
2009: In the fall, NJPIRG Student Chapters teamed up with AmeriCorps to launch Energy Service Corps, a campaign to increase energy efficiency in low-income communities through education and service. Energy Service Corps has already educated close to 300 community members about energy efficiency, distributed over 1,000 compact fluorescent light bulbs both on-and off-campus, weatherized 15 buildings, and recruited 50 students to volunteer to educate elementary school kids about the environment in January 2010.
2009: In May Congress passed strong legislation, called the “Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure (CARD) Act” that will halt the most egregious abuses by the credit card industry. The CARD bill eliminates a lot of unfair practices, including: excessive and growing penalty fees, unfair billing practices, and unjustified and retroactive interest charges. It also restricts and requires greater transparency for marketing targeted exclusively at college campuses or consumers under the age of 21. Despite the credit card industry's lobbying to defeat or gut the bill, the Senate and the House both passed the bill with overwhelming, bi-partisan majorities.
2008: Students working on NJPIRG Student Chapters New Voters Project teamed up with the RU Voting Coalition and collected over 5,000 voter registration forms. In the days leading up to the election we contacted over 28,000 young voters across the state to remind them to vote. We knocked on doors, made class presentations, stopped students on the way to class, and asked passersby to spread the message by “texting out the vote”.
2008: In August we helped get an Affordable
Textbooks provision included in the federal Higher Education
Opportunity Act. The provision helps lower the cost of textbooks for
millions of
students by requiring publishers to disclose textbook pricing and
revision information to faculty and requiring publishers to offer
textbooks and supplemental materials "unbundled." It also asks colleges
to provide the list of assigned textbooks, including prices, for each
course when students are registering for classes.
2007: In September, NJPIRG worked with a national coalition to help pass the College Cost Reduction and Access Act, the largest increase in federal student aid in 20 years. This law also made dramatic cuts in interest rates for student loans. We followed up by helping pass the Higher Education Opportunity Act, which was signed by President Bush in August 2008. That law contains several important policy changes, including an increase in the maximum authorized level of the Pell Grant to $9,000.
2005:
Despite a strong push by the oil industry
and their allies in Congress, NJPIRG Student Chapters and the State
PIRGs were part of a successful campaign to beat back the latest effort
to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for drilling. The fight was
the latest in a 25-year effort to combat drilling in this pristine
wilderness.
2005: NJPIRG Student
Chapters helped to register 5000 students to vote in the fall 2005 New Jersey
election. The registration effort was followed by a GOTV campaign,
contacting 16,000 registered 18-24 year-olds on 12 college campuses
across the state. According to a study of raw precinct data by the
Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning &
Engagement (CIRCLE) the number of votes cast in precincts with a high
concentration of college students increased by an average of 19.9
percent above the 2001 election.
2005: In the fall, NJPIRG Student Chapters along with the Student
PIRGs across the country launched the Campus Climate Challenge. The
goal of the challenge is for 500 colleges across the country to take
the lead in fighting climate change by committing to reduce their
emissions to 90% below 2005 levels by 2050.
2005: Water
Watch Responds to Hurricane Katrina: In response to Hurricane Katrina,
which devastated the Gulf Region, NJPIRG’s AmeriCorps program New
Jersey Community Water Watch raised $4000 for its survivors. They then
traveled to Mississippi for a week to assist in rebuilding and
distributing supplies.
2005: Hunger and Homelessness:
NJPIRG Student Chapters in New Brunswick organized the nation’s second
largest Hunger Cleanup. Rutgers students raised more than $10,000 for
Tsunami Relief, baby food distribution at the Franklin Foodbank, and
other national programs.
2004: New Voters Project: NJPIRG
Student Chapters helped to register over 4000 voters as part of the national,
non-partisan New Voters Project. The state effort combined with the
national campaign resulted in a 10% increase in turnout for 18 to 24
year old voters from the 2000 to the 2004 election.
2004:
Making Textbooks Affordable: NJPIRG Student Chapters and the Student
PIRGs released Rip-off 101, a report exposing the ways that publishers
drive up the cost of textbooks. The report generates press coverage
across the country and brings attention to these practices. The report
was followed by the launch of an online bookswap, and a network of 700
math and physics professors from across the country calling on Thompson
Learning to stop releasing needless new editions.
2003:
Water Watch: NJPIRG’s AmeriCorps program New Jersey Community Water
Watch organized river cleanups across the state for national “Make a
Difference Day.” 455 students attended cleanups in New Brunswick, East
Brunswick, Camden, Newark and Atlantic City.
2002: Protecting Renters' Rights: NJPIRG Student Chapters won city inspections of rental housing in New Brunswick.
2002:
Working For a Clean Energy Future: NJPIRG Student Chapters and the
State PIRGs worked together to defeat a dirty federal energy bill.
2001:
Making Higher Education Affordable: NJPIRG and the State PIRGs helped
to win a $1.7 billion increase in financial aid, lower interest rates
and a bigger tax deduction for student loan payments.
1994:
NJPIRG and AmeriCorps launch New Jersey Community Water Watch, an
AmeriCorps program targeted at educating and activating citizens and
community members around their local waterways.
1991:
NJPIRG passes the Pollution Prevention Act. This helped reduce
hazardous waste generation in New Jersey by 50% over the next 10 years.
1990:
NJPIRG passes the Clean Water Enforcement Act. The law, which became a
national model, forced mandatory fines for serious water polluters and
served as one of the strongest laws of its kind in the nation.
1986: NJPIRG and the State PIRGs win a campaign to strengthen the Superfund law, creating the national toxics release inventory.
1985: NJPIRG helps to form the National Student Campaign Against Hunger and Homelessness.
1983:
NJPIRG and a labor-environment coalition won the Worker, Community
Right to Know About Toxics Act, requiring the industry to publicly
report use, storage and transport of toxic chemicals.
1983: NJPIRG files the first in a series of citizen lawsuits against New Jersey’s worst water polluters.
1978: NJPIRG wins tax incentives for solar power.
1975:
NJPIRG plays a lead role in stopping the construction of Tocks Island
Dam, thus preserving the Delaware River and thousands of acres of farm
land.
1974: NJPIRG launches its stream walking program,
collecting evidence of illegal polluters and writing a manual for
volunteer stream monitoring programs.
1972: Students at Seton Hall University start the first NJPIRG student chapter.