Barbara Buono's Lesbian Daughter Is In A Very Different Situation Than Louie Gohmert's Lesbian Daughter

Digby, Jacquie and Amato met with Barbara Buono at Netroots Nation last week-- so now we can all vouch for what an incredible governor she would make. All she has to do is get around a gigantic roadblock, media darling (they're masochists) Chris Christie. But, as far as Blue America is concerned, it's now official: we endorse Barbara Buono for governor of the Garden State!

Early Monday morning I found an e-mail from someone named Tessa Bitterman. I never heard of her and almost deleted it. But something made me open it and read it. I'm glad I did. Tessa is Barbara Buono's youngest daughter, a law student. Perhaps you read the tragedy of Republican Congressman and sociopathic homophobe Louie Gohmert (R-TX), whose daughter, an artist and a lesbian, moved to Shanghai to get as far away from her hate-filled father as she could. Very sad, especially as Gohmert runs around spreading lies and divisiveness about the LGBT community. Buono's daughter is also a lesbian and, of course, her relationship with her mother is nothing like the acrimonious and combative one in the Gohmert household. This is the e-mail from Tessa-- not about Gohmert, but about another Republican hatemonger and homophobe, Chris Christie:

Growing up, my mom was always there for me no matter what. I’m gay and from an early age I felt free to express myself with my mother, knowing she would always support me for who I am.

As a gay American I have a stake in what our governor says about marriage equality. And I have been deeply shocked by Chris Christie. As governor, he has been a giant roadblock to New Jersey achieving equality for all. By failing to support marriage equality, Christie is blatantly delegitimizing an entire group of people.

I have also seen Chris Christie misrepresent himself as a moderate to New Jersey-- that’s why it’s even more important to stop him before he takes his radical show on the road when he goes national after this election.

...Now that Christie is running for re-election, he is more than happy to try and portray himself as a moderate. But the truth is-- his record scares me. It scares me because if he takes his brand of deception national, all Americans are in for a rude awakening.

Tessa urges her readers to contribute to her mom's campaign-- which you can do here-- and reminds New Jersey voters that "if we want to keep politics of polarizing and dividing people from spreading beyond New Jersey" we need to help Buono overcome the media's narrative that Christie "has the election in the bag." This photo shows the inside of Christie headquarters the other day, when interns were fed donuts. Read the label carefully:

UPDATE from Tessa

"Did you see what the Supreme Court just did? They just ruled that I and millions of other Americans have the right to have the federal government recognize our marriages.

"But here in New Jersey, Chris Christie is still blocking marriage equality-- he is trying to be more conservative than Rand Paul, Marco Rubio and the rest of the Tea Party."

And speaking of New Jersey's homophobic and bigoted governor, Christie disagrees with the Supreme Court rulings:

“I don’t think the ruling was appropriate,” said Christie, who is running for re-election in a blue state, one in which Democrats have hailed the SCOTUS decision on DOMA.

“I think it was wrong,” Christie continued, calling it “typical of the problem we see” in New Jersey’s own Supreme Court…

He blasted the U.S. Supremes for substituting “their own judgment for the judgment of a Republican Congress and a Democratic President. In the Republican Congress in the ‘90s and Bill Clinton. I thought that Justice Kennedy’s opinion was, in many respects, incredibly insulting to those people, 340-some members of Congress who voted for the Defense of Marriage Act, and Bill Clinton.”

“He basically said that the only reason to pass that bill was to demean people. That’s heck of a thing to say about Bill Clinton and about the Republican Congress back in the ‘90s. And it’s just another example of judicial supremacy, rather than having the government run by the people we actually vote for,” said Christie, who recently appeared with Clinton at a Clinton Global Initiative conference.

Bill Clinton, of course, has completely disowned DOMA and has campaigned against it. The Republicans may too... in a couple decades. More reason than ever to support Barbara Buono for governor of New Jersey.

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Rahm Emanuel Is Sending Rich, Dumb Dems To Christie

Frank Lautenberg died Sunday night. He was, at 89 the oldest member of the Senate, had been ill for a long time and his death doesn't surprise many. Now Obama's BBF, Gov. Chris Christie gets to appoint a successor. Lautenberg was a dependable progressive across the board. His ProgressivePunch crucial vote score was 94.05, just between Barbara Boxer and Tammy Baldwin. Although, like many of his wealthy liberal colleagues, he sometimes joined with the Republicans to pass corporate-friendly policies, there were no issues he wasn't one of the best in the Senate on. Christie is not likely to pick someone nearly as good-- on any issues.

