News Highlights
A quick review of top environmental news stories from the past 2 weeks

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​Local

• Conservation groups and NJ DFW at loggerheads over Sparta Mountain
• Mayor Jeff Martin appoints environmental champion to Hamilton Township Planning Board
• NJ’s first refill shop opens in Maplewood, could Montclair be next?
• Proposed liquid natural gas plant in NJ draws heated opposition
• Manatee washes up dead in NJ; its presence here baffles experts
• Groundwater cleanup plan for Ringwood Mines Superfund draws critics to EPA forum
• Police confiscate dirtbikes, ATVs after disturbance in New Jersey Pinelands
• Fairfield Council considers benefits of bat houses to combat mosquitos
• Rosie O'Donnell's NJ home is getting turned into affordable units

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Around the country

• Trump rollbacks target offshore rules ‘written with human blood’
• Pesticide police, overwhelmed by Dicamba complaints, Ask EPA for help
• New wildlife crossings in the West designed to save animals' lives
• Mayor de Blasio to sign order for all municipal vehicles in NYC to be electric by 2040
• New York City is cracking down on plastic bottles
• Federal suit pushes EPA to address out-of-state pollution impacting NJ, other states
• Georgetown University says it will divest from fossil fuel companies
• US House Democrats propose electric vehicle charging network
• US energy secretary hopes Mexico, Canada will help export American coal
• Trump budget would slash EPA spending, Superfund Program
• Trump ‘turns back the clock’ by luring drilling companies to pristine lands

In New Jersey

• We’re losing less land to development in NJ, and slowing loss of natural areas
• January featured record warmth. What does the rest of winter have in store for New Jersey?
• Rescued from extinction: How bald eagles made their return in NJ
• Annual forest fire mitigation program is underway in NJ
• NJ DEP starts reform of environmental rules in response to climate change
• 11 things lurking in New Jersey's forests that can kill you
• NJ wants residents to know much sooner if their water is polluted with lead
• Public comment sought on state climate control process
• NJ Program seeks to improve energy efficiency
• NJ launches $5,000 rebate for purchase of electric vehicles
• BPU plan would reimburse utilities for sales lost to energy efficiency programs

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 Global

• Heat waves are wiping out bumblebees
• Plastic pollution: Film by Welsh youngsters makes waves
• Catastrophic fires released billions of tons of CO2 in 2019
• Fireflies face extinction threats from habitat loss, pesticides
• The growing push to solve the plastic nightmare of takeout food
• Scientists are using Twitter to measure the impact of climate change
• Jeff Bezos pledges $10 billion to fight climate change, planet's 'biggest threat'

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Opinion & analysis

• Weakening of Clean Water Act threatens stream quality
• Loss of biodiversity is just as catastrophic as climate change
• What’s better than planting a trillion trees?
• Murphy needs to pick a side, then act, in regards to clean energy
• The benefits of electric vehicles in New Jersey

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The views expressed in these articles do not necessarily represent positions held by ANJEC.