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Anjuli Ramos, New Jersey director of the Sierra Club, agreed that meeting climate goals requires urgent action. But she said New Jersey’s steps are “not really a mandate.” “This is us transitioning to where the market is already going,” she said. “It’s not like the car police are going to go up and down the street taking away every gasoline-powered vehicle.” New Jersey banned single-use plastic bags at grocery and other stores in 2022, a step unpopular with many consumers but one environmentalists say drastically reduced pollution. Some environmental mandates like banning certain air condition coolants and lead in gasoline were once controversial but now are accepted. New Jersey is also moving to “decarbonize” buildings by incentivizing a switch from gas-fired furnaces and stoves to electric appliances and heat pumps. A document released Tuesday said that by 2050, at least 90% of the state’s residential and commercial buildings must be electrified to meet New Jersey’s clean energy and climate goals. Thus far it hasn’t banned gas appliances in new construction like San Francisco and New York City have already done.
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