Today is primary day in New Jersey, although neither Republican incumbent Christie nor Democratic challenger Barbara Buono has any real competition. Buono's problem is that-- largely thanks to Obama and a superficial media-- Christie has an undeserved reputation as a moderate. His record is that of a hard core right-winger, far out of step with most New Jersey voters. Buono has been having a hard time raising money and Christie is busy defining her before she can define herself. So far Christie has raised $6.6 million and Buono has raised $2.3 million. The Newark Star-Ledger reported yesterday that Christie has been reaping a great deal of money from Democrats, many sent his way by Rahm Emanuel, a conservative with many of the same pro-Wall Street policy agendas as Christie. I know it isn't politically correct to say "retarded," but that's probably the best way to describe the "Democrats" writing big checks to Christie.

Christie’s partnership with New Jersey [super-corrupt] Democratic leaders and his warm relationship with Obama after Hurricane Sandy could be enticing donors who don’t often give to GOP candidates, even if they are closer ideologically to Democrat Barbara Buono, Christie’s lesser-known challenger, political scientists and Democratic fundraisers say.

"While I do not agree with his stance on every issue, he is one of the best political leaders I have talked to in a long time," said Ken Rosen, a UC-Berkeley professor who cut a $3,800 check to Christie after chatting with him at two events. "He is willing to take on tough issues such as pension reform, education reform, mental-health issues, even if his views are not politically correct."

...Tim Mullen, a Chicago investor who gave more than $100,000 to Emanuel’s campaign for mayor in 2011 and bundled from $200,000 to $500,000 for Obama in 2008, has also sent Christie a maximum donation, as has his wife Alice. Mullen was already a Christie donor in 2009, state records show.

...Brigid Harrison, a political science professor at Montclair State University, said much of Christie’s Democratic support stems from a recent fundraiser in California with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. If those West Coast donors knew more about Christie’s conservative record inside the Statehouse-- vetoing a same-sex marriage bill and minimum-wage increase, for example-- they might not be so eager to open their wallets, she said.

"These are exactly the type of donors (Buono) would need in order to put a chink in Christie’s armor," Harrison said. "For people who do not live in the state of New Jersey, Christie’s bipartisan rhetoric is wildly appealing, particularly for those who don’t scratch beneath the surface."

This blog has endorsed Buono and you can contribute to her campaign here. Maximum contribution is $3,800. And there is no minimum. Do you hate Chris Matthews? Add an extra $5 to what you want to contribute to Buono.

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Obama And Christie Cozy Up To Each Other Again In New Jersey

Sorry, Senator Buono... boys only

Yesterday, President Obama officially endorsed Ed Markey for the Senate seat that John Kerry gave up to become Secretary of State. "Ed has a strong record of helping businesses create jobs and making sure that middle class families get ahead," said the President about a congressman who is considerably more progressive than he himself ever was. "His work on fuel economy standards will save money for American consumers and help reduce our dependence on foreign oil. I share his commitment to common sense efforts to reduce gun violence, and I know he will be a critical vote on this issue. Massachusetts has a long history of Senators who have made a real difference for the Commonwealth and our nation, and I know Ed Markey will continue that great tradition." Obama did well in Massachusetts last November, winning their 11 electoral votes with 61% to former Massachusetts' Governor Romney's 37%. Obama didn't do quite as well in New Jersey over all-- but still extremely well. He beat Romney 58-41% in the Garden State. But it's in New Jersey where the progressive Democratic candidate for statewide office needs his help.

Barbara Buono is running against Chris Cristie for governor. This blog endorsed her and is trying to help her raise money. But Obama... well yesterday has was running around making what looked like campaign stops on the Boardwalk with Christie. NBC News was painting it as an opportunity for the President to change the subject-- the rash of trumped up right-wing faux-scandals the media in DC is obsessing over.

