Connecticut could become a global warming policy leader

Time is running out to stop the most dangerous effects of global warming. Doing so requires bold action starting now. The best science available says reductions in global warming pollution of at least 15 percent by 2020 and 80 percent by 2050 are necessary to stop global warming’s worst impact.

In Connecticut, we’ve already taken the first steps toward doing our part to stop global warming. In 2004, Connecticut set goals to cut global warming pollution to 1990 levels by 2010, 10 percent below 1990 levels by 2020, and by 75 to 85 percent by 2050. The state has begun work to meet these goals with policies such as our Clean Car tailpipe standards for cars and trucks and the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a pact with other Northeastern states to cut emissions from power plants.

However, even with these positive steps, Connecticut has already fallen behind meeting even our 2010 goals, and we are not on track to achieve emission reductions by 2020.

A plan for action in Connecticut

To make up for lost time and make Connecticut a national leader in the fight against global warming, Environment Connecticut is calling on Gov. Jodi Rell and the Legislature to support limits on all global warming pollution produced in the state.

Our top priority for the 2008 legislative session is to pass a global warming bill requiring mandatory reductions in Connecticut’s global warming pollution to 10 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 and to set us on a path toward reducing our emissions 80 percent by 2050.

Enacting firm, mandatory limits on global warming pollution will help lock in the gains we’ve made with the Clean Cars law and power plant pollution limits. It will also provide the necessary push to ensure that the state keeps moving forward with steps like requiring reductions in the carbon content of fuels, pollution limits for future new power plants, and advanced energy efficiency building codes to cut our energy consumption.

Progress in Washington, D.C.

Leadership by Connecticut and other states is all the more important because what we do will set the bar for action by Congress, and help us to win federal legislation to cut global warming pollution.

Our staff in Washington, D.C., is working to push the Congress to enact strong global warming legislation in the near future—and their efforts are paying off. In 2007, Congress finally began debating the first-ever legislation with the potential to produce strong national action to stop global warming.

In the House of Representatives, every member from Connecticut co-sponsored the Safe Climate Act, which requires pollution cuts similar to the cuts we are working to achieve in Connecticut. And in the fall, the Senate began to move forward with legislation introduced by Sen. Joe Lieberman that proposed more modest, but still significant pollution cuts.