Sherrill, Scutari leading Democratic retreat from fight against climate change

Six months after Hurricane Melissa churned through the Caribbean with 145-mph winds, New Jersey Gov. Rebecca ‘Mikie’ Sherrill quietly decided to give coastal developers another year to build at sea level.

The ocean is not waiting for the public comment period to close.

The Democratic governor is planning to delay landmark climate rules that would have required new construction in flood-prone areas to be elevated four feet above federal standards to account for rising seas, according to people familiar with the decision.

The rules, known as the Resilient Environments and Landscapes regulations, were finalized on former Gov. Phil Murphy’s last day in office in January 2026 and were set to take full effect July 20 of this year.

Sherrill wants to push the compliance deadline to next summer instead, which means another year of building without accounting for sea-level rise projections that Rutgers University scientists peg at an 83 percent chance of at least five feet by 2100.

“As sea levels are rising, as storms get stronger, we have a duty to protect people that live along the coast,” said Lucia Osborne of the American Littoral Society, a coastal conservation group. “That’s what these rules do.”

“In New Jersey, we’ve gotten stuck on this merry-go-round of build, flood, rebuild and repeat,” said Osborne, during the Joint NJ Senate & Assembly Environment and Energy Committees hearing on the NJPACT REAL rules in Trenton, on Earth Day (April 22). “The NJ PACT REAL Rules break that cycle by using common sense, science-based guidelines that protect critical environments, people, and homes along the coast. They are the best chance we have at maintaining a vibrant and healthy coast in the face of climate change.”

Sherrill’s office and the Department of Environmental Protection did not respond to requests for comment.

The delay follows sustained pressure from the real estate industry and from an unlikely source: the Democratic president of the state Senate.

Nicholas Scutari filed a resolution in March seeking to invoke a rarely used constitutional provision to scrap the rules entirely because he claims they exceed the Legislature’s intent.

Scutari’s resolution, NJ SCR106, aligns him with Republicans and the New Jersey Business & Industry Association, which has called the elevation mandate unworkable and cost-prohibitive. A concurrent resolution in the Assembly would do the same.

“Scutari last week filed a resolution that seeks to do that for the so-called Resilient Environments and Landscapes Rule,” POLITICO reported March 3, 2026. “That puts Scutari in alliance with Republicans and the business lobby, which has claimed the new rules would raise costs for developers along the Jersey Shore.”

Scutari defended his position as aligned with Sherrill’s promise to make the state more affordable.

That pledge — affordability — has become the new vocabulary of climate silence. Nationally, Democrats have retreated from the language of crisis.

An analysis by The Washington Post found that mentions of “climate change” by congressional Democrats have fallen to their lowest levels since data collection began in 2022. In New Jersey, Sherrill campaigned on utility rate freezes and electricity price relief. Climate change went nearly unmentioned.

“Climate change moves down the list of priorities when people are feeling economically insecure,” Josh Freed, senior vice president for climate and energy at the neoliberal think tank Third Way, a group backed by billionaire Democratic donors like Bill Gates and Reid Hoffman.

The REAL rules required new and substantially rehabilitated coastal buildings to be built four feet above the base flood elevation determined by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The mandate would have applied not just to oceanfront homes but to properties along tidal rivers and inland flood zones. The Murphy administration spent years developing the package. Its adoption in January 2026 drew praise from environmental groups and cautious silence from the governor who succeeded Murphy.

Sherrill signed an executive order days into her term, imposing a 90-day regulatory freeze. That pause now appears to be stretching into a delay with no fixed end.

“The REAL rules are based on rigorous data from Rutgers University, showing an 83% chance of at least five feet of sea-level rise by 2100,” the Sierra Club wrote in an advocacy alert defending the regulations. “They promote resilient development to protect public safety, homes, and businesses from the impacts of climate change, like the increasing incidence of extreme weather, chronic coastal flooding, storm surge, and rising sea-level.”

The business lobby has pushed back hard. The New Jersey Business & Industry Association and the New Jersey Builders Association filed an appeal in March 2026, challenging the rules, citing increased costs and reduced housing supply. Industry groups praised Sherrill’s review as a necessary correction.

“The trade association, along with NJBIA and New Jersey Builders Association, have been critical of the REAL rules, in particular sounding the alarm on adverse effects on development statewide,” NJBIZ reported.

Environmental advocates say the cost of inaction is higher. Research cited by the Sierra Club indicates that every dollar invested in resilience saves 13 dollars in future economic impact and cleanup costs. A home in a flood zone already loses an average of $21,400 in value, the group notes. Building without elevation guarantees that those homes will continue to lose value as flood risks increase.

Murphy’s legacy provision allowed applications submitted before Jan. 20, 2026, to proceed under old rules for 180 days, a window that closes July 20 of this year. Sherrill’s delay would extend that window by a full year. But the proposed postponement must go through public comment and could face litigation, creating uncertainty for municipalities and homeowners alike.

Hurricane Melissa made landfall in the Caribbean in late August 2025, causing widespread flooding and power outages across Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. Forecasters expect another above-normal season this year. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has not yet released its 2026 seasonal outlook, but sea surface temperatures in the Atlantic remain elevated.

A formal notice is expected next week. Sherrill can give developers 365 more days to build as if the ocean were not rising.