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ReThink Energy NJ informs and empowers New Jersey citizens and decision-makers to support sensible policies to bring about a swift transition to clean, efficient, renewable energy including promoting sound siting of energy infrastructure. We advocate for reducing the use of dirty fossil fuels and to stop unnecessary fossil gas pipelines that threaten our land, air, water, health, and safety.
Patty Cronheim, Program Director ReThink Energy NJ
A lifelong New Jersey resident, Patty has spent her career working to fight for clean energy and environmental issues across her home state, emphasizing the intersection of health and affordability for New Jersey residents. As the prior Campaigns Director for New Jersey League of Conservation Voters, she was responsible for overseeing the development and management of New Jersey LCV’s Campaigns Department. She is the president of Cronheim Consulting and advises on clean energy and community issues. She is a co-founder of ReThink Energy NJ, and led outreach efforts to oppose fossil fuel projects such as the PennEast Pipeline and the Northeast Supply Enhancement Project. Patty has a Master of Science from Columbia University in Nutrition and Applied Physiology. She has served on the National Pipeline Safety Trust Stakeholder Engagement Group, advocated in NJ and DC on pipeline safety and health issues, and is a 2021 recipient of the Presidents Volunteer Service Award.
She currently volunteers on the board of the New Jersey League of Conservation Voters, the Pinelands Preservation Alliance C4 Board, The Never Off Duty Advisory Board, and serves on the Ocean Township Shade Tree Commission. In her spare time, she surfs with her dog Gnarly Charley and sings with local bands.
With the backing of tens of thousands of advocates, ReThink Energy NJ provides research and information about proposed natural gas pipelines and the benefits of clean, renewable energy. Our goal is to educate the public and decision makers about the health, safety, and environmental risks of fossil fuel infrastructure and combustion, and to highlight pathways to achieve a clean energy future with an emphasis on the electric and building sectors in particular.
In 2018, ReThink Energy NJ worked closely with the New Jersey Conservation Foundation and our partners at the New Jersey League of Conservation Voters, Environmental Defense Fund, and the Natural Resources Defense Council to secure passage of landmark clean energy legislation and a state Energy Master Plan to achieve 100% clean energy. New Jersey is now one of the leading U.S. states in developing clean, renewable energy sources, but there’s more work to be done.
In 2021, ReThink Energy NJ helped defeat the PennEast pipeline, a proposed fossil gas pipeline that would have cut through environmentally-sensitive parts of New Jersey and Pennsylvania. For seven years, ReThink Energy NJ worked alongside environmental advocates, residents, federal, state and local elected officials to fight against the unneeded pipeline, which was canceled after facing tremendous opposition and a series of legal challenges that went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
ReThink Energy NJ is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization created in 2015 by the New Jersey Conservation Foundation, The Watershed Institute, and the Pinelands Preservation Alliance in response to the onslaught of new fossil fuel projects proposed for the state.