The throughline that activists are calling for is a moratorium, but the four-point plan only proves to them that their needs aren’t being heard. “We asked for a moratorium, and [Governor Sherrill]’s just recycling things that were already in the process in the State House anyway,” said Casey Palmer, South Jersey Progressive Democrats member who has been protesting a data center local to her in New Jersey’s Monroe Township. At one Monroe Township Council meeting, she recalled, the data centers were not even on the agenda, “but people still went and spoke anyway because they see through the lines.”

In July 2025, multiple federal agencies revoked longstanding regulations implementing the National Environmental Policy Act, eliminating all requirements to consider environmental justice and cumulative impacts during federal environmental reviews. With those protections weakened, and with the state maintaining that municipalities play no formal role in environmental justice compliance, the burden falls on volunteer organizers and underfunded community groups—the same organizations that have just lost their federal grants. 

The scale of the financial retreat is staggering. In March 2025, the Environmental Protection Agency canceled more than 400 grants totaling $1.7 billion—funding earmarked for air and water quality improvements in disadvantaged communities. By October, the Department of Energy terminated $7.56 billion in awards to 223 clean energy projects across 16 states that voted Democratic in 2024; New Jersey and Delaware alone stood to lose approximately $43.5 million. 

The bill aims to bring in funds from fossil-fuel extraction or refining companies that the NJ Department of Environmental Protection estimates to have caused over one billion metric tons of greenhouse-gas emissions from 1995–2024. The legislation also requires that 51 percent of those funds benefit overburdened communities, of which 5.2 million people reside. The money will be kept in a dedicated fund to be distributed in grants to municipalities.

Newark, NJ - Last Friday, Sept 26, “A Wisdom Keepers Delegation” with a coalition of global and local climate activists held an honorary indigenous water ceremony at Weequahic Park, Newark, NJ. The Weequahic Water Ceremony was one of many ceremonial and educational events run by AWKD to mark Climate Week 2025.

Newark, NJ - In this latest installment from the 2025 Citizen Journalism class, the Community Journalism team presents a two-part story titled “Essex-Hudson Greenway: Balancing Biodiversity with Public Access for Our Neighborhoods.” In Part 2, the team explores national Greenway trends, the role of vegetation and biodiversity, and how public transit connects to the Greenway.

Newark, NJ - In this latest installment from the 2025 Citizen Journalism class: a two-part story by the Community Journalism team titled “Essex-Hudson Greenway balancing biodiversity with public access for our neighborhoods”. In Part 1, the team introduces the Greenway project and centers community spaces as portals for connectivity.

Hasbrouck Heights, NJ: Earthquakes continue to rock New Jersey at an alarming rate and with shocking severity. As of August 12, the Garden State has reportedly experienced 26 earthquakes. New Jersey’s biggest earthquake of 2025 occurred near Hasbrouck Heights late Saturday, August 2, with a magnitude of 3.0. 

Hackensack, NJ - On the surface, the Lower Hackensack River winds quietly through Bergen and Hudson counties. But beneath that calm lies centuries of industrial waste: PCBs, mercury, arsenic, and heavy metals settled deep in the riverbed — toxic remnants of over 200 years of manufacturing and pollution.