New Jersey is Now the Eighth Coal-Free State. Other States May Soon Follow.

     Today is Independence Day; let's celebrate by declaring independence from coal. As negotiations continue on the second third of the Build Back Better Agenda, one that aims to reduce the deficit and fight climate change through hundreds of billions of dollars in clean energy investments offset by taxes on the wealthy, I am launching the Manchin Project. Sorry, Senator Manchin, but coal is dying. The Manchin Project is dedicated to speeding up the process in response to the petty political tactics of the senator from West Virginia who has made himself rich at the expense of people and the planet alike.

     This first announcement is a positive one. In March, New Jersey announced that it would be closing its last two coal plants within a few months. Now, just weeks later, the promise has actually been kept. New Jersey, as part of its commitment to be carbon-neutral by 2050, has closed the Logan Generating Plant in Logan Township and the Chambers Carneys Point Cogen Generating Plant in Carneys Point Township. After Rhode Island, New York, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont, and Oregon, New Jersey is now the eighth state to free itself from coal.

     Two more states, Hawaii and Nevada, have decided to free themselves from coal by the end of next year, which should bring the total to 10; updates will be provided on these states when the mark is actually reached. At least a dozen more states have announced their intent to go coal-free at a later date or have just one remaining coal plant, which creates an opportunity for the United States to see dozens of states go coal-free in just a matter of a few years.

     Such is the goal of the Manchin Project, and, more broadly, to rid the United States of coal completely by 2035. President Biden has set an agenda that involves the United States running on 100 percent clean energy by 2035 as a primary tenet of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. Phasing out coal, which currently makes up 20 percent of the U.S. energy mix, and replacing it with renewables is a key component of achieving this goal. There's nothing Americans can't do and perhaps nothing more worth doing than saving the planet from the climate crisis.