In major setback to his agenda, Murphy abandons N.J.’s version of the ‘Green New Deal’

Phil Murphy’s Energy Master Plan (EMP) is getting rebooted, Save Jerseyans.

A growing chorus of criticism, dead whales, lack of transparency, and wind energy sector woes appeared to catalyze a Friday announcement that the Murphy Administration was scrapping its green energy blueprint in favor of a new strategy (see below). It’s unambiguously a major blow to Murphy and his presidential ambitions since his broad-in-scope agenda to make the Garden State carbon neutral by 2050 has served as a central policy aim of his tenure in Trenton. Environmentalist have noticed Murphy’s stutter steps; just this week, Murphy was downgraded from an “A” to a “B+” by the League of Conservation Voters.

Critics of the EMP – which still didn’t have a definitive cost estimate 1,085 post-introduction – believe Murphy’s announcement is an acknowledgment of the plan’s irreparable flaws.

“Today’s announcement by the Governor’s office that the Energy Master Plan is being postponed is the first honest truth about the plan – that it is a total failure and must be thrown out and replaced with a plan that is achievable, reliable, and affordable,” said Affordable Energy for New Jersey, the leading coalition opposed to the former EMP proposal.

Some independent groups had pegged the cost of Murphy’s plan which relied heavily on electrification and offshore wind turbines in the hundreds of billions of dollars range.

Sources familiar with the administration’s thinking tell Save Jersey that the EMP 2.0 is likely to be a far less ambitious, opting instead for one or two achievable policy goals instead of a broad green energy overhaul in an attempt to secure a legacy for Murphy.

Matt Rooney
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MATT ROONEY is SaveJersey.com's founder and editor-in-chief, a practicing New Jersey attorney, and the host of 'The Matt Rooney Show' on 1210 WPHT every Sunday evening from 7-10PM EST.