Bipartisan advocates for smart, sustainable environmental policies in Connecticut
Filmmaker Peter Byck discovered that focusing on getting people to believe in climate change isn’t the way to enact clean, green energy solutions. Watch what he has to say:
(If the video controls don’t show up on their own, slide your mouse over the image above to make them appear.)
Jessie Stratton, a Director of the Connecticut League of Conservation Voters and 
an advisor on Governor Malloy’s transition team, is quoted in the January 11 CT News Junkie article, Finance Committee May Restore Conservation Funds.
CT News Junkie reporter Christine Stuart writes, “Environmentalists and small businesses are hopeful that since the state doesn’t have to borrow as much money as it initially expected when it passed the budget last year that it will restore some of the $28.5 million it planned on taking annually from the Energy Conservation and Load Management Fund.”
Jessie Stratton of Environment Northeast estimates that taking a portion of the Energy Conservation and Load Management Fund to pay off the debt will cost the state 1,120 jobs a year. She said restoring the money for the fund will help maintain jobs in the state.
The 2010 legislation that raided the energy conservation fund was roundly viewed as bad for Connecticut’s green jobs sector, bad for consumers who want to save money by making their homes and businesses more energy-efficient, and bad for the environment by adding to greenhouse gas pollution.
Clean energy detractors worry about the costs of switching to a clean energy economy, but who measures the costs of *not* using more clean energy?
See “Latest heat wave raised CT air pollution” | Hartford Business Journal | http://t.co/hEhDivk
The Connecticut Clean Energy Fund has drafted its 2011-2012 plan for programs and investments and invites the public to information sessions on it. Public information and comment sessions will take place on June 28, 29 and 30, in Essex, Westport and Hartford.
The comprehensive clean energy plan covers the gamut of renewable energy issues, including everything from high-performance schools, net zero energy homes, and education and training, to on-site renewable distributed generation, emerging renewable energy technologies, and financing programs. The comprehensive plan is available online at www.ctcleanenergy.com/comprehensiveplan.
Public comments may also be sent by email or mail by July 14th to:
Connecticut Clean Energy Fund
200 Corporate Place, 3rd Floor
Rocky Hill, CT 06067
Attn: Loyola French
comprehensiveplan@ctcleanenergy.com
Connecticut legislative leaders led a press conference today to encourage Governor Rell to sign the just-passed landmark energy reform bill, and to tout the bill's potential to lower electric rates, increase the generation of renewable energy, and promote energy efficiency.
Email: governor.rell@ct.gov
Tel: 860-566-4840
Toll-Free: 800-406-1527
TDD: 860-524-7397
Tell Governor Rell to sign the bill! Watch the video for details.
Senate Bill 463, the 169 page energy bill released a few days ago, seems to be pitting traditional energy businesses against new clean energy businesses. As part of a press conference yesterday, the Connecticut Citizen Action Group displayed a poster identifying the bill’s biggest supporters and opponents (below).
Background on the Bill
For background on what the bill proposes, see:
- The nonpartisan Office of Legislative Research summary here
- CT News Junkie and CT Mirror articles here and here
- This morning’s Hartford Courant endorsed a go-slow approach. You can read the Courant editorial here.
- Kelly Kennedy, CTLCV
Kudos to the Connecticut Fund for the Environment for assembling a Google map of Connecticut’s green industry. Maybe it’s time for a new industry cluster so Connecticut can genuinely position itself for the inevitable shift to a clean energy economy. We have clusters for bioscience, aerospace, software/IT, metal manufacturing, maritime, plastics, agriculture, and insurance & services.
Map Key
Red: Solar (design, installation, supply)
Aqua: Alternative Energy (geothermal, wind, other)
Yellow: Architecture, Green Building Design
Blue: Weatherization & Efficiency Retrofit, Builders
Pink: Electrical Efficiency & Lighting (consulting, installation, supply)
Green: Fuel cell, Research, Manufacturing
Purple: Development, Finance
---
Why not? As the Department of Economic & Community Development website states, the Industry Cluster Initiative “puts Connecticut companies on the fast track; develops the resources needed to compete globally; achieves sustained, measurable growth in jobs, education levels, start-ups and R&D funding; and ensures that positive results extend beyond a single contract, company or city.”
