Author: Abigail Goldring

Christine Weydig’s career has taken her all over the globe, where her work on complex energy projects has given her the expertise to manage a growing portfolio of innovative environmental programs in place and in the pipeline at the Port Authority. As the agency’s Director of the Office of Environmental and Energy Programs (OEEP), Weydig leads a team of 12 people who are developing and implementing creative solutions to some of the region’s most challenging problems: cutting emissions from transportation, reducing energy consumption and teaching the next generation about climate change (just to name a few). 1 Tell us about…

The Biden administration is returning the U.S. to the Paris Climate Agreement, three years after former President Donald Trump first announced the nation would be pulling out. But in that time, the Port Authority has remained true to the tenets of the accords as the first public transportation agency to embrace them in 2018. That commitment involves setting science-based greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets, including an interim goal of reducing GHG emissions 35 percent by 2025 and 80 percent by 2050. To achieve these targets, the agency has initiated a series of innovative and industry-leading measures, collectively known as the…

This week, in celebration of Climate Week 2020 and as part of its ongoing commitment to sustainability, the Port Authority unveiled one of the most ambitious clean construction programs in the United States. Recognizing that construction activity has environmental impacts and with the urgent need to mitigate effects of climate change wherever possible, the program has been created to reduce emissions, air pollution, and waste throughout the entire lifecycle of agency construction processes. Those goals became clear earlier this week as the Port Authority hosted a two-session, interactive seminar titled “Breaking Ground on Clean Construction.” Hundreds of participants heard panels of experts…

John F. Kennedy and Newark Liberty International airports are more than just global gateways for passengers. They’re global gateways for cargo, too, which includes everything from salmon in sushi to memory chips in iPhones. Today, this pair of powerhouse cargo hubs have become more important than ever for a nation relying on the speedy delivery of life-saving medical equipment and pharmaceuticals, as well as everyday cleaning and sanitary products, in its fight against the coronavirus. “JFK and Newark airports are established gateways for the movement of high-value and time-sensitive commodities,” said Mike Bednarz, Manager of Air Cargo Business Development. “Our…

Mondays are usually a quiet night of the week at Newark Liberty International Airport. But this week Tom Bock, Manager of Airport Operations, pointed to the roadways (no traffic) to the parking lots (mostly empty) to the runways behind the terminals, where only a few planes stood. “This is the emptiest we’ve seen it,” Bock remarked, looking at a live feed from the Airport Operations Center (AOC). Even with the roadways and runways looking emptier than usual, however, Newark’s AOC was operating full speed ahead – and with a cacophony of sound. The phones were ringing off the hook. Staff…