Immediately after Hurricane Sandy slammed into the East Coast, President Obama and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie embraced each other-- and that embrace helped both men politically. For Obama, receiving words of praise from arguably the country’s most recognizable governor (as well as the keynote speaker at the GOP convention!) undercut the Romney/Republican message that the incumbent president was a divisive figure. For Christie, his poll numbers skyrocketed after Hurricane Sandy, even among Democrats in the blue state of New Jersey. And the two men reprise their embrace today, as Obama visits the Jersey Shore, where he will speak at 1:30 pm ET on its recovery after Hurricane Sandy. Once again, the two men standing together helps both of them, at least in the short term. For Obama, the trip allows him to talk about the economy, the importance of government assistance after a disaster, and bipartisan cooperation. For Christie, the visit only benefits him as he seeks re-election in a state Obama won by nearly 18 percentage points in 2012; in fact, 42% of Obama voters are already supporting Christie’s re-election bid, per an NBC/Marist poll from earlier this month. Long term, Christie’s appearance with Obama could be a problem (remember Charlie Crist?), but first thing’s first for the New Jersey governor-- he’s up for re-election this year.

Yes, I remember Charlie Crist. Debbie Wasserman Schultz is currently pushing this conservative Republican down the throats of Florida Democratic voters as though he were an actual Democrat, instead of an opportunistic whore trying to claw his way back into office, this time as a "Democrat." And Chris Christie is, generally speaking, even further right than Charlie Crist. Democrats who harbor the media-fueled misconception that Christie is somehow "a moderate" need to look at his abysmal record as governor, where he vetoed a marriage equality bill that passed both houses of the state legislature, vetoed an equal pay for equal work bill for women that also passed both houses, vetoes an increase in the minimum wage and, the first anti-Choice governor of New Jersey since Row v Wade, he took great delight in slashing the state's family planning funding-- while increasing taxes and unemployment. Yesterday Joshua Henne of OneNewJersey warned that there would be 7 topics that Obama and Christie would definitely not discuss. Maybe Obama should consider discussing them with Barbara Buono instead.

1. Last week, what exactly did Christie mean when he said “I don’t think there’s been any proof thus far that Sandy was caused by climate change”?

2. Does Christie feel guilty that he campaigned and fundraised last Fall for Tea Party congressional candidates… who then voted against Sandy aid for New Jersey in January.

3. Superstorm Sandy made voting difficult last November… so why did Christie recently veto Early Voting?

4. How much money did Christie receive from the high-dollar AshBritt fundraisers scheduled after he handed the politically-connected firm a no-bid Superstorm Sandy cleanup contract?

5. In an election year, is it appropriate for Christie and his family to feature themselves-- in the style of a political ad-- in the new taxpayer-funded $25 million marketing campaign to highlight the Shore’s resurgence?

6. With Sandy causing many New Jersey residents pain, how come Christie added to their woes when he vetoed increasing the minimum wage?

7. How ironic is it to be on Bruce Springsteen’s beloved Asbury Park boardwalk, as Christie is living the mantra "we take care of our own"-- showering corporations and mall developers with hundreds of millions in handouts and protecting a tax cut for millionaires… while allowing property taxes to hit record highs, driving up toll, bus and train costs and vetoing women’s health funding four times?

Enjoy Springsteen... and think about helping Barbara Buono replace Chris Christie here.

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Someone Needs To Tell Obama There's A Great Democratic Candidate Running For Governor Of New Jersey

Last year Obama beat Romney in New Jersey 2,117,175 (58%) to 1,472,709 (41%). In 2008 he had beaten McCain with 57%. Yesterday Obama supporters in the Beltway media were touting how the Republican plans to sabotage the Affordable Care Act could well backfire on GOP governors and legislators who are obstructing it. Jonathan Cohn was all over the success in California, where the ACA is driving the cost of health care down. "Based on the premiums that insurers have submitted for final regulatory approval," he wrote, "the majority of Californians buying coverage on the state's new insurance exchange will be paying less-- in many cases, far less-- than they would pay for equivalent coverage today... Unfortunately, millions of uninsured and under-insured Americans live in places like Florida and Texas, where there is far less sympathy-- and a great deal more hostility-- to the idea of Obamacare. It’s entirely possible that the insurance bids in those states will be a lot higher, precisely because state officials there are doing nothing to help and quite a bit to hurt implementation. But if that happens, blame won’t belong with the heath care law or the federal officials in charge of its management. It will belong with the state officials who can’t, or won’t, deliver to their constituents the benefits that California’s officials appear to be providing theirs."

