Hartford, Conn. (September 18, 2019) – Today, the EPA and the Trump Administration announced the revocation of California's authority to set its own automobile emissions standards. This decision blocks states like Connecticut from setting more stringent environmental protections than federal law requires. Given the number and severity of environmental rollbacks from the Trump Administration, the Connecticut League of Conservation Voters (CTLCV) strongly protests this attack.

If Trump gets his way, Connecticut’s notoriously bad air quality could get even worse,” said Connecticut League of Conservation Voters (CTLCV) Executive Director Lori Brown. “We are already at risk for significant emissions from traffic in New York and Massachusetts. After all, air pollution does not recognize state lines. Our state leaders recognized the impact of pollution from cars and trucks, which is why we passed stricter emission laws. Forcing us to comply with lax federal standards is a direct attack on our public health.”

Under the California standard, states set tighter emissions standards and the state regulation became the nationwide standard for automakers adapted to ensure their vehicles can be operated nationwide. Connecticut adopted the regulations in 2004 under public act 04-84, which affected cars with the model year of 2008 and newer. Under this rollback, automakers would no longer have to comply with the tighter state standards.

This is just one more reckless attack on our environment, our health, and our future,” said CTLCV Deputy Director Amanda Schoen. “Transportation emissions are one of the leading contributors to our climate crisis, so not only is this rollback an attack on our public health, but it could also worsen our climate crisis.”

Environmental advocates have criticized the reasoning behind this decision, which claimed that the California law was the gold standard for the nation. Four auto makers—Ford, Honda, Volkswagen, and BMW—already signed agreements to honor the California standards, demonstrating that even industry recognizes the importance of cutting carbon emissions. 

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Hartford, Conn. (September 3, 2019) – Today, Governor Lamont announced his third executive order, which calls for the expansion of the Governor’s Council on Climate Change (GC3) and sets the goal for Connecticut to achieve a 100 percent zero-carbon target for Connecticut’s energy market by 2040. This executive order lays the groundwork for implementing further carbon mitigation strategies in Connecticut and builds on our goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions statewide by 45 percent by 2030.

The Connecticut League of Conservation Voters (CTLCV) joined over 80 other Connecticut environmental advocates in Hartford to discuss the executive order with Governor Lamont and Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) Commissioner Katie Dykes and ask questions about how this will impact Connecticut towns. During the announcement, Governor Lamont acknowledged that climate change is an imminent and urgent threat and that he plans for Connecticut to be a national leader in climate action.
 
“We were thrilled to hear that Connecticut is moving closer to a zero-carbon future and that the Lamont administration is taking the issue of climate change seriously,” said CTLCV Executive Director Lori Brown. “Under Governor Malloy, the GC3 made carbon reduction a priority—but many important stakeholders and community leaders were left without a seat at the table. We are thrilled to see this revamped committee will include experts in environmental justice and equity as well as more community inclusion.”
 
Under this newest executive order, the Council will have the responsibility to monitor and report on Connecticut’s progress towards reducing carbon emissions and preparing for the developing impacts of climate change. To accomplish this, the Council will be developing new groups to better monitor and report on Connecticut’s resilience and mitigation strategies. This Council will report directly to the Governor on an annual basis beginning January of 2021.
 
“We need a zero carbon, clean energy economy to fight our climate crisis and grow green collar jobs,” said CTLCV Deputy Director, Amanda Schoen. “This last session, CTLCV helped build support for the new 2,000 MW procurement of offshore wind, which represents a third of our state’s power production. This new executive order lays the groundwork for additional procurements in renewables and could even set the stage for regional collaboration on clean energy projects. We were also encouraged by the Governor’s commitment to energy efficiency, and hope this will translate to stronger support for programs that draw down our energy consumption and help hundreds of thousands of struggling households pay their energy bills.”

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