Last week the NJ Pinelands Commission, by a 7-7 vote, prevented a Chris Christie backed plan to push a gas pipeline through the Pinelands to South Jersey. But will Christie try again? More below:
The vote was only 7-7 because the Christie Administration persuaded (coerced? bullied?) Edward Lloyd to recuse himself on "conflict of interest" grounds of his also being president of the eastern environmental Law Center. But as the Philadelphia Inquirer put it today in an editorial: blockquote>...there is no evidence that Lloyd stood to benefit from voting one way or another. The attorney general's flimsey assertion reeked of political hardball.<However, Christie has a path to reverse the decision. 1) Christie vetoes the minutes of the Board and forces them to revote 2) He stacks the board with more anti-environmental members.
While the natural course of action for a frustrated bully would be get his way how does Bridgegate et. al. effect things. make him reluctant to start another controversy, or perhaps see it as a way to kowtow with both the far right and the Koch faction?
Oh, and would the Pipeline serve the Pinelands area? Nope. It would go to Cape May County and keep an old pollution creating plant going instead of being phased out.