This positions Connecticut as a leader in reducing greenhouse gases by setting an example for state and federal governments. It also positions us an early leader in the global clean energy economy, whose success will be critical to addressing climate change.
Governor's Council on Climate Change
On Earth Day 2015, Governor Dannel Malloy created the Governor's Council on Climate Change, charged with developing recommendations to help Connecticut meet its greenhouse gas reduction commitments.
CFE/Save the Sound president Don Strait is one of two nonprofit members of the "GC3," representing your interests and the needs of the environment as key decisions are made.
Learn more about the Council here.
Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS)
The RPS is a state policy that requires electric providers to obtain a specified percentage of the energy they generate or sell from renewable sources. But Connecticut's RPS framework needs to be updated in order to meet our goals to lower greenhouse gas emissions and drive investment in renewable energy.
We need to extend our targets, which currently end in 2020, to 2050:
-By 2025, not less than 35% of Class I renewables
-By 2030, not less than 50% of Class I renewables
-By 2040, not less than 80% of Class I renewables
Climate Change in Connecticut
In 2007, the year before the GWSA passed, Connecticut emitted 46.10 million metric tons of CO2 — a 4 percent increase from 1990 emissions. That's more than Venezuela and Chile emit combined.
Our mean annual temperature is increasing at the rate of 1.7 degrees every 100 years — and 3.5 degrees along the southern shore of the state. Studies project temperature increases of 2.5 degrees by 2030 and 4-9 degrees by 2100. A four degree increase would make Hartford's temperature similar to Philadelphia, while a nine degree increase would make us comparable to Raleigh. These temperature increases are greater than any climatic variations over the last 10,000 years.
Connecticut's shoreline is particularly vulnerable to sea level rise because it is home to so many of our citizens and so much of our transportation infrastructure. According to recent models, Long Island Sound's sea level could rise 4-8 inches by the 2020s and up to 9-35 inches by the 2080s. Nickitas Georgas of the Stevens Institute gave a presentation on storms and sea level rise at our 2013 Long Island Sound Citizens Summit.
As we saw with storms Irene and Sandy, sea level rise and stronger storms are already increasing flooding and storm damage, with tremendous implication for the insurance industry. Without action to promote natural shorelines, sea level rise will also lead to the steady loss of the state's natural coastal resources, such as the dunes, salt marshes and coastal wetlands that normally buffer us from storms.
This temperature increase also has health consequences. A seven-degree increase in the tri-state region would raise ozone smog concentrations by nearly 20 percent. Higher temperatures are also likely to increase the prevalence of insect-borne diseases such as West Nile Virus, Lyme disease, and malaria.
Connecticut Climate Plan
A Leader in Climate & Energy Policy
In 2008, CFE advocated for and helped pass the Global Warming Solutions Act (Public Act 08-98) to address climate change in Connecticut. This law put us among only a handful of states (California, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, & New Jersey) that have committed to concrete carbon reductions in a specific time frame.
The Global Warming Solutions Act requires the state to reduce its total greenhouse gas emissions to at least 10 percent below 1990 levels by 2020, and to at least 80 percent below 2001 levels by 2050.
Connecticut's Climate Plan
Connecticut policymakers have taken these risks seriously, making Connecticut a leader on climate policy for over a decade.
The state's focus on climate change and global warming began in earnest in 2001, when the New England governors and Eastern Canadian premiers signed the Climate Change Action Plan. The agreement's core principles included establishing a plan for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and conserving energy, educating the public about impacts of climate change and actions individuals can take, and leading by example to reduce GHG emissions from the public sector. The plan also set the state's first GHG reduction targets: 1990 levels by 2010 and 10 percent below 1990 levels by 2020.
In addition to legislation, Connecticut is a member of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a cap-and-trade agreement among the Northeast states, established in 2006 and operational since 2008. The program covers the power generation sector only, and sets a cap on emissions of key greenhouse gases from power plants. Allowances are auctioned periodically and the proceeds divided up among the member states. Connecticut reinvests much of its share in energy efficiency, and has seen good returns as a result.
CFE & Climate Change
We work closely with partners in other nonprofit organizations, businesses, and state government to pass legislation that will help Connecticut meet our climate goals. As we focus on the implementation of the Global Warming Solutions Act, allies in our Climate & Energy Solutions Action Coalition show lawmakers that parents, doctors, business owners, garden clubs, first selectmen, and many more support strong action to cut emissions.
Meeting Connecticut's goals will require greenhouse gas reductions from every sector of the economy, so we tackle emissions wherever we can. We advocate for policies that will make our homes, commercial buildings. and public buildings more energy efficient, by updating building codes, securing funding to programs that help homeowners improve efficiency, and rewarding developers and building owners who invest in energy efficiency.
We also support actions that reduce emissions from dirty power plants and that make Connecticut a friendly business climate for fuel cell, solar, and wind innovation. When necessary, we take legal action to combat power plant and industrial sources of pollution that violate state or federal law. Automobiles are responsible for approximately 40% of the state's climate change pollution, so we have helped cut emissions from the transportation sector by instituting Clean Car standards and expanding Connecticut's public transit network.
CFE is committed to supporting the programs that are reducing our state's greenhouse gas emissions, and to working with partners to explore new ways to cut emissions from every sector and meet our state's climate goals.