Rell Vetoes Energy Bill, Leaves Wrong Legacy Conservation League Eyeing Candidates for Vision and Leadership on Energy

Hartford, CT (May 26, 2010)   -   In 2005, Governor Rell told us:  "The people of Connecticut, and history, will judge us by whether we accepted our stewardship simply to preserve the comfortable status quo or whether we seized it with boldness of purpose.  I, for one, am emboldened." Governor M. Jodi Rell, State of the State Address, January 5, 2005. 

Then in 2006, Governor Rell reminded us:   "As I said in my State of the State speech one year ago, 'The people of Connecticut, and history, will judge us by whether we accepted our stewardship simply to preserve the comfortable status quo or whether we seized it with boldness of purpose.' . . .    We did seize it with boldness of purpose, and we must do so again, for many challenges still confront us . . .   Join me in transforming Connecticut into a national model for job creation and economic growth..."  Governor M. Jodi Rell,  State of the State Address, February 8, 2006.  

And in 2007, there was the Governor's press release:   "Governor Rell Announces New Energy Initiatives-New Department of Energy, Cap on Gross Receipts Tax, Alternative Fuel Development Among New Measures," proposing many of the same ideas she just vetoed.

What happened to all that bold vision?

Governor Jodi Rell's May 25 veto of Connecticut's energy reform legislation is an extraordinary, mind-numbing blow to the state's renewable energy businesses and their would-be employees and customers.  Rather than seize the opportunity to leave a genuine legacy of cleaner, cheaper energy, by her veto Rell chose instead to condemn Connecticut residents to the status quo and the highest electric rates in the continental United States, to drive Connecticut's promising renewable energy industry right out of the state, and to preserve our mindless morass of organizations that deal with state energy policy.

As we prepare for our July 14 pre-primary gubernatorial debate on the environment , the Connecticut League of Conservation Voters will be monitoring candidates' energy proposals with extensive scrutiny.

It's time for a leader who has real vision and will deliver on it.  A leader who means what he says and says what he means.  Our environmental and economic future depend on it.