The days after Earth Day: We need a new activism in the fight for the environment in New Jersey

From celebration to action

On Earth Day, we celebrate the environment. People take hikes, clean up parks, plant trees, hold green fairs, and listen to folk music. We used to do all that, but we also used to push an environmental agenda.

For the first Earth Day, I helped clean up the Elizabeth River, then drove to Philadelphia for a march and rally. We had trainings on how to organize, political strategy sessions, discussions on emerging issues, and the latest science. There were big rallies, protests, and efforts to highlight local fights, and to figure out, on the day after, how to move forward and build a new wave of activism.

Now that Earth Day is over, the politicians are done with their meaningless platitudes, and the developers, polluters, corporate lawyers, and lobbyists have put their flannel shirts back in the closet until next year. It is time to assess where we are, where we are going, and what we need to do next.

An environmental disaster in New Jersey

Earth Day in New Jersey was an environmental disaster.

It started with the play-acting New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) commissioner defending a $150 million cut to his agency, 23% overall, and a $15 million cut to operations and staff, while supporting fast-tracking permits and cutting red tape to quickly approve data centers, warehouses, pipelines, metal recycling facilities, and nuclear power plants. What could go wrong?

They would even fast-track and remove red tape for the Trump ICE detention center in Roxbury, even though the Sherrill administration is suing to stop it on environmental grounds, arguing that the federal government is fast-tracking and getting around the National Environmental Policy Act. Under these proposed rule changes, they would have to approve it. He was even praised by Sen. Steinhardt, a major developer whose law firm represents many developers.

Then came the Senate Environment Committee hearing on SCR 106/REAL, the first new flood protection rule since 2007. It is a step forward, but not a strong rule.

This was, by far, the worst Environment Committee meeting in the 40 years I have attended Senate hearings. It was like a Soviet show trial under Stalin. For five hours, dozens of lobbyists, builders, and developers attacked the rule. Only one environmentalist was allowed to speak, after two hours of vitriol attacking environmental protections and effectively supporting more flooding. And he was then attacked by senators for supporting the rule.

No one from the DEP, even the acting commissioner, spoke in favor of their own rule. That is an ominous sign.

I heard environmentalists ask to testify and get denied, and they did nothing about it. No protest. No picket line. No civil disobedience, like wearing gags to the hearing. No walkout followed by a press conference. No alerts. No press releases. No visible outrage or getting flood victims to picket Senate offices.

And they wonder why the New Jersey Legislature doesn’t take them seriously, even the senators they endorsed.

I used to say some green groups just wanted to get invited to the meeting where they get screwed. Now they don’t even fight to speak at the hearings. Lambs to the slaughter.

Even New Jersey Assembly Environment Chair Kennedy was not allowed to speak.

It was a shameful hearing, but by not speaking up or fighting back, the environmentalists disgraced themselves.

Gov. Sherrill did not even hold an Earth Day event. The environment is not on her agenda. She is the first governor without an environmental transition team.

Power comes from outside work

What they fail to understand is that environmentalists’ only power inside the room comes from the power they build outside in the neighborhoods and on the streets.

On Earth Day 1972, tens of thousands of people showed up on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., calling for the passage of the Clean Water Act. It passed, but Nixon vetoed it. In October, 250,000 people showed up at the Capitol demanding an override. I was there. It was incredible. Twenty-five thousand people stayed to lobby Congress that week. They got the message. The Senate overrode Nixon’s veto 94-2. Later that month, the Clean Air Act passed overwhelmingly, and Nixon signed it.

What set up those victories was the year before, 1971, when more than 6 million people took part in political trainings on Earth Day. The movement targeted the “Dirty Dozen” members of Congress who opposed environmental protections. We defeated seven of the 12, including the majority whip, sending shockwaves across Washington.

Why I got into this fight

For me, this is not just history. It is personal.

Growing up on the Newark-Hillside border, I saw firsthand what pollution does to communities. I learned early about environmental racism and classism, how poor and working-class communities are forced to carry the burden of dirty air, contaminated water, and toxic waste.

I spent summers in Ringwood, where you could drink from the streams, versus Hillside, where you could throw a match in the water and watch it flare.

That is when I became deeply politically active. People like June Fisher and Charlotte DeFillipo mentored me. I joined the New Democratic Coalition, the Indivisible of its time, and worked to elect pro-environment leaders like Mayor Alex Menza of Hillside, who became a state senator. Others included Assemblywoman Betty Wilson, who became deputy DEP commissioner; Sen. Jerry English, who became DEP commissioner; and former Sen. Ray Lesniak. We ended up with landmark legislation like the Pinelands Act and the Spill Act.

After the Clean Water Act became law, I worked to implement it. I volunteered with the New Jersey Public Interest Research Group (NJPIRG) to identify sources of water pollution in Hillside. I walked streams, looking for outflow pipes, mapping them so the water could be tested and permitted, or shut down if illegal.

