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Hartford, CT –
With nine pro-environment victories and eight missed
opportunities, Connecticut’s 2008 legislative session was marginally successful from the standpoint of the
Connecticut League of Conservation Voters (CTLCV), a
legislative watchdog for the environment. CTLCV is taking
stock of legislators’ 2008 voting records for and against
the environment for its annual Environmental Scorecard,
scheduled for release in late June.
Victories:
By orchestrating a united
front at the Capitol, environmental advocates worked
together to win the passage of six pro-environment bills and
defeated three anti-environment bills.
The global
warming bill is widely regarded as this year’s overwhelming
winner. The bill caps emissions of global warming pollution
and requires emissions cuts to 10% below 1990 levels by 2020
and 80% emissions reductions from 2001 levels by 2050.
Connecticut is the fifth state after California, New Jersey,
Hawaii and Washington, to adopt mandatory limits on global
warming pollution.
Other
significant pro-environment bills that passed include bills
that limit toxins in toys, promote environmental justice,
preserve the “face of Connecticut,” protect land trust tax
exemptions, and promote sustainable forestry.
The three
anti-environmental bills that were defeated would have
weakened municipal authority to promote conservation and
contain development, allowed riding ATVs on public land, and
undermined the Governor’s limitations on billboards.
Disappointments:
CTLCV Board Chair Julie Belaga
had hoped for more pro-environment measures to be enacted
this year. She lamented that “State revenue projections
certainly put a damper on what we could tackle. But failing
to provide the Department of Environmental Protection with
the very modest amount of funding we recommended, just so
the agency can be adequately staffed, is untenable.”
Belaga is a former Connecticut legislator who held top
management positions with the Environmental Protection
Agency and the Export-Import Bank of the United States.
In addition to
shortchanging the Department of Environmental Protection,
legislators dropped the ball on eight high-priority
environmental bills that would have set policy and, for the
most part, would not have impacted the budget.
Important
environmental bills that went nowhere in this year’s
legislative session include measures on inland wetlands,
fuel cells and other renewable energy sources, riverfront
protection, deposits on throw-away water bottles, tax
credits for conservation, time limits on vehicle idling,
packaged sewage treatment systems, and outdoor clotheslines.
CTLCV is a
bipartisan, statewide nonprofit organization focused on
making Connecticut’s environment a priority for our elected
leaders. CTLCV works with Connecticut’s environmental
advocates to highlight important legislation that affects
our air, water, wildlife, open space and health. CTLCV
supports pro-environment candidates for political office and
holds state legislators accountable for their votes in an
annual Environmental Scorecard. |
