More Transit Cuts Coming, Unless Public Transportation Preservation Act Intervenes

– By Michael Wysolmerski, Summer Intern from Yale, 
michael.wysolmerski@ctlcv.org

Just last week, the New York Daily News reported that the MTA has cut the Metro-North 1:34 p.m. express from Grand Central to New Haven, the 2:33 express from New Haven, and the 1:15 a.m. train from Grand Central to Stamford—even though Connecticut, according to a Hartford Courant article, will pay $200,000 to avoid further Metro-North cuts in the state.

The federal Public Transportation Preservation Act (S 3412/HR 5418) could come to the rescue. The bill, which was introduced by Senators Chuck Schumer, Kirsten Gillibrand, Frank Lautenberg, Robert Menendez, and Chris Dodd, would provide $2 billion in federal aid to transit agencies across the country that are cutting service and raising fares.

The Public Transportation Preservation Act, according to a press release on Senator Schumer’s (D-NY) website, would provide approximately $345 million for the NYC-NJ-CT urbanized area, which includes southwestern Connecticut, and prevent cuts and higher prices on the Metro North Railroad. More specifically for Connecticut, according to calculations done by Michelle Ernst, TSTC’s staff-analyst, the Connecticut Department of Transportation stands to receive approximately $36 million, while other Connecticut transportation agencies would receive around $2 million, bringing the total funding to the state to around $37 or $38 million.

According to TSTC, the money from the bill could only be put towards transit operations. No capital construction projects could receive funding.

Not only would the bill help preserve public transportation systems, but it would create approximately 72,000 high quality green jobs, according to figures from the American Public Transportation Association.

The bill is rapidly gaining momentum in the Senate, as it now has 11 co-sponsors, yet there are currently only two co-sponsors in the House. According to the TSTC, New York advocates of the bill are urging their representatives to co-sponsor the bill in the House.

Transportation for America urges voters to “keep flooding our senators with letters and calls,” and released an action alert that calls for senators to cosponsor the bill.

Click here to tell your senators to support emergency transit funding and keep America's transit systems running.

RGGI Auction Price Falls Further

– By Michael Wysolmerski, Summer Intern from Yale, 
michael.wysolmerski@ctlcv.org

According to a June 11 Environmental Leader article, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) auction price of CO₂ allowances for the first three-year control period (2009-2011) fell 9%, from $2.07 to $1.88, from the March 10 auction to the most recent auction, held on June 9.

This is the second consecutive drop in the price of CO₂ allowances, down from $3.23 per allowance at the June 2009 auction. The latest auction brought in more than $80.4 million.

The article blames the drop in power demand due to the recession for the decline in prices. According to the Wall Street Journal, the low price of natural gas and the lack of support of RGGI from federal proposals for a national CO₂ emissions cap further contributed to the lower price. A federal program would probably not supply a premium for regional allowances that would eventually be combined into the federal program.

As the article states, a study released by Environment Northeast projects that the RGGI states--Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont--could lose $3 billion in revenue in the aggregate if the Kerry-Lieberman Senate climate bill is passed. The Kerry-Lieberman bill, entitled the American Power Act, would establish a national cap-and-trade program.

RGGI’s website describes its program as the “first mandatory, market-based CO₂ emissions reduction program in the United States.” The ten participating states will require a 10 percent reduction in CO₂ emissions from the power sector by 2018.

Each state has its own CO₂ Budget Trading Program that is connected to the other states via CO₂ allowance reciprocity, meaning that a power plant can use an allowance issued by any of the states to meet its state program. The program also sets up an emission auction and trading system, so power generators can buy and sell CO₂ emissions allowances. The states then are to use the auction proceeds to support “low-carbon-intensity” solutions.

The Environmental Leader notes that the total proceeds from RGGI auctions are now more than $662.8 million, and that states are investing 60% of the proceeds in energy efficiency.

In Connecticut, that investment percentage is even higher. According to the RGGI website’s Connecticut investment page, Connecticut invests 69.5% of its auction proceeds in energy efficiency programs supervised by the Energy Conservation Management Board (ECMB) and administered by Connecticut Light & Power, United Illuminating, and the Connecticut Municipal Electrical Energy Cooperative. Furthermore, 23% of the proceeds go towards Connecticut Clean Energy Fund sponsored renewable energy programs. The fall in auction prices is clearly detrimental to alternative energy funding, and the issue sheds light on the interesting, perhaps unintended, play between federal and regional proposals that have similar goals.

Clean Energy Plan Going on Tour

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 Meeting Schedule

• Monday, June 28, 2010
  6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
  Essex Town Hall Auditorium
  29 West Avenue
  Essex, CT
• Tuesday, June 29, 2010
  10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon
  Westport Town Hall, Auditorium
  110 Myrtle Avenue
  Westport, CT
• Wednesday, June 30, 2010
  11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
  Legislative Office Building, Room 1A
  Hartford, CT

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