CHIVUKULA WELCOMES EPA'S MOVE TO FAST-TRACK CLIMATE CHANGE LEGISLATION
 
(SOMERSET) - Assemblyman Upendra J. Chivukula today welcomed the Environmental Protection Agency's move to fast-track climate change legislation.

The Obama administration today declared carbon dioxide and five other greenhouse gases as linked to climate change a danger to human health and welfare, setting the stage for regulation of  the emissions under federal clean air laws.

MCKEON WELCOMES JACKSON'S CONFIRMATION TO EPA
 
(TRENTON, N.J.) - Assemblyman John F. McKeon today welcomed the U.S. Senate's confirmation of Lisa Jackson to head the Environmental Protection Agency. 
 

MCKEON TO OBAMA: JACKSON EXCELLENT CHOICE FOR EPA TO MOVE FORWARD COUNTRY'S ENVIRONMENTAL AGENDA

In a letter to President-elect Barack Obama, Assemblyman John F. McKeon today endorsed Lisa P. Jackson for the post of EPA administrator in the Obama administration stating she would be an excellent choice to move forward the country's environmental agenda.

ASSEMBLY ENVIRONMENT CHAIR WELCOMES NEW DEP APPOINTMENT
 
Assemblyman John F. McKeon, chair of the Assembly Environment and Solid Waste Committee welcomed Governor Jon S. Corzine's appointment of Mark Mauriello as the commissioner of New Jersey's Department of Environment Protection.

JACKSON - An Election Day sweep by a bipartisan ticket led by Jackson Mayor Mark SedaDemocrat Michael Kafton propelled citizens to the microphone at a Thursday night council meeting to complain about Mayor Mark Seda’s efforts to privatize the city’s building department.

At the head of the charge was the newly victorious Kafton, who called on Attorney General Anne Milgram to investigate Seda’s efforts even as the mayor’s father faces a $30,000 building department fine.

He also chastised the council for failing to join him.

"The council is either closing their eyes or not strong enough to stand up to him (Seda)," said the councilman-elect and former mayor. "I demanded the council get to the attorney general’s office."

Ocean County Local Elections: Boss Gilmore’s Candidates Lose Badly In Jackson And Manchester, A Body Blow To The Greedy Political Machine

JACKSON - Team Kafton figured if they kept hitting the Council candidate Michael Kaftonopposition with gypsy moths, taxes and Mayor Mark Seda's salary increase, they could beat incumbent GOP Councilwoman Emily Ingram and her running mates on Election Day.

In a few hours, they will learn the effectiveness of their repeated mail attack pieces coupled with five debate forums in which former Democratic Mayor Michael Kafton and his running mates kept pointing to Ingram's alliance with Seda.

"He's working the senior communities hard," campaign spokesman Pat Politano said of Kafton. "He's wandering everywhere. Mike's been all over town."

JACKSON - Team Ingram braced for a last weekend hit from the Council candidate Todd PorterKafton campaign, which came in the form of a mailer depicting Councilwoman Emily Ingram and her running mates as the puppets of Mayor Mark Seda.

Seda's unpopular in town at the moment owing to property taxe hikes.

Former Mayor Michael Kafton and his running mates, Bobbie Rivere and Mike Reina, see an opportunity to bump the mayor's ally, Ingram, off the town council, while also denying her running mates, Charles Garafano and Todd Porter.

ORANGE Candidates for mayor: At-Large Councilman Donald Page, North Ward Councilwoman Tency Eason, West Orange Patrolman Eldridge Hawkins, Jr., Zoning Board Chair Janice Morrell, activist Betty Brown, Planning Board Chair Dwight Holmes.

ORANGE - Senate President Richard Codey (D-Essex) has invested his time, name and $2,600 in Eldridge Hawkins, Jr., son of his former seat mate in the Assembly, who voted in his first Orange election just last year.

Codey’s political enemies will crow if his candidate fails to get anything short of a first place finish, but the former governor’s pick of a 28-year old with "it factor" potential could pay political dividends in the future.

LANCE URGES JACKSON TO MAKE PETTY'S ISLAND 1ST PRIORITY
Commissioner Designate Should Address Petty’s Island at Confirmation Hearing

Senate Republican leader, Leonard Lance, (R-23), announced today that the non-partisan Office of Legislative Services, (OLS), is drafting a Senate Resolution at his request urging the incoming Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection, (DEP), to reconsider accepting the donation of Petty’s island from the Citgo corporation.