and charging infrastructure. The program is expected to provide up to $45 million in grants over three years. NEW FAMILIAR FACE AT TURNPIKE — Former New Jersey Assemblymember John Wisniewski — a commanding presence who led his chamber’s transportation committee and lawmakers’ investigation into Bridgegate — is joining the board of the New Jersey Turnpike Authority at the recommendation of Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, his former running. Wisniewski, an attorney now in private practice lost to Phil Murphy in the 2017 gubernatorial primary, will replace John Minella, a longtime ally of Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop. Wisniewski and Coughlin were Middlesex County running mates. Wisniewski’s appointment has not been publicly announced but appeared online this week. Several people were caught off guard by his appearance on the board’s roster. The speaker and Senate president each get a pick that bypasses the process most Turnpike Authority board members must go through, which is nomination by the governor and confirmation by the Senate. There seemed to be no hard feelings from Fulop. “John Minella worked in management at the Turnpike for 30 plus years before retiring and was subsequently appointed by Speaker Prieto as his designee on the board,” the Jersey City mayor said in a statement. “Speaker Coughlin was gracious enough to keep John as a holdover for six additional years on the board and last summer they made an agreement for John to transition out at the start of 2024, which just occurred. We thank Speaker Coughlin for the opportunity to serve.” Wisniewski, who did not return a call seeking comment, is returning to public service at an interesting time for transportation policy in the state. The Turnpike Authority is backing a controversial bridge replacement and expansion, which Fulop opposes; the board just approved a budget that included toll increases; lawmakers are being asked to increase the gas tax to fund the state’s transportation trust fund; and there is pressure to find more money for NJ Transit, which is faces double-digit fare hikes and a massive fiscal cliff. — Ry Rivard DISCLOSURE DUST-UP: Sen. Scott Wiener said today he's confident his first-in-the-nation corporate climate disclosure law will withstand yesterday's lawsuit from national business groups. “If we weren’t living with so many right-wingers on the bench, these arguments would be laughed out of court in 30 seconds,” he told Jordan. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and others are arguing not only that Wiener's SB 253 violates the First Amendment by compelling speech on a “controversial” issue and that California is attempting to act as a de facto national emissions regulator by mandating large companies disclose their greenhouse gas footprints, but that the law has opened a "Pandora's box" of state-level disclosure bills that will cost companies. Democrats in New York are emboldened. “The California lawsuit only underscores the urgency of our legislation here in New York to require emissions transparency from the biggest corporations,” said New York state Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal, sponsor of a disclosure bill in Albany. “We won’t allow the fossil fuel industry and big corporations spending millions of dollars on frivolous lawsuits in California to scare us off from doing what’s right for New Yorkers and the entire planet.” — Jordan Wolman HOCHUL’S CHANCE TO RESHAPE UTILITY REGULATOR — POLITICO’s Marie J. French: Gov. Kathy Hochul is finally getting the opportunity to reshape the powerful utility regulator that plays an essential role in the state’s climate policy. Hochul didn’t nominate any of the current six members of the Public Service Commission, which oversees the state’s electric, gas, water and telecommunications companies. She wanted two longtime Cuomo aides on the commission to step down when she first took office — and both refused. HOLTEC PAYS $5M — POLITICO’s Ry Rivard: Holtec, the nuclear energy giant based in Camden, will pay $5 million following a criminal investigation into state tax credits it sought in 2018, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin said Tuesday. A lengthy investigation looked at whether the politically well-connected Holtec and a related real estate company had backdated investments in another New Jersey energy company to qualify for $1 million in state tax credits. South Jersey power broker George Norcross is on the Holtec board. LIBERTY STATE PARK DEJA VU: For the second time in less than a year, Gov. Phil Murphy’s administration canceled a meeting about Liberty State Park. On Tuesday, the administration announced it had canceled a meeting set for Tuesday night. The reason for canceling the public meeting on the day it was to be held was nearly incomprehensible. In a notice posted on a Liberty State Park website, the state said, “Due to significant public interest in the Liberty State Park Revitalization Program, the Design Task Force Meeting scheduled for tonight, Tuesday January 30, will be postponed to a later date.” The administration defended the decision by saying the meeting scheduled for Tuesday did not provide a public comment period but a rescheduled meeting would. The Murphy administration used a similar reason to cancel an open house last March — amid criticism from a group tied to billionaire Paul Fireman, owner of a nearby golf course — because it might draw “significant public interest.” The cancellation of this week’s meeting comes after the Democratic heads of the Assembly and Senate wrote a letter late last week echoing some of the talking points used by Fireman allies to oppose the state’s plans for its most visited park. On Monday, the head of the Department of Environmental Protection sent a reply letter brushing back many of the criticisms. The lawmakers, for instance, claimed that the state was planning to flood the interior of the park when the state’s plan instead is to prepare that area for flooding following storms. Anjuli Ramos-Busot, the head of the state chapter of the Sierra Club, said the cancellation of the meeting shows involvement by the administration in the park plan and pointed out that construction is ongoing there. — Ry Rivard ENVIRONMENTAL ADVOCATES DESCEND: Environmental groups held a forum on cleaning up fuels in the transportation sector, pushed back on Hochul’s proposed cut for water infrastructure funding and advocated for lawmakers to include a Superfund-style program targeting fossil fuel companies. The