In election years, the Connecticut League of Conservation Voters surveys candidates for state office about their positions on pressing environmental issues. We consider candidate responses to our survey in our endorsement process. Our questionnaire and instructions were emailed to all candidates running for the Connecticut General Assembly.
Candidates must submit our questionnaire via our online form. To request a link to the survey, please send an email to [email protected], specifying the name of the candidate and their district, and confirm the email the candidate will use to respond. PLEASE DO NOT PRINT/COMPLETE/MAIL YOUR QUESTIONNAIRE.
Open Question
What environmental issue(s) have you actively advocated for in the past two years, and in what capacity? What do you expect will be your top environmental priority for the 2025 legislative session?
Climate
Major climate legislation in 2024 declared a “climate crisis”. It would have updated CT’s Global Warming Solutions Act and supported clean energy, heat pumps, nature-based solutions, workforce training, sustainable business incentives, and called for a PURA docket to study transition toward clean energy and infrastructure. The partisan opposition focused on unrelated concerns, and opposed investments in clean energy, preferring gas expansion without considering cost to health, climate, and the economy. The utilities are refusing to make needed investments unless they are paid up front rather than spreading out cost to ratepayers over time. Will you support paying for increased investments in clean energy and our electric grid infrastructure to ensure a healthy environment that will reduce reliance on fossil fuel and nuclear energy (and ultimately reduce costs to ratepayers)?
Yes
No
Uncertain
Nature-Based Solutions
Connecticut is at a critical juncture where the interconnected crises of climate change and biodiversity loss demand immediate and urgent legislative attention. To ensure a successful process, the State must appoint an interdisciplinary scientific advisory council to help establish and inform the use of nature-based solutions state policy. Will you support a stand-alone bill that authorizes and prioritizes the use of nature-based solutions (forests, trees, wetlands, riparian buffers, healthy organic soils, and other natural ecosystems) as the preferred alternative, where appropriate, across all agencies?
Yes
No
Uncertain
Clean Cars & Trucks Emissions Standards
For twenty years, Connecticut has successfully implemented California’s vehicle emission standards to lower tailpipe pollution from gas and diesel vehicles, and support the sale of zero-emissions vehicles such as EVs and plug-in hybrid EVs. The California standards help us toward meeting federal air quality standards and reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. The current light-duty vehicle standards will expire in 2025 and we will default to less effective federal standards unless we update our regulations, including new standards for medium and heavy-duty vehicles (as all of our neighboring states have already done). Do you support Connecticut’s adoption of the latest California emissions standards for cars and trucks?
Yes
No
Uncertain
Environmental Rights Amendment
There is an ongoing campaign to add an Environmental Rights Amendment to our State Constitution. While we have major environmental laws at the state level and the national level, there is no statement of environmental rights in the CT Constitution. An amendment would require our state government to equitably protect the rights of all people to a healthy environment. The focus on environmental protection at the planning and decision-making stages of state and local government helps to avoid environmental problems. It would also empower communities and future generations to hold the state accountable for upholding these rights. Will you support an Environmental Rights Amendment to our State Constitution?
Yes
No
Uncertain
Food Waste Diversion
Burning, landfilling, or trucking our refuse out of state are all bad for our environment and are costly to municipalities. Connecticut is facing a waste management crisis as well as a hunger crisis. Connecticut throws away 520,000 tons of food each year. At the same time, 1 in 8 state residents are hungry or not sure of their next meal. Donating wholesome food for human consumption diverts food waste from landfills and incinerators and puts food on the table for families in need. Donations of nonperishable and unspoiled perishable food from homes and businesses help stock the shelves at food banks, soup kitchens, pantries, and shelters. Will you support designating food scraps as a "recyclable" item and requiring large-scale food generators to create plans to donate edible food?
