Environment and Energy
Climate change is a pressing economic and national security crisis that especially threatens coastal areas in New Jersey. By even conservative estimates, New Jersey can expect to see a foot and a half of sea level rise by 2050 if no action is taken.
In addition to posing serious problems to our country as a whole, the effects of climate change disparately affect more vulnerable, lower-income communities.
As a member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, Senator Booker has stood up for cleaner, healthier communities. He has worked to ban oil drilling off of New Jersey's coastline, clean up Superfund sites, improve air quality, support animal welfare safeguards, and strengthen national chemical safety laws to better protect families from toxic substances.
Senator Booker plays an active role in shaping policies that protect clean air, water, and coastlines.
Superstorm Sandy and Natural Disaster Resiliency
New Jersey has shown its resilience in response to Superstorm Sandy, but a lot of work still must be done in order to ensure shoreline communities completely recover. Senator Booker has worked tirelessly in the Senate to secure funding for Sandy relief to rebuild New Jersey's shoreline and strengthen it to withstand the threat of future storms.
In Senator Booker's Newark and Camden offices, New Jerseyans and their families can request help with filing claims related to storm damage. If you or a loved one would like assistance from Senator Booker's office with a casework issue, click here.
Building Healthier Communities
New Jersey holds the unfortunate distinction of being home to more than 100 Superfund sites and thousands of additional brownfields - properties that are saturated with hazardous substances from polluters. These sites endanger the health of our children and thwart economic development in New Jersey communities. Senator Booker has introduced legislation to ensure that polluters pay for clean-up of these sites.
More than one in ten New Jersey children suffers from asthma, but over forty percent don't have a doctor-directed treatment plan for their asthma. And African American children in New Jersey have disparately higher rates of asthma. Additionally, reports have indicated that since 2000, 225,000 New Jersey children have been affected by dangerously high lead levels. Senator Booker is working to advance policies that ensure all of New Jersey's and America's children are able to grow up and thrive in healthy communities free from environmental threats to their health.
Pursuing Clean Energy
Senator Booker is working hard to encourage expansion of clean energy technology that will help preserve the health of our planet and modernize our economy. New Jersey's booming solar industry, for instance, is set to create thousands of additional jobs over coming years, particularly if we pursue policies that allow this industry to grow and thrive.
Senator Booker recently led a year-long effort to extend critical tax credits for wind and solar in the Senate's end-of-year government funding legislation. The inclusion of five-year extensions of these credits provided certainty to renewable energy producers across the country and helped ensure greater adoption of these technologies.
Animal Welfare
Senator Booker has served as a champion of protecting the Endangered Species Act. He also authored and passed into law legislation that limits unnecessary chemical testing on animals, and has pushed to put an end to cruel practices at government-run USDA research facilities. Senator Booker has also pushed the Department of Agriculture to strengthen standards before food products are permitted to be labeled "humanely raised."
Chemical Safety
Senator Booker has worked with both Democratic and Republican colleagues, and with New Jersey industry and environmental advocates, to pass into law landmark legislation that updates our nation's chemical safety standards and better protects families and children from potentially toxic substances.
Named for the late Senator Frank Lautenberg, who championed this cause for years, the legislation was signed into law in June 2016.