What If the Environment Mattered More Than Money?

...Then instead of wondering why the state of New Jersey is so corrupt, we might be celebrating its "try-anything strategy that has made it the nation's second-biggest producer of solar energy behind California."

According to Matthew Wald at NYT's Green Inc.,

PSE&G Solar, a subsidiary of the big New Jersey utility, said on Wednesday that [it] received the regulatory go-ahead to add 80 megawatts of solar capacity in its territory by the end of 2013, effectively doubling the amount of solar power in the state.

Now, I've always been a little skeptical of solar power's effectiveness. But Wald goes on to address my fears:

Although the panels may produce 80 megawatts with the sun directly overhead, their contribution to meeting peak electric demand in New Jersey will probably be smaller, because the the highest electricity demand comes after the sunniest part of the day. Also, many of the panels may be shaded by buildings or trees for part of the day. Mr. Rosengren said that the panels’ value at the time of peak electricity demand could be closer to 24 megawatts.

Still, that's more than most states are doing. And while I'm not saying that governments or politicians should get a pass for corruption, I think the visibility of these two news stories about the same state says something about our society's values. New Jersey's corruption scandals have made homepage news at nytimes.com for several days running, but its environmental achievements only made it to a special-interest blog. Failures will always make better news than successes, of course. But this country does not lack environmental failures. How big does our environmental "corruption" have to get before it trumps money or politics?