Informational Forum on ARRA Projects in CT

This Wednesday, August 19 at 2:30 PM, the Legislature's Transportation Committee will hold a public informational forum on projects funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, particularly those relating to transportation. The forum will be held in Room 1E at the LOB.

On a Positive note, we already know that $70 million of ARRA funds has been approved for the purchase of buses, including 106 hybrids. Similarly, Smart Growth America's recent report on the first 120 days of federal stimulus spending indicates that Connecticut has not used any of its ARRA award to create new roads for motor vehicles. On the other hand, that same report indicates that our state has not used any of its funds for pedestrian/bicycle infrastructure.

This informational forum should help us to understand what exactly Connecticut is doing with hundreds of millions of tax-payer dollars, and whether or not our environment is being kept a high priority.

Questions about the event should be directed to C. J. Strand, Clerk of the Transportation Committee, at 860-240-0593.

Multi-State Effort Necessary for a 21st Century Commuter Rail System

Establishing high frequency commuter rail service between the metropolitan areas of Springfield, Hartford, and the New York-bound MetroNorth station in New Haven is a necessary step in reducing our state’s massive dependence on global-warming-causing foreign oil and in channeling urban development away from farms and forestland and into accessible, livable communities.

But creating such a system will require billions of dollars that our uniquely budget-less state lacks. Most local rail proponents have advocated that we look to the federal government for the bulk of such funds, but with at least 40 states seeking about 13 times the actual $8 billion set aside for commuter rail projects, Connecticut faces stiff competition, with the likes of California and Chicago vying for big cuts of those funds.

Our best hope is to create a New England-scale proposal by coordinating with Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. Together, the New England states would become the 20th largest “state” in the country and overtake Illinois as the fifth most populous. Indeed, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut, are the second, third and fourth most densely populated states respectively. A commuter rail project designed to serve the New England region is our best bet for submitting a competitive application for federal money.

Thinking on a New England scale, we wouldn’t only connect Hartford and Springfield to the New York region, but we would also create connections to cities like Worcester, Boston, Portland, and even Montreal. A regional rail plan could also provide better service to underserved rural areas and smaller cities in New Hampshire and Vermont, without straying far from the main track.

Luckily, Connecticut and all five of our regional counterparts are starting to see the light. Recently, Joe Marie, Connecticut’s Commissioner of Transportation, was a featured speaker at the New England Rail Summit in Burlington, VT. Marie has agreed to host the next conference in our state.

In addition to the obvious transportation benefits, if a New England-wide approach is successful, Connecticut may begin to move away from the balkanized policy structure that so paralyzes us.

West Hartford Whole Foods Market Unveils Solar Panels

This week West Hartford's Whole Foods store became the chain's latest location to install solar panels. Made possible in part with help from the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund, more than 400 rooftop solar panels will produce enough energy to light the story every day.

Yesterday, the store hosted a celebration of the next generation of energy. Watch Anna Stonestreet's local online news tv story here:

Reader Response: CEQ Not Disposable

Submitted by Martha Phillips, CTLCV Co-Chair

Why is it that the Council on Environmental Quality (along with several other watchdog agencies) are targeted for zero funding in the governor's proposed budget and their functions are being transferred to the agencies that they are supposed to keep tabs on? (To see the depressing details, go to http://www.ct.gov/governorrell/lib/governorrell/budget_documents_30jul09.pdf.)

Surely we are not expected to imagine that the Department of Environmental Protection will blow the whistle to call attention to itself when it falls down on the job or has a less than stellar performance.

Worse, these watchdog agency cutbacks are occurring at a time when the news media is retrenching and there are fewer knowledgeable reporters and investigative journalists than ever. How are citizens to find out when things are amiss? CEQ will no longer be there -- its responsibilities will have been subsumed (submerged?) under the agency it formerly monitored. And we won't read about any shortcomings it in the press either—because most of the reporters who knew the beat and had contacts and news sources have been laid off.

If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? Evidently we are expected to believe that if environmental programs are mismanaged or environmental laws go unenforced, it won't matter since we will hear nothing about it.

CEQ Not Disposable, Even If Everyone Tired of Budget Process

It's déjà vu all over again...again...again.

I thought of Yogi's timeless remark when I learned the other day that Governor Rell's newest budget proposal omits funding for the Council on Environmental Quality.

As the ludicrous struggle to come up with a budget to keep the state government operating has gone on for weeks that have turned into months, CEQ has been out and then been in and then been out again and then back in, in various budgets put forth from time to time. And now the governor has evidently tossed it out once more.

Environmentalists had thought they had saved CEQ and now it turns out it may not be saved after all -- right as the lazy, vacation filled days of August are upon us and many of us are elsewhere enjoying summer fun.

A problem with this kind of budget game is that people get tired of it, even the legislators themselves. And advocates take their eyes off what has been going on, figuring past battles have been won. Negotiators may get tired enough to give up just to go home and get the whole thing over.

CEQ has not become less valuable just because everybody is tired. Until this budget is locked up no battle has been finally won. No apparent victory is safe.

Certainly CEQ is not safe from a governor who apparently does not care enough to keep it going on the pittance it requires. This is not a time when environmentalists can safely look away from this shabby process or fail to make their voices heard. Or remind everyone concerned that we vote and have excellent memories.

-- Russ Brenneman

Russ Brenneman is the chair of the CTLCV Education Fund, and former co-chair of CTLCV.