Chris Christie is a bully. He’s bullied everyone from Navy SEALS, police officers, and teachers to fellow politicians. His bullying has even stretched to the environment. In an effort to give businesses the ability to run roughshod over any environment regulation, Christie has issued ‘waiver rules’ that allows waivers to be granted when an environmental rule imposes an “undue hardship” on the applicant.
But on Thursday, the tables were turned on the Garden State Governor as the New Jersey General Assembly passed a resolution that “would compel the state Department of Environmental Protection to overturn the ‘waiver rule’ that could allow developers, businesses and property owners to sidestep environmental protections.”
The resolution passed by a vote of 48-30 and goes to the Senate. This is a smart move by the New Jersey assembly. Allowing businesses to cherry pick what environmental rules they get to adhere to defeats the purpose of environmental protection efforts. How can we protect the environment when Christie is giving businesses the opportunity to ignore any regulation by giving the excuse that a particular rule causes a hardship. Virtually any business will say environmental rules are a hardship, because it’s cheaper for them to poison the environment rather than obey the law. By standing up to Chris Christie, the New Jersey assembly is taking a stand for the environment. Now all they have to do is stand up for the people Christie has bullied.