New York League of Conservation Voters organized the event on the “clean fuel standard” for the transportation sector, which Hochul wants to keep studying. Proponents of the policy, however, said it’s time to act and noted that every other state to implement a cap-and-trade program on emissions has also implemented a low carbon fuel standard. The program faces opposition from environmental justice groups who want to keep the focus on electrification of transportation. New York City, which is utilizing renewable diesel and biodiesel in its fleet, supports the program because it would bring down the costs of that policy. “We’re the only group on the East Coast that has renewable diesel. We have this domestic, sustainable switch out fuel that works perfectly … but we have to pay a premium,” said Keith Kerman, New York City chief fleet officer. Later in the day, a coalition, including Citizens Campaign for the Environment and water providers, pushed for $600 million in clean water infrastructure funding with Senate Environmental Conservation chair Pete Harckham. Hochul has proposed cutting the program down to $250 million annually for two years, threatening a popular program. “This is a cut that will not stand,” Harckham said. Hochul’s budget director said earlier this month that the amount could be reduced because there’s money that hasn’t been spent, but Harckham said that’s been a major frustration and that the administration should get it out to communities. On the revenue-positive side, NYPIRG organized an event pushing for the Climate Superfund measure with Assemblymembers Jeff Dinowitz, Anna Kelles, Harvey Epstein and others. The bill would place an assessment on oil companies based on their historic sales of fossil fuels. The lookback nature would prevent costs from being passed on to consumers, proponents say, because some companies would be paying less compared to others. It would raise about $3 billion annually. Hochul and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie have not backed the measure. — Marie J. French MORE LIBERTY STATE PARK DRAMA: Last week, Senate President Nick Scutari and Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin sent a letter with “urgent concerns” about the process to redo Liberty State Park that appeared to echo some of the criticisms directed at the state by groups aligned with billionaire Paul Fireman, owner of a nearby golf course. In particular, the lawmakers were concerned about plans they said existed to “flood 170 acres” in the heart of the park. In response, they got an 11-page letter Monday from Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Shawn LaTourette suggesting it’s “alarming” that the lawmakers had some “misunderstanding” and “confusion” about the process and plans for the park. “While it is not clear why the Legislature would believe this, DEP is aware of certain private interests and individuals who have been knowingly and purposefully circulating misinformation along these very same lines,” LaTourette wrote. The state is working on plans to clean up and restore over 200 acres in the center of the park that are currently off limits because of pollution, setting aside 50 for an athletics area and an additional 165 acres for a “central park.” It’s that large area that lawmakers seemed to be referring to. Without going into the nuances of hydrology, it appears that part of the area will be parkland as we think of it most of the time but also be designed to handle flooding following storms to protect the rest of the park and surrounding areas — in other words, it can handle flooding when it floods but would not be flooded for no reason. So, for instance, a hill that can be used for running most of the year will also be able to keep back floodwater. — Ry Rivard WHAT’S NEXT FOR OFFSHORE WIND IN NJ: Last week was a big week for offshore wind in New Jersey when the Board of Public Utilities approved a pair of projects: a 1,342 megawatt project by Attentive Energy and a whopping 2,400 megawatt project by Leading Light Wind. But there is more to come this year, with opportunities to expand the industry but also for critics to slow or block projects. A quick look at key developments to expect: The projects approved last week are years away. That means there are all kinds of permitting or financial hurdles they could face. The BPU looked to protect the new projects from high inflation that killed two of the three offshore wind projects previously approved in New Jersey, Orsted’s Ocean Wind 1 and 2. The new contracts include inflation-adjustment mechanisms. But with neither project expected to be fully up and running until the early 2030s, there’s a lot of time to expect the unexpected. Murphy is looking to approve more generation projects before he leaves office in early 2026: The next solicitation, the fourth by the state, is expected to be opened in “early” 2024 — think the first half of the year — and awards announced in “early” 2025. Transmission: The BPU is planning to open bidding for another round of transmission projects to help bring offshore wind energyashore. In fall 2022, the BPU awarded $1 billion to land-based projects, disappointing developers who were looking to build an offshore grid network to reduce the number of shore crossings transmission lines have to make. Expect that bidding to open this year. Atlantic Shores financing is still uncertain.The company, which won approval to build a project in 2021, was left out of a legislative deal last year that tried, to no avail, to keep Orsted on track by boosting its bottom line. After Orsted pulled out, Atlantic Shores stuck around, but so far lawmakers have not shown an appetite to help the company. Last week, it was not picked for a second project in the state. Easing opposition? There are some early — if not necessarily bankable — signs that some of the opponents of offshore wind will be easing up on their objections. On Monday morning, I was surprised to find an email from Bob Stern, the head of Save Long Beach Island, a group critical of offshore wind, with some tentative praise for the BPU picking new projects that are over 40 miles offshore. He said it’s a “positive sign to see the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities putting forth two new proposed projects farther out in the Hudson South area for environmental review, where they should actually appear as ‘specks on the horizon’ as Governor Murphy has promised.” The statement disses Atlantic Shores, which will be about 15 or 20 miles from shore. — Ry Rivard | 