Brain Beutler at TPM was also warning Republican saboteurs: "[A]ll the states trying to make the law fail will look very stupid and terribly craven if California pulls this off. Their predictable claims that Obamacare is all screwed up won’t be very persuasive if a giant, historically mismanaged state like California can make it work well." And Ezra Klein says if the GOP hopes rest on failure in California, they're in trouble:

Of course, California and Oregon are managing Obamacare particularly well. But the state-by-state nature of the Affordable Care Act creates really unusual political dynamics around how the law is perceived in its first year.

Imagine it’s the end of 2014. California now boasts a working, near-universal healthcare system. Nothing perfect, but clearly a success after the first year of implementation. Texas, meanwhile, is a bit of a mess. They didn’t allow the Medicaid expansion so the state’s poorest residents got nothing. They didn’t help with the exchanges, or the outreach, so there aren’t many choices, and premiums aren’t as low one might hope.

Viewed in isolation, Texas’s problems would be deadly for the law. But viewed next to California, they might mainly be a problem for the political class in Texas, which has failed to implement a clearly workable law.

Krugman, of course, is smarter:

The Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, is a policy Rube Goldberg device-- instead of doing the simple, obvious thing, which would just be to insure everyone, it basically relies on a combination of regulations and subsidies to rope, coddle, and nudge us into a rough approximation of a single-payer system. There were reasons for this, of course, mainly political: a complete displacement of the existing system would have been both too destructive of powerful interests and too radical for voters.

He also notes that the California preliminary numbers are "looking very good, with costs coming in below expectations." He concludes the same way, that "Predictions that Obamacare will be a big political issue are probably right-- but not in the way gleeful conservatives imagined." So where does that leave Chris Christie and, more important, the citizens of New Jersey. Christie has made a determined effort to pass himself off as a "mainstream moderate" and, partly because of Obama, many low-info folks-- mostly out of state, but some in New Jersey as well-- believe it. Earlier this week, John Nichols, writing for The Nation nailed it. "When New Jersey Governor Chris Christie was asked in mid-May about his political bona fides, he replied, 'I’m a damn good Republican and a good conservative Republican.' Believe what he says-- especially the 'conservative' part. Sure, Christie goes out of his way to say nice things about President Obama, who worked closely with the governor to provide immediate and essential support to New Jersey communities battered by Superstorm Sandy. And yes, Christie’s been willing to call out some of the most absurd excesses of his fellow Republicans. But these gestures are about style, not policy. The first-term governor has been meticulous about positioning his fall re-election campaign as a “bipartisan” effort. Christie knows that New Jersey, which gave Obama 58 percent of the vote last November and sends two Democrats to the US Senate, has a long history of preferring Republican moderates-- like former Senator Clifford Case and former Governor Christine Todd Whitman-- over conservatives.

Christie is no moderate. He’s a social conservative who opposes reproductive rights, has defunded Planned Parenthood and has repeatedly rejected attempts to restore state funding for family planning centers. He has vetoed money for clinics that provide health screenings for women, including mammograms and pap smears. He vetoed marriage equality.

Christie’s consistent when it comes to reading from the right’s playbook. The governor announced early in his tenure that he was pulling New Jersey out of a regional carbon emissions reduction program, and then declared his intention to scale back the state’s renewable energy targets. And in the midst of this election year, he vetoed a plan for early voting-- a move that, as the state’s largest newspaper suggested, Christie “knows will play well with Republicans nationally,” given that they “have led previous efforts to suppress voter turnout by curtailing early voting hours.”

Christie is at his most militant when it comes to implementing the austerity agenda associated with the most conservative Republican governors. There’s a credible case to be made that he is “doing a Scott Walker on New Jersey,” as a Garden State headline suggested in early May, after the governor proposed gutting civil service protections. Christie makes no bones about his admiration for the Wisconsin governor, whose anti-labor crusade inspired mass protests, a recall attempt and miserable job-creation numbers. And Walker says he’s taken inspiration from Christie, who since his 2009 election has been bashing public employees, ripping teachers and matching tough talk with even tougher cuts.

