Steven Rodas
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stevenrodas.bsky.social
Steven Rodas
@stevenrodas.bsky.social
environmental reporter for NJ.com and @starledger.bsky.social. Based in Jersey City, NJ. Syracuse University alum.

https://www.nj.com/user/srodas/posts.html
The history of the shacks is bountiful!

As many as 100 (or more) cottages are believed to have dotted the #NewJersey island park at one point.

“We’re just hoping the good Lord fixes everything and we can stay,” 87-year-old Howard Height, who has gone to the shacks his entire life, told me.
October 30, 2025 at 3:22 PM
The @dep.nj.gov worries the cottages are a “public safety concern” because of rising sea levels and climate change.

“The land will be restored to its natural state,” a spokesperson said. NJ officials also cited a new sanitary sewer line installed at the park which the shacks are not a part of.
October 30, 2025 at 2:15 PM
End of🧵This could be longer but ending it there while tracking several things not yet set in stone! 18/18
September 2, 2025 at 6:57 PM
Congressman Jeff Van Drew says he’s working with local mayors to ensure shore towns are protected (but no doubt New Jersey often tops the list of places to pour sand on shores amid stronger and more frequent storms and “nuisance erosion” which hits the state pretty much every winter now) 17/
September 2, 2025 at 5:47 PM
Recently, the U.S. Army Corps also said sand replenishment projects in Avalon, Stone Harbor and a section of Ocean City — part of a multi-year effort — have lost their federal funding. A critical q: What will the next federal budget look like for beachfills at the #JerseyShore? 16/
September 2, 2025 at 5:42 PM
Last week, the @energygov.bsky.social withdrew a $716 million conditional loan that was initially offered under Biden in order to help Jersey Central Power & Light connect offshore wind development to the regional grid 15/
September 2, 2025 at 5:09 PM
While some are considered “smaller,” proposed $$ cuts to @noaa.gov and the EPA have put in peril the future of everything from New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium’s college program to the size of Hackensack Riverkeeper's annual cleanups to the extent of the Marine Mammal Stranding Center’s work 14/
September 2, 2025 at 4:43 PM
The @urbaninstitute.bsky.social says for New Jersey this translates to $130 million in BRIC funds in jeopardy. Flood Mitigation Assistance is harder to square but — data shows — NJ was in the top 3 of states to receive these funds from 2020-2024: 59 projects for around $121 million 13/
September 2, 2025 at 3:57 PM
FEMA in the spring announced the cancellation of the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program and removed the Flood Mitigation Assistance funding for 2025. Those are the 2 largest federal pre-disaster hazard mitigation programs 12/
September 2, 2025 at 3:53 PM
The President took away the $7,500 tax credit for electric vehicles. That’ll sunset 9/30.

Also after a freeze amid a legal battle, the feds reopened the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program, meaning more than $104 million meant for EV chargers in New Jersey will be coming after all 11/
September 2, 2025 at 3:24 PM
The EPA terminated its $7 billion “Solar for All” program created to provide renewable and affordable energy to low-income families. In April 2024, @govmurphy.bsky.social said NJ’s Solar for All award was expected to help 22,000 homes within the first 5 years of funding 10/
September 2, 2025 at 3:13 PM
The U.S. Department of Commerce said it would end about $4 million in funds for climate change research at #PrincetonUniversity. Loss of @noaa.gov money means impacts to things like the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory — where scientists study forecasting and prepare for extreme weather 9/
September 2, 2025 at 2:41 PM
or a wind farm with concrete foundation in place. Regarding credits in #NewJersey, 30+ solar projects still need approval from grid operator, PJM. That’s likely a year away. Bc of Trump’s tax/spending 2026 construction deadline, those could lose 30% tax credit 8/
September 2, 2025 at 2:21 PM
The U.S Treasury this summer said it was tightening the clamps on what renewable projects qualify for federal tax credits. The new rules set the onus on developers to prove they are far into the construction of projects. For example: Solar arrays having racks that hold panels installed…7/
September 2, 2025 at 2:15 PM
In July, a Trump executive order was announced to streamline and accelerate the permitting of data centers nationwide (#NewJersey, home to more than 75 data centers, wants to position itself as a leader in the nascent #artificialintelligence industry — despite concerns about energy-use) 6/
September 2, 2025 at 1:55 PM
The EJ Law is designed to place higher hurdles on projects in “overburdened communities”

Specific NJ impacts are unclear as of now, but the finding underscores protections for overtly-polluted, low-income as well as many Black and brown neighborhoods 5/
September 2, 2025 at 1:50 PM
Trump’s administration proposed taking back the scientific finding that’s been at the core of national actions to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and fight climate change. Among the things the “endangerment finding” is important for? New Jersey’s landmark “Environmental Justice Law” 4/
September 2, 2025 at 1:36 PM
The terminal was designed to be a staging area for massive wind turbines.

This is the latest action to dash the prospects of offshore wind in NJ after the first wind farm slated to be built off the coast, Atlantic Shores, abruptly lost a key federal permit earlier this year 3/
September 2, 2025 at 1:14 PM
At the end of August, the @usdot.bsky.social said it was ending or taking back $679 million in federal funds for 12 projects meant to support the national offshore wind industry. That includes $20 million for the marine terminal in Paulsboro, NJ, I’ve confirmed 2/
September 2, 2025 at 1:04 PM