Several others agreed, including Environment New Jersey's Matt Elliott, who criticized a proposal for reducing renewable-energy goals, which he said would result in fewer green jobs being created and detrimental consequences to the environment.
"The tone of this plan is way off," he testified. "Efficiency is hands-down our cheapest, cleanest resource."
The Republican governor's plan calls for 22.5 percent of the state's energy to come from renewable sources by 2021. That's down from the 30 percent target set during Democratic Gov. Jon S. Corzine's administration.
A backer of Christie's plan, State Sen. Jennifer Beck (R., Monmouth), said the revised target is "an extremely aggressive standard" but still realistic. She said Corzine's target was unattainable.
However, State Sen. Bob Smith (D., Middlesex), who cochaired the hearing, said green energy companies and solar manufacturers need reassurances that the state is committed to attaining aggressive renewable energy targets before they invest here.
Smith also noted New Jersey's prior agreement under the state's Global Warming Response Act to reduce the state's carbon footprint 80 percent by 2050, saying, "We all voted for it, but we aren't going to get there without renewables."
He and Assemblyman John McKeon (D., Essex), who chairs the Assembly environmental panel, said they plan to introduce legislation that would restore the target for renewable energy to 30 percent and keep the state from raiding a renewable-energy fund.
For more than a decade, residents have paid a utility surcharge of about $2 per month that provides about $240 million a year for green energy programs, such as rebates for buying energy efficient products.
As Corzine did before him, Christie has diverted that money for other purposes; the bill would constitutionally dedicate the money to the energy programs it was intended to fund.
The Board of Public Utilities will vote, perhaps this fall, on the draft plan. The board could revise the proposal based on testimony gathered during four hearings before voting to adopt it. Separate legislation adjusting energy targets, likely to pass the Democratic Legislature, would require Christie's signature to become law.
