CTLCV Releases Report on Lamont’s First 100 Days

Hartford, Conn. (April 18, 2019) – The Connecticut League of Conservation Voters (CTLCV) in partnership with the League of Conservation Voters (LCV) is celebrating the amazing progress that Governor Ned Lamont and other Clean Energy Governors have made in their first 100 days in office by issuing a new report highlighting the many achievements being made at a breakneck pace. In the absence of leadership from the White House and the resistance to progress in the US Senate, Connecticut and other states are making significant moves forward toward 100 percent clean energy. The First 100 Days Clean Energy Report can be found here.

“We are excited to see Connecticut and Governor Lamont moving in the right direction. We have a real opportunity right now to transform our state into one that runs on clean energy, protects our natural resources and creates green collar jobs,” said Lori Brown, Executive Director of CTLCV. “While the future looks promising, we still have a lot of work to do. With the White House and Senate uninterested in fighting climate change, we need Connecticut to think big and pass a Green Economy Act that moves us to 100% clean energy and jump starts our economy.”

The report focuses on major clean energy policy achievements made by Governor Lamont as well as newly elected governors Jared Polis (CO), J.B. Pritzker (IL), Janet Mills (ME), Gretchen Whitmer (MI), Tim Walz (MN), Steve Sisolak (NV), Michelle Lujan Grisham (NM), and Tony Evers (WI) as well as newly re-elected Governor Kate Brown (OR). The report also features the on-the-ground work done by CTLCV and other LCV state affiliates.

​LCV and state affiliates invested over $31 million in state and local races in the 2018 election cycle, almost triple investments in any previous cycle in our 50-year history.

“CTLCV endorsed Gov. Lamont during the 2018 elections because he was the only candidate who pledged to support 100% clean energy and had a plan to get us there,” said Amanda Schoen, Deputy Director of CTLCV. “Now it’s time to turn promises into policy. Gov. Lamont has already pledged to keep Connecticut in the Paris Climate Accords, invest in offshore wind, reduce waste, and create green jobs. As his policies and other environmental priorities make their way through the legislature, we will be watching.”

CTLCV regularly holds elected officials to their campaign promises for a green Connecticut with their Environmental Scorecard. Today, CTLCV has introduced the Lamont Policy Tracker to provide a real accounting of the current progress on the governor’s environmental agenda. The Policy Tracker can be found here.

Governor Lamont’s progress so far includes:

• Committed to making Connecticut carbon-free at CTLCV’s 2019 Environmental Summit.
• Championed offshore wind legislation and is pushing a major offshore wind development project.
• Upheld Connecticut’s commitment to the U.S. Climate Alliance, a group of 23 bipartisan governors, which aims to honor our nation’s Paris Climate Agreement commitments.
• Appointed Katie Dykes as Department of Energy and Environmental Protection commissioner.
• Pledged greater support for energy efficiency and to protect the Green Bank and Energy Efficiency funds from being raided for unrelated projects.
• Pledged to reduce plastics, which are a contributor to climate emissions and toxic pollution

“In these governors’ first 100 days in office, they have already set an ambitious tone and pace for clean energy action, one state legislatures and the U.S. House are intent on matching,” said Gene Karpinski, President of LCV. “These Clean Energy for All champions know that the climate crisis is a problem of epic proportions that requires a level of ambition just as big. And they are not alone. The majority of people in this country want climate action, which is why candidates who ran on clean energy and addressing climate change won big in 2018.”

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