BECAUSE IT MATTERS

Jan. 1, 2019 - HAPPY NEW YEAR!

As we ring in 2019, I had a chance to think about 2018 a little bit.

At this time last year, the legal proceeding for JCP&L’s high power transmission project (“MCRP”) entered its third calendar year. The formal hearing before Administrative Law Judge Gail Cookson was over. The initial briefs and reply briefs have been filed by all parties to the legal proceeding. The official record for the case was officially closed.

Utility companies have a formidable track record of getting these transmission projects approved and built. The odds were against RAGE’s opposition from the very start but we held out hope and eagerly awaited Judge Cookson’s decision.

On March 8, 2018, Judge Cookson, in a long and scathing decision, denied JCP&L‘s petition for the transmission project. At their June 2018 Board meeting, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities voted unanimously to adopt Judge Cookson’s decision and officially denied the petition.

RAGE and thousands of affected residents were ecstatic over the decision. It was David versus Goliath and David won again.

Obviously, it was a great victory. However, I believe it is important and instructive to “pan out” and look at this in a larger context. The MCRP case is a microcosm of the world we currently live in.

Jeffrey Bezos (Amazon.com founder and owner of The Washington Post) had once said that “I think a lot of us believe this, that democracy dies in darkness, that certain institutions have a very important role in making sure that there is light.”

The Washington Post added a new slogan beneath its masthead - “Democracy Dies in Darkness”. Guess what? RAGE helped shined a very bright light on JCP&L and the MCRP proposal.

In today’s political environment, we hear the phrase “It doesn’t matter” a lot. On the national stage, we hear that “it doesn’t matter” about the payments of certain “hush” money, about the non-release of tax returns and about our Constitution’s emoluments clause.

There are dangers of secrecy in government, nationally and locally!

Primarily, we hear “it doesn’t matter” from people that want to get away with things or when they don’t want you to know about certain things. It is repeated ad nauseam and, sometimes, we get numbed by it and start to believe that it doesn’t matter.

However, facts and truth do matter. Ultimately, it was the reporting and disclosure of unethical conduct and activities by Tom Price, Scott Pruitt and Ryan Zinke, all Presidential Cabinet Members or Agency Administrator, that led to their resignations in the past two years.

Congressman Tom Marino (R-Pa.) was nominated to be the nation’s drug czar but quickly withdrew his name in the wake of a Washington Post/”60 Minutes” investigation that detailed how he steered legislation through Congress that weakened DEA’s ability to go after drug distribution, even as the opioid crisis keeps getting worse; arguably, one of the country’s top health issues.

In a democracy, things matter when citizens make it matter!

RAGE and all the RAGERs are shining examples of this. They made opposing MCRP mattered and, despite the odds against them, they won.

In Holmdel Township, residents decided that opposing NJ Natural Gas’ regulator facility mattered and they defeated that proposal twice in two years. Two years ago, citizen group Preserve Holmdel made opposing the proposal for artificial turf sports fields at Cross Farm Park mattered and defeated that proposal through a petition with over 700 signatures that called for a referendum.

In a quotation that resonates with many people, especially activists, Margaret Mead once said:

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

In addition to what is going on in Washington and Trenton, there are many issues going on at the local level in our respective towns. It’s up to concerned citizens to decide that things matter, especially facts and truth. Events in 2018 have proven this over and over again.

Learn about the issues in your town. Get involved. Because it matters, sometimes a lot more than we realized!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!