The Newark Star-Ledger says Christie “has made his battle with unions a centerpiece of his first term,” and the governor doesn’t disagree, declaring, “I think unions are the problem.” Under Christie, the minimum retirement age for state employees has been increased, as have contribution requirements for benefits and pensions. He’s attacked tenure protections for teachers, and according to the New Jersey Education Association, since Christie’s election “teachers and school employees have seen their budgets slashed, their colleagues laid off, their class sizes increased.” It’s not just the public sector that has taken hits: the governor has used his veto pen to block minimum-wage hikes and pay-equity legislation, and he has cut the earned-income tax credit for the working poor. At the same time, Christie has rejected tax hikes for billionaires and found plenty of money for corporate tax breaks and giveaways.

As with other governors who have gone the austerity route, Christie is proving that budget cuts and constant wrangling with unions is bad for the economy. New Jersey’s unemployment rate has been way above the national average since 2011; it’s currently the seventh-highest in the country and the worst in the region. New Jersey also has the nation’s second-highest percentage of mortgage loans in foreclosure. And the highest local property taxes.

And as for Obamacare, well Christie called Medicaid expansion provision needed to implement the Affordable Care Act. "extortion" and all of last year, he blustered about not letting New Jersey be part of it. Last July, at the Brookings Institution he stated that he was "glad that the Supreme Court ruled that extortion is still illegal in America. That’s a relief because Obamacare, on Medicaid to the states, was extortion. It essentially said, ‘You expand your program to where we tell you, and if you don’t, we’re taking all the rest of your money away.’ That’s extortion. It was a whole bunch of nice words in a bill, but it was extortion. I’m really glad that a majority of the Supreme Court still supports the proposition, as a former prosecutor, that extortion is still illegal, even when done by the President of the United States.”

Before that he was urging Republicans in Congress to repeal it. When asked by Wall Street shill Maria Bartiromo if he was for repeal, he responded "Yeah, I did not favor Obamacare in the first place. I thought it was too big a grab by the federal government for our health care system. It should not have been voted on in the form that it was in the first place. Business folks are very concerned, and they're sitting on a lot of capital because they're just not sure of how much more cost the government is going to load onto them not only through Obamacare, but through the higher taxes the president is talking about." So he vetoed a bill from the legislature implementing the healthcare exchange for New Jersey citizens. December, 2012, while Christie was visiting President Obama in the White House to coordinate efforts after SuperStorm Sandy:

“New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said on Thursday he vetoed a bill that would have created a health insurance exchange for his state under President Barack Obama's signature healthcare program. Christie, a Republican who has nurtured a reputation as a cost cutter, cited uncertainty over what such an exchange would cost the state and over what kind of flexibility New Jersey will have in managing it. "I will not ask New Jerseyans to commit today to a state-based exchange when the federal government cannot tell us what it will cost, how that cost compares to other options, and how much control they will give the states over this option that comes at the cost of our state's taxpayers," Christie said in a statement.”

Realizing he would lose his reelection bid if he kept obstructing Obamacare, by the end of February of this year he was waving the white flag. The far right Weekly Standard was incensed: "In attempting to justify his desire to aid and abet Obamacare, Christie spoke about what would have happened if he had decided differently: 'Let me be clear, refusing these federal dollars does not mean that they won’t be spent.  It just means that they will be used to expand health care access in New York, Connecticut, Ohio, or somewhere else.' ...This claim, of course, has no basis in fact."

You may have seen the stir yesterday when Obama appointed former congresswoman Ann Marie Buerkle to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. He had to appoint a Republican, but Buerkle is not ordinary Republican. A dead-end teabagger, obstructionist and nihilist, Buerkle is an insane choice for any job. Why not a mainstream conservative instead of a raging reactionary? It wasn't Obama's worst political decision this week, though. The White House also announced that he would be visiting his old pal Christie at the Jersey Shore Tuesday. No one thinks New Jersey's Democratic gubernatorial nominee, Barbara Buono, is going to have an easy time beating Christie, but why is Obama screwing around this way when this is the next big election coming down the pike?

While in New Jersey, Obama will deliver remarks about “expanding economic opportunity for middle class families who were hard hit by the storm” and meet with residents who have benefited from the federal recovery efforts.

...This trip comes at a fortuitous time for both Obama and Christie. Obama will be highlighting one of his administration’s successes and trying to change the subject from the scandals of recent weeks as the nation returns from the Memorial Day weekend.