It’s worrisome that aside from frequently noting the state’s high
energy costs, the state’s Strategic Economic Development Plan says little about a vision and plan for developing the clean, green business sector, deferring mostly to Governor' Rell’s 2006 Energy Vision.
Anyway… You can click on the green business map above to enlarge it. And if you’re a part of Connecticut’s burgeoning green industry and you’re not listed, email CFE at survey@cfenv.org to get added to the map.
A broad coalition of environmental advocates and clean energy businesses united with legislative leaders yesterday to call for policies that will get Connecticut residents back to work in good, green jobs.
While some of those policies would require some financial investment, others would require no financial expense at all. In many cases, the no-cost policies call only for planning, cooperation and communication.
Many no-cost, green jobs policies call only for planning, cooperation and communication, perennial shortcomings in Connecticut’s fragmented approach to government—shortcomings that have caught up with us in the form of out-of-control budget deficits.
If Connecticut is serious about being a major player in the new clean energy economy, it’s critical that legislators and the Governor stay the course and keep our focus on investing in energy efficiency and renewable energy.
As businessman David Leishman, Chair of the Connecticut Chapter of the Northeast Energy Efficiency Council, pointed out, Connecticut’s energy efficiency programs have been rated number 1 in the country by the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE). Energy and energy efficiency businesses need to be able to count on those policies staying in place if they are to stay in business, hire or expand.
Chris Lenda from Aegis Electrical Systems added that in terms of supporting our home-grown clean energy industry, Connecticut is falling behind compared to nearby states. New Jersey was mentioned several times as the new state leader in clean energy policy.
Connecticut’s waffling on those pro-clean energy and pro-efficiency business policies, such as last year’s proposal to siphon off clean energy and energy efficiency funds and dump them into the general operating fund kitty, makes the industry more than a little uneasy. The same goes for this year’s proposal to securitize some of those clean energy funds.
Based on their report entitled “Building Connecticut’s Economic and Environmental Future,” the advocates call for policies to be enacted this legislative session that:
Groups speaking up for green jobs include: American Farmland Trust • Audubon Connecticut • Clean Water Action • Connecticut Forest & Park Association • Connecticut League of Conservation Voters • Connecticut Fund for the Environment • Environment Connecticut • Environment Northeast • Rivers Alliance of Connecticut • Save the Sound • Sierra Club, Connecticut Chapter • The Nature Conservancy • Transit for Connecticut • Working Lands Alliance • 1000 Friends of Connecticut.
With the US Senate’s climate action bill taking shape, the EPA’s move last week to regulate greenhouse gases, and major companies rejecting the US Chamber of Commerce’s stance on climate action, the shift continues toward America’s clean energy future.
Late this summer, CTLCV attended a clean energy panel discussion that Congressman Chris Murphy hosted with Carol Browner, Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change, at the Hill-stead Museum in Farmington.
The panel focused on the promise that green energy advancements hold for our environment and for Connecticut’s economy.
Joining Browner and Murphy were representatives from Connecticut-based renewable energy businesses, including Apollo Solar of Bethel, FuelCell Energy (Danbury and Torrington), Duracell (Bethel) and Optiwind (Torrington).
The nearly two-hour meeting covered stimulus investments in energy, the US House bill on climate change (ACES), transmission issues for renewable energy, smart meters, energy efficiency rules for appliances, initiatives of some of Connecticut’s renewable energy businesses, and more.
Here’s some of what they had to say.
On the solar front we have bad news and good news.
On the final day of the legislative session a major bill that would have created 300 megawatts of solar power in the next ten years—and which had unanimous support in the House—died through inaction in the Senate. This dismal failure will receive full treatment in a subsequent post.
Now to the good news. As of July 1 the Clean Energy Fund is reinstating the rebate to homeowners for solar photovolaic installations. This program was so successful over the past several years that it ran out of money. It is funded by a small surcharge on utility electric bills.
In the original program the State contributed 50% of the cost. Under the new program, this has been slightly reduced, but this reduction is offset by changes in the federal tax incentives. (Details are available at www.ctcleanenergy.com.)
I took advantage of the original program in my own home. I have 36 solar panels, which cost $60,000+. But the State covered half that cost.
My solar panels generate 70% of the electricity I use at my house. This month my bill was $25, and in the summer I'll begenerating a big surplus sent back to the grid for a savings that will carry me through the winter months. Not bad.
