“Fridays in the Field” is on vacation this week. Instead, we have an action opportunity for you! Read on to make a difference for Connecticut’s air and the climate.
Legislators Must Approve Regulations for Lower Emissions, Wind Energy
Two important energy rules are coming before the state legislature next Tuesday, November 26, and we need your help to make sure the committee makes the right decisions.
Updates to our regional cap-and-trade program will lower the cap on CO2 emissions from power plants, protect ratepayers from excessive costs, and generate funding for energy efficiency programs. Rules for the siting of wind turbines will end the unnecessary moratorium on building safe, clean wind power here in our state.
Together the two regulations will work together to move us towards using less energy-and making sure that the energy we do use is as clean as possible.
Make Your Voice Heard
It’s important that the committee members hear from their constituents before they vote on November 26. Please check the Regulation Review Committee list at the bottom of this post. If your state senator or representative is on the list, your voice is especially crucial! Please call their office and tell their aide you support clean air and clean energy for Connecticut. Ask that they “vote in favor of DEEP’s Control of Carbon Dioxide Emissions regulations and the Connecticut Siting Council’s Wind Regulations.”
If your legislators aren’t on the committee, you can still make a difference. Please call or email the leadership, below, and ask them to approve the RGGI and wind regulations.
More about Updating RGGI: Cutting Emissions and Funding Efficiency
The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative is an agreement between nine Northeast states that caps carbon pollution from power plants. Power plant operators bid for allowances to emit carbon, and the auction proceeds return to the states to be invested in clean energy and efficiency. The member states have agreed on updates and now DEEP needs the committee to approve them by the end of the year so Connecticut can participate in the next auction. The new regulation will:
- Reduce the carbon allowances
- Direct more than two-thirds of the proceeds to energy efficiency programs that save money for residents and create local jobs
- Direct almost another fourth to Connecticut’s “Green Bank” to help develop renewable energy
- Protect residents by capping the program cost-any money over $35 million will be returned to ratepayers
More about Wind Siting Regulations: Clean, Safe, Local Energy
Did you know that Connecticut has had an unofficial moratorium on building wind power for the past two years…the only state with such a ban? It’s true. The moratorium was supposed to be temporary-just until guidelines about where to build new turbines were developed-but opponents of wind energy have used the opportunity to block those guidelines again and again. It’s time to approve the Siting Council’s practical regulations and start building wind power here in Connecticut, not buying it from out-of-state generators.
Members of the Regulation Review Committee
Sen. Chapin, 800-842-1421, clark.chapin@cga.ct.gov
Sen. Doyle, 800-842-1420, paul.doyle@cga.ct.gov
Sen. Duff, 800-842-1420, bob.duff@cga.ct.gov
Sen. Kane, 800-842-1421, rob.kane@cga.ct.gov
Rep. Arce, 800-842-8267, angel.arce@cga.ct.gov
Rep. Candelora, 800-842-1423, vincent.candeloa@cga.ct.gov
Rep. Fox, 800-842-8267, dan.fox@cga.ct.gov
Rep. Megna, 800-842-8267, robert.megna@cga.ct.gov
Rep. O’Neill, 800-842-1423, arthur.oneill@housegop.ct.gov
Rep. Wood, 800-842-1423, terrie.wood@housegop.ct.govNot sure who your state legislators are? You can look them up at www.votesmart.org.