Christie, whose post-Sandy actions sent his approval ratings skyrocketing, is in the midst of a re-election campaign against a little funded Democrat. Having Obama heap praise on him can only help in heavily Democratic New Jersey.

Reading that and writing this post helped me make the decision to endorse Barbara Buono on the DownWithTyranny ActBlue page, our first candidate of 2013. We've been watching her campaign since early this year and we've been impressed-- and convinced she can beat Christie... especially if Obama stops boosting him. Anyone think he would ever do something like this to a Democratic Establishment hack like Terry McAuliffe in Virginia? Let's just hope Obama witnesses a classic Christie-out-of-control moment on the Boardwalk... like this  one from last year, when someone seemed to interfere with his 8th ice cream cone:

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Chris Christie Still Counting On New Jersey Voters To Pick A Pig In A Poke

"It's official: Governor Christie is a card carrying member of the Flat Earth Society. We know that climate change is causing more severe weather, like Hurricane Sandy. But Governor Christie ignores overwhelming scientific evidence in favor of right-wing ideology. It's no surprise coming from a governor who's rolled back environmental protections, defunded investment in clean energy and withdrawn our state from a regional effort to reduce greenhouse gases. New Jersey should be leading efforts to fight climate change, not burying our heads in the sand." -Barbara Buono

Barbara Buono, who gave me the above quote this morning, has a tough road ahead. After Hurricane Sandy hit and Chris Christie was seen working amicably with President Obama, Christie's approval rating's-- which had been in the toilet-- soared. According to a PPP poll at the end of last year, his approval (67%) was the highest of any governor in the country. And his 25% disapproval was one of the lowest. I went to talk with a neighbor, originally from New Jersey, about his Tesla the other day. He's a progressive Democrat and we wound up talking about Christie and the New Jersey governor's race. He didn't know much about Buono but he said he did know a lot about Christie, primarily that he's "a moderate." I asked him if he knew Christie had vetoed the marriage equality bill or that he's vehemently anti-Choice or that he would like to defund public schools on behalf of financial predators who want to make billions with private schools. He didn't.

All he really knew was that Christie took a walk on the beach with Obama after Hurricane Sandy and that he stood up to right-wing congressional bullies from the South who didn't want to fund aid to New Jersey. So it was somewhat ironic Monday when Christie got up in front of voters and put on his climate change denier hat.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) on Monday said there is no proof climate change caused Hurricane Sandy.

Christie rejected an accusation by public radio station WNYC that New Jersey Transit was systemically unprepared for extreme storms in the run up to Sandy.

From WNYC:

"Well, first of all, I don’t agree with the premise of your question because I don’t think there’s been any proof thus far that Sandy was caused by climate change," Christie said, as residents and officials from Lavallette clapped. "But I would absolutely expect that that’s exactly what WNYC would say, because you know liberal public radio always has an agenda. And so since I disagree with the premise of your question I don’t feel like I have to answer the rest of it.”

Christie was speaking at a Lavallette, N.J., ceremony commemorating the town’s restored boardwalk on the Atlantic Ocean, which Sandy destroyed.

The East Coast storm last fall caused billions in damage, as Congress approved $60.2 billion of relief funding despite objections from fiscal conservatives.

While climate scientists avoid attributing individual events to climate change, they largely say its effects-- such as warmer waters and higher sea levels-- intensify storms such as Sandy.

Sandy underscored the fear of some federal and state lawmakers across the country that climate change and the extreme storms linked to it made coast regions vulnerable to natural disasters.

A couple of years ago, Senator Buono teamed up with Assemblywoman Linda Stender (D-Union) to do an OpEd for the Newark Star-Ledger, Climate Initiative flip-flop in NJ is troublesome. They pointed out that Christie first campaigned as a supporter of climate change initiatives but that once he got into office, threw all that aside and adopted a deranged right-wing ideological perspective.

Experts have been warning us for years about the impact our dependency on fossil fuels will have on our climate, not to mention our national security due to the heavy reliance this creates on foreign oil. From Hurricane Katrina to massive flooding in the South and Midwest, to the recent widespread destruction caused by tornadoes in the South, we are witnessing more extreme weather patterns each year. By the end of this century, experts predict that coastal areas such as the Meadowlands and Atlantic City will likely be uninhabitable because of chronic flooding.