I met Ed Lloyd, who founded NJPIRG, and learned their model: science and research, press work, grassroots organizing, canvassing, rallies, paid media, lobbying for laws and regulations, and legal action. It was a holistic and comprehensive approach to environmental protection.

I added my own twist, more political action, a stronger media presence, and running environmental campaigns like political campaigns. Instead of electing a person, we worked to pass laws, stop bad projects, clean up toxic sites, and preserve open space. We worked at every level, local, regional, state, and national, integrating them into one strategy with clear outcomes.

This is the model the Zoom chair warriors of today need to return to.

A movement losing its edge

There are many grassroots groups fighting, but they are not getting support from the big green organizations, which are too busy fundraising and writing papers that never get implemented. They need to return to their roots, engage their members, organize, work with local groups, and build a real movement again.

At the same time, all the progress we have made over the last 56 years is under attack.

The Trump administration has declared war on the environment, on clean air and water, on toxic site cleanup, and on climate action. They have rolled back more than 150 rules, opened public lands to drilling and mining, weakened pollution standards, and proposed massive cuts to environmental agencies.

When you eliminate clean air protections, our air becomes poisoned. When you allow dumping into rivers, our water becomes poisoned. When you cut lead programs, children get poisoned.

These are real consequences, not political talking points.

NJ following Republican plans, Sherrill’s environmental rollbacks

At the state level, Gov. Sherrill is following a dangerous path that mirrors some of the worst federal rollbacks from former Republican governors.

Instead of strengthening protections, we are seeing a coordinated effort to weaken environmental safeguards, cut funding, and hand over more power to developers, all under the guise of affordability and efficiency.

The proposed 23% cut to the DEP budget, from roughly $650 million down to about $502 million, is not just a number. It means fewer inspectors, fewer scientists, less enforcement, and slower cleanups of toxic sites. A $15 million cut to operations and staff cripples the agency’s ability to protect our air and water.

At the same time, they are pushing policies that make it easier to pollute.

Through “red tape reviews,” regulatory freezes, and fast-track permitting, they are dismantling protections that took decades to build. “Shot clocks” and permit deadlines are designed not to improve efficiency, but to force approvals before proper environmental review can be completed.

Even worse, there are moves toward privatizing the permitting process, allowing consultants paid by developers to write and even review their own permits. That is not oversight. This is having developers write their own permits.

Environmental waivers are being expanded, allowing projects to bypass flood hazard rules, water protections, and critical safeguards that prevent overdevelopment in vulnerable areas. At a time when New Jersey is already facing a flooding crisis, they are weakening the very rules meant to protect people.

Then there are the raids on clean energy funds.

Hundreds of millions of dollars meant for renewable energy, energy efficiency, and climate programs are being diverted to plug budget holes or one-shots. These are funds paid by ratepayers to transition to a clean energy future, and instead they are being used as a piggy bank to cover deficits.

At the same time, renewable programs are delayed or stalled, while fossil fuel infrastructure is being fast-tracked.

And now we are seeing a push to expand nuclear power, lifting restrictions and opening the door to subsidies for the most expensive and dangerous way to boil water, without any long-term solution for radioactive waste.

Public lands are also at risk, with proposals to open them to logging, privatization, and development without proper planning, fueling more sprawl instead of smart growth.

From protest to political power

We need to organize, mobilize, and vote like we did in 1970.

Polls show that nearly three-quarters of Americans recognize the threat of climate change, and 85% of New Jersey residents are concerned about drinking water. People care about the environment. Now they need to vote on it.

We must make the environment a political issue. We must hold elected officials accountable, from members of Congress like Tom Kean Jr. and Jeff Van Drew to state leadership.

We must push the Sherrill administration to stop fast-tracking permits, implement strong rules, and reject bad proposals like SCR 106. We need a commitment to 100% renewable energy, a transition off fossil fuels, passage of the Climate Superfund Act, expanded electric vehicle infrastructure, more solar, a moratorium on data centers, stronger flood rules, regional coastal planning, and action on PFAS, overdevelopment, and sprawl.

A moment of truth

Fifty-six years ago, people stood up and demanded action to clean our air and water and stop reckless pollution. Earth Day symbolized that movement, and real reforms followed.

I have spent my life in this fight. I have seen what people power can accomplish, and how quickly progress can be rolled back.

Today, people need to rise again. Stop playing on the internet. We need to get back to the basics: grassroots organizing, protests, and holding elected officials accountable. We need to rebuild the movement from the bottom up.

The lessons of 1970 remind us what is possible when we make our voices heard.

Earth Day was never meant to be just a celebration. It was a call to action.

And now, more than ever, we must answer that call. Our families and our planet depend on it.