scoop for @starledger.bsky.social, 2 major groups that rep businesses and builders in #NewJersey — NJ Business & Industry Association and NJ Builders Association — are legally challenging new rule over how people can build at Jersey Shore amid sea level rise projections www.nj.com/ocean/2026/0...
Under the R.E.A.L. rule, New Jersey homes built in flood-risk areas will need to be raised 4 feet higher than the current standard outlined by FEMA.
The rule will also apply to houses undergoing renovations that add up to 50% or more of the home’s value, the @dep.nj.gov said.
The new flood elevation rule would push added costs and regulatory burdens onto towns, residents and developers, the groups said.
“They are meant to give us certainty about how to protect ourselves for the future that we know is coming,” Allison McLeod, @njlcv.bsky.social countered Friday.
scoop for @starledger.bsky.social, 2 major groups that rep businesses and builders in #NewJersey — NJ Business & Industry Association and NJ Builders Association — are legally challenging new rule over how people can build at Jersey Shore amid sea level rise projections www.nj.com/ocean/2026/0...
Now you see it, now you don't. Near the end of this extremely warm winter, California's snow is rapidly melting. My colleague @castleman.bsky.social shares some striking satellite images. He spoke with @weatherwest.bsky.social about the remarkably rapid loss of snow: www.latimes.com/california/s...
Cape May, Ocean and Monmouth counties filed a lawsuit looking to tweak or pull the rule entirely. Sen Pres. Scutari, D-Union, on Feb. 24 also introduced a resolution to withdraw or change the rule — saying it was “inconsistent with legislative intent.”
“Moving forward — if implemented successfully — this will be a game changer for New Jersey,“ Anjuli Ramos-Busot, the state director of @sierraclub.org, told me.
“When you are at the epicenter of climate change … you have to take proactive measures to protect your people."
new for @starledger.bsky.social, I wrote 2,000 words about #NewJersey’s new rule which will require homes built in flood-risk areas to be 4 feet above the standard set by FEMA. #JerseyShore builders and realtors are worried, environmentalists are happy but cautious.
www.nj.com/ocean/2026/0...
“I might have written 18 books over the past four decades, but it’s really all just one book on fairness, justice and equity,” @drrobertbullard.bsky.social, the father of environmental justice.
His nature.com interview ends the Changemakers Q&A series, started by @kendallsciwrite.bsky.social.
About 30 hrs into my stay, Camden Fire Department Rescue Co. 1 Captain Ed Frontado revealed something additionally heartbreaking about the untimely loss of Capt. Howard Bennett
#Camden firefighters between Sunday and Mon responded to 27 calls. The dept for years has been hamstrung by budget cuts and equipment issues as we recently reported www.nj.com/news/2025/11/playing-with-fire.html
In 2 days Metro Police also got 1,648 calls and Camden County had nearly 400 fire calls
new enterprise for @starledger.bsky.social, I embedded for 48 hrs with a #NewJersey rescue unit 17 days after losing a firefighter to the icy waters of Delaware River. We hunkered down as a blizzard the state had not seen in 30 years beared down. Photos: Dave Hernandez www.nj.com/camden/2026/...
Some context on the recent D.C. Water pipe break, which led to an estimated 243 million gallons of sewage going into the Potomac River.
I'm told 600 million gallons of sewage and runoff flow into the Potomac every year, largely when heavy storms overwhelm D.C.'s aging sewers.
The Department of Community Affairs “understands the frustration expressed by homeowners regarding the (program) and recent correspondence affecting certain home elevation projects. We are not turning our back on these families. Other mitigation options may become available ...,” a spokeswoman said.
One 38-year-old mother saw engineers milling about her #Manville house this past summer. She assumed things were progressing well after her family of 6 was told they were a “primary candidate” to elevate.
But FEMA changed who qualifies for $$.
“We were pretty shocked,” she told me.
mini-exclusive for @starledger.bsky.social, families in 13 towns will not get home elevations like initially thought bc #NewJersey says FEMA would consider too costly.
“They’re having another program pulled out from under them,” said Amanda Devecka-Rinear of the New Jersey Organizing Project.
As a historian of science, I was raised to think rejecting science was a pathology of anti-democratic governments. Well, this might be the proof of that.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/12/c...
Update: The number of deaths in New Jersey following a fierce winter storm and a bitter cold snap has increased to 20, the state told NJ.com on Tuesday afternoon. 🔗 www.nj.com/healthfit/20...
In the past month, cities across the state extended warming center hours, conducted wellness checks and shared resources on how to stay warm amid brisk nightly winds and power outages.
(good news: a warm front is set to move through NJ on Tuesday)
The deaths are as of Friday, 2/6, according to the NJ Department of Health.
Thus, recorded before New Jersey had what felt like its coldest stretch this past weekend, as wind chills tanked to between 5 and 15 degrees below zero.
breaking for @starledger.bsky.social, the death toll from the extreme cold weather that has hammered #NewJersey for weeks has risen to 17, state officials told me.
The spreadsheet covers roughly 5 years (ending 3/2023) and includes disciplinary outcomes tied to alleged unauthorized database access, improper use or disclosure of information, and stalking or harassment.
The records don’t include much context about the underlying misconduct
People 30 and younger are more so relying on apps, widgets instead of TV for weather.
Some just check socials media ie. Instagram, TikTok, Twitter.
Jonathan Lin, a 27-year-old commuter, looks at his weather app but even that he’s a little dubious of. Experts said that hesitance is not unfounded!
Kathryn Lambrecht, of Arizona State University, has studied how people respond to @nws.noaa.gov social media posts, seen as a gold standard for dependable updates.
Interestingly, the weather itself may influence how people respond to online updates (as researchers have seen in Reno and Phoenix).
new for @starledger.bsky.social, I spoke with various meteorologists including @cupajoe.live, as well as well experts from ASU, Georgia Southern and TCNJ about the glut of amateur forecasters these days and the real dangers of #weather misinformation (especially during extreme weather periods!)
Climate reporters are some of the kindest, most selfless, and most hardworking people around.
We need MORE of their work, not less. I'm grateful to everyone who has read and subscribed to support any kind of climate coverage over the years, ours or another newsroom's. Thanks for not turning away.
what the Ramapo Reservation tower story would have looked like on a1 of the @starledger.bsky.social if we still had the physical paper 🥲
The telecomm company and county officials had said public safety was a top reason to consider the proposal, citing spotty cell service in the large swaths of wilderness at the park, and increased visitorship, though it could not provide specific evidence. Local cops and the mayor disputed the claim.
McKay Brothers’ tower is about half the size of the Eiffel Tower. It was designed to bring better cell signals, faster trade links for stock brokers and money for Bergen County.
It “would have been a desecration of one of the most beautiful places in New Jersey,” said one conservationist.
exclusive for @starledger.bsky.social that makes for a good snow day read. A small army of residents say their fervor for protecting the environment and after a probe by @nj.com, they saved a massive park reservation from becoming the home of a new 500-ft communication tower