We have been firmly committed to taking a proactive approach to address climate change. In mid-2007 and early 2008, we sponsored two landmark measures that passed and were signed into law-- the Global Warming Response Act and the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, designed to work hand-in-hand to curb our dangerous overreliance on fossil fuels.

RGGI is a regional agreement among 10 northeast and mid-Atlantic states to implement a cap-and-trade program on carbon dioxide emissions from power plants, essentially a major vehicle to achieve the goal of the Global Warming Response Act, which is to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by 2050.

Through RGGI, energy companies in each state are capped at a certain allowable tonnage of carbon dioxide they can emit, which is broken down into units or credits. The states that implement efficiencies to lower their greenhouse gas emissions can sell their excess credits at periodic auctions where businesses in other states that have not reduced their emission levels can then purchase these credits. States then invest the proceeds from these auctions into consumer benefits, such as energy efficiency, renewable energy and other clean energy technologies.

According to a recent RGGI report, pollution is down 15 to 30 percent since its launch, almost 18,000 jobs have been created and the region’s economy has grown by more than $2.3 billion. Weatherization and retrofitting programs funded by RGGI proceeds also have helped consumers realize energy bill savings of 15 to 30 percent.

In New Jersey, just the first dozen projects funded through the program will help reduce our carbon dioxide emissions by 84,000 metric tons each year and help businesses generate more than 167,000 megawatt hours of clean energy per year-- enough to meet the equivalent annual electricity needs of more than 19,600 typical Garden State households.

The funds RGGI generates for New Jersey are used to promote energy efficiency and renewable energy in the commercial, industrial and institutional sectors; to assist limited-income households with their electric bills; to help local governments reduce greenhouse gas emissions; and to invest in protecting and restoring our forestry and tidal marshes.

This cooperative initiative is a step in the right direction toward stemming climate change by encouraging lower carbon dioxide emissions and alternative energy use. Weaning ourselves off of our fossil fuel dependency will ultimately help ease the acceleration of climate change.

Despite the fact that the program has spurred the development of green jobs, reduced pollution and been championed by environmentalists and businesses alike, Christie’s proposed budget confiscates the entire $65 million allocation for this program and he has announced New Jersey’s withdrawal from RGGI altogether.

At this crucial juncture, we cannot afford to make short-sighted decisions. Congress is dragging its heels on this issue. States must take the initiative now.

The time to create a more sustainable future is now. Everyone should join us in calling on the governor to remain committed to the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.

After a meeting with the Koch brothers, Christie took New Jersey out of the regional program and continued bloviating to the voters-- in this instance, in Toms River-- that he doubted human activity has any relation to climate change. "I think we're going to need more science to prove something one way or the other," the exact talking point Big Oil asks Republicans to use. So let's hope that the New Jersey Environmental Federation doesn't make the same mistake this year that they made in 2009, when he beame the first Republican gubernatorial candidate they had ever endorsed. He snowed them and they fell for it. Now they're disappointed, of course. "He has not kept his promise," Ben Forest, a member of the federation board, said recently.

Since taking office, Christie has taken more than $800 million from three funds dedicated to promote clean energy initiatives like solar and wind power and used the money to plug state budget gaps. Most of it has come from the Clean Energy Fund.

Another $194 million-- more than half of the Clean Energy Fund’s anticipated revenue-- would be siphoned under Christie’s proposed budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1.

In addition, Christie has scooped up money from other environmental funds other governors never touched before-- including one that provides grants to towns and encourages recycling and another that pays for damages caused by operating or closing landfills.

...State Sen. Barbara Buono (D-Middlesex), Christie’s likely Democratic challenger in November, accused the governor of forsaking the environment for other priorities. "It’s going to take a long time to undo the damage he’s done," Buono said in a recent interview.

The energy fund is meant to pay for such items as grants for home and business owners who are seeking to increase energy efficiency and cut costs. But the money being diverted is instead going toward fuel and utility costs for NJ Transit and state facilities.

Democrats and environmentalists are calling the diversions a tax.

"The voters and the citizens understood it was to be used for clean energy services," state Sen. Bob Smith (D-Middlesex) said. "None of that money’s gone to that purpose. It’s all been used to cover his budgetary holes. Moral of the story is, it’s a tax ... He says, ‘I haven’t done any new taxes.’ Wrong."

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