Yes
No
Uncertain
Neonicotinoids
Known as “neonics,” these poisons are now the most widely used and unnecessary class of pesticides in the country. They have been linked to massive bee, insect, and bird population decline. They are increasingly responsible for vast water and soil contamination, ecosystem-wide harms, and human health concerns. They are mostly used on golf courses and urban landscapes for ornamental purposes. Because the federal government has not adequately regulated these chemicals, states have taken steps to ban them. Will you help push for legislation to ban the sale and use of neonics for non-agricultural use in CT?
Yes
No
Uncertain
Rodenticides
Wildlife rehabilitators and biologists are seeing Connecticut’s Birds of Prey dying from rodenticide poisoning at alarming rates. Over the years, rats and mice have built up a tolerance and can consume poisoned bait without dying right away. However, hawks, owls, raptors, foxes, pets, and other animals consume this poisoned prey and suffer a painful death. There are many effective alternatives to this product. Despite strong bi-partisan support for a ban on rodenticides during the 2024 legislative session, the pest control industry once again persuaded lawmakers to take no action. Will you support banning the use of certain rodenticides, with a few well-defined exceptions, to help prevent the deaths of its unintended victims?
Yes
No
Uncertain
Environmental Justice
In 2008, Connecticut passed a landmark environmental justice law to prevent polluting power plants, incinerators, and similar facilities from being disproportionately sited in low-income or communities of color. In 2023, the legislature strengthened the law by giving a greater voice to at-risk communities, increasing transparency, and addressing a systemic pattern of racial inequity in siting decisions. However, a last-minute amendment weakened the law to exclude existing facilities, only addressing new “affecting(?) facilities.” Will you support a legislative fix to CT’s Environmental Justice statutes to include all polluting facilities?
Yes
No
Uncertain
Bears
Science shows that wildlife conflicts are best managed through public education on removing food attractants and other protective measures. A recent study found that the Connecticut public prefers humane responses to conflicts with wildlife over lethal measures that promote killing "nuisance" wildlife, including bears and other species. Will you support legislation that requires humane responses to conflicts with wildlife such as providing better support for the public seeking help, removing attractants, minimizing shooting incidents, and strengthening programs to deal with orphaned wildlife?
Yes
No
Uncertain
Tree Cutting Protocols
Concerns about overly aggressive tree cutting policies by DOT and our state’s utility companies (Eversource, UI) can only be addressed by legislative action. Will you support legislation to require stronger science-based tree cutting protocols based on conservation values?
Yes
No
Uncertain
Ranked Choice Voting
CTLCV’s work depends on voter engagement. Our support for pro-environment candidates includes removing any unnecessary obstacles or impediments to voting at election time. Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) has been shown to increase voter choice and turnout, reduce partisanship, and eliminate voter concern about “wasting” their vote on their preferred candidate. RCV allows voters the option to rank candidates in order of preference. If a candidate receives more than half of the “first choice” votes in races where voters elect one winner out of several candidates, that candidate wins as they would in a single-choice election. However, if there is no majority winner after counting first choices, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated, and voters who picked that candidate as ‘number 1’ will have their votes count for their next choice. This process continues until a candidate wins with more than half of the votes. Should Connecticut pursue Ranked Choice Voting?
Yes
No
Uncertain
Your commitment to work on environmental legislation
If you support any or all of our top priority legislation during the 2025 session, will you add your name as a legislative co-sponsor? YES___NO___UNSURE___ ADDITIONAL COMMENT:
Will you try to attend our annual Environmental Summit in January? YES___NO___UNSURE___ ADDITIONAL COMMENT:
If requested, will you meet with CTLCV at least once during the legislative session to review priority legislation? YES___NO___UNSURE___ ADDITIONAL COMMENT:
Paid for by CTLCV PAC. This message was made independent of any candidate or political party. Contributions to the CTLCV PAC of $5,000 or more were made by CTLCV, Inc, LCV, Inc, David Bingham, Josie Merck. More info about CTLCV PAC may be found at seec.ct.gov.
