The 2009 “cash for clunkers” program was wildly popular, Emily Badger says at Miller-McCune, but a new study finds that it did little for environment or the economy. In all, the federal government spent $2.85 billion on incentives to help consumers buy 678,359 new cars. The stated goal was to give the economy–particularly the auto […]
November 4, 2011
Posted inMoney
House Republicans ask Malloy to call special session to avoid future blackouts
House Republican Leader Larry Cafero is asking Gov. Dannel P. Malloy to convene a special session to consider legislation that aims to prevent future lengthy blackouts like the one the state currently faces. “We should come back in special session by December to pass legislation that will bolster our state’s response to natural disasters and […]
Posted inNews
Expanding earthquake education in the northeast
KENT–Won-Young Kim helped shovel out a ditch for the wiring that led to a plain-looking wooden box encased in cement, set in the bedrock of a hillside framing the Kent School, a private high school tucked in picturesque northwest Connecticut. “Using this,” he said, pointing to the box, “we’ll be able to pick up activity […]
Posted inNews
Will storms provide impetus for rethinking the power grid?
Joel Gordes, an energy consultant and former state legislator, remembers what happened on September 26 when he started talking about cyber attacks and ice storms during his presentation to the legislative committee investigating the utility response to tropical storm Irene. At one point, he recalled, Sen. John Fonfara, co-chair of the Energy and Technology Committee […]
Posted inNews
Six days after storm, CL&P’s restoration effort tops Irene
Though Connecticut Light & Power Co. officials have said repeatedly that last weekend’s snow storm caused more damage than Tropical Storm Irene in late August, it was not until Friday–the sixth day after last Saturday’s Nor’easter–that power restoration crew totals surpassed those called in for the earlier outage. Company president and CEO Jeffrey Butler said […]
Posted inNews
New credit system aims to reduce repeat offenders
A new credit system launched in September that allows offenders to shorten their sentences by participating in re-entry programs could shrink prison populations by several hundred inmates this fiscal year, a key official in Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s administration said this week. But according to Michael Lawlor, who heads the administration’s Criminal Justice Policy and […]
Posted inNews
Malloy orders independent review of utility response to storm
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy toughened his stance Friday on Connecticut Light & Power Co.’s efforts to restore power outages, launching an independent assessment led by a former federal emergency management official and leaving open the door for a special legislative session. Malloy, who began the week expressing skepticism about CL&P’s ability to complete work by […]