an ambitious plan today from the Murphy Administration the governor announcing he intends to reach 100 percent clean energy in the state 15 years earlier than his initial Target the goals were outlined during a speech at Rutgers University where Governor Murphy vowed to hit his renewable energy Promise by 2035 instead of 2050 and require all new vehicles to have zero emissions by the same time frame those are just the tip of the iceberg and what the state hopes will be an aggressive move to combat climate change senior political correspondent David Cruz reports I'm proud to live in a state where we have a governor who intersects climate Solutions with Health Equity economic prosperity and environmental justice inside Winans Hall on the Rutgers campus the environmentalist establishment was guided for an announcement from Governor Murphy on Environmental Policy proud of their partnership outside Grassroots local and Statewide organizations were singing a different song that has a problem we've got to solve again the governor continues to issue executive orders and make proclamations he he takes to Twitter to tweet about his green credentials but the communities who are facing these fossil fuel projects they're not buying the hype they need real concrete action from this Governor to deny these fossil fuel projects it's the big contradiction from this Governor say demonstrators here wind is wonderful and solar is sweet but fossil fuel burning projects seven major ones from New Brunswick to Kearney to Newark will choke out poor communities where black brown and immigrant kids are already suffering ill effects and don't get these folks started on the turnpike extension project in Jersey City most pollutants come from Transportation not power generation at 41 11 billion dollars to widen the turnpike that you know ends at a funnel to the Holland Tunnel but back inside the governor was touting his record of accomplishments and introducing new measures in what seemed as much intended as a speech for a national audience as it was for his Environmental Allies in the room the first three steps that we are taking today all to be memorialized by executive orders that have already been signed moving our Target for a 100 percent clean energy State ahead by 15 years from 2050 to 2035. incentivizing and subsidizing electrification of home heating and cooling systems and the plan to work with energy companies and others to put together a plan to decrease dependence on fossil fuels all great on paper say his detractors outside even the part about retooling the state's energy master plan and putting some teeth into the environmental justice bill that passed in 2020 but those are more promises that ring Hollow to the Skeptics outside it was past three years ago when we have not seen any any further progress on it and you know if our if environmental justice is really important to you then show us prove it you know stay true to your word and you know help us move forward with passing the EJ Bill our work is not done we re-entered the regional greenhouse gas initiative and rejoined the comprehensive and collaborative multi-state partnership to curb the carbon emissions that contribute to climate change we set a goal of achieving a 100 percent clean energy economy by the year 2050 and to achieve this goal we are leaning into offshore wind with one of the nation's most ambitious programs we are investing heavily in electric vehicle infrastructure and helping get more EVS on the road through highly successful incentive programs all nice environmental bonafides but when they want to build a power plant in your backyard reject the power plants now there's no room for symbolic gestures I'm David Cruz NJ Spotlight news [Music]