Free Daily Headlines :

  • COVID-19
  • Vaccine Info
  • Money
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Health
  • Justice
  • More
    • Environment
    • Economic Development
    • Gaming
    • Investigations
    • Social Services
    • TRANSPORTATION
  • Opinion
    • CT Viewpoints
    • CT Artpoints
DONATE
Reflecting Connecticut’s Reality.
    COVID-19
    Vaccine Info
    Money
    Politics
    Education
    Health
    Justice
    More
    Environment
    Economic Development
    Gaming
    Investigations
    Social Services
    TRANSPORTATION
    Opinion
    CT Viewpoints
    CT Artpoints

LET�S GET SOCIAL

Show your love for great stories and out standing journalism

Trump digs coal, and GOP candidates skip climate forum

  • Politics
  • by Mark Pazniokas
  • July 17, 2018
  • View as "Clean Read" "Exit Clean Read"

mark pazniokas :: ctmirror.org

Trump’s support for coal were on display throughout the Republican National Convention in 2016.

By skipping a forum on climate change Monday night, the five Republican candidates for governor saved themselves from two unpalatable options: Defending the Trump administration’s love affair with coal to furious environmentalists, or riling the GOP base a month before the primary by publicly breaking with the president.

The GOP candidates opted for a safer choice: Accept an invitation to address Republicans in Southington at a forum that conflicted with the environmental event at Trinity College in Hartford. One candidate said there was little question there were more GOP primary voters in Southington on Monday night than in Hartford at Trinity.

“You have to make choices,” said Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton, the GOP convention-endorsed candidate. “Right now, you have to be in front of Republicans.”

Aside from the efficacy of focusing on Republican audiences before the mid-August primary, polling underscores the political risk for GOP candidates who publicly acknowledge that climate change is real and caused in part or total by the burning of carbon-based fuels to generate electricity, heat homes and propel cars. 

“To be sure, there are differences between Democrats and Republicans on these issues,” said Mark Silk of the Trinity College Project on Public Values, a host of the forum. “Indeed, the partisan divide is growing, with 69 percent of Republicans now saying they think the threat of climate change is exaggerated as opposed to just four percent of Democrats — which may help explain why none of this year’s GOP gubernatorial candidates accepted our invitation.”

Last year, President Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Paris accord on climate change, and his new leader of the Environmental Protection Agency is a former coal industry lobbyist. Confounding free-market conservatives and environmental liberals, Trump also has moved to save unprofitable coal-burning power plants in the midwest that contribute to air pollution in Connecticut.

“This used to be a bipartisan issue. My God, it was Dick Nixon who created the EPA,” said Ned Lamont, the convention-endorsed Democratic candidate for governor. “And today, what is going on? We have a president who doesn’t believe in global warming. We have a president who walked away from the Paris accords.”

Then Lamont made partisan points on what used to be bipartisan, raising his voice and noting that all five Republican candidates last week gave Trump an A grade for his first 18 months as president.

Lamont was joined at the forum by Bridgeport Mayor Joseph P. Ganim, who is challenging Lamont for the Democratic nomination, and two other gubernatorial candidates, Libertarian Rod Hanscomb and petitioning candidate Oz Griebel, the former president of the MetroHartford Alliance.

The risk Republicans would have faced as supporters of a president who promotes coal became evident when Hanscomb was hissed for mildly observing that natural gas burns more cleanly than oil — irritating those who object to the burning of any fossil fuels — and booed when he referred to modern drilling technology without endorsing it.

The moderator, John Dankosky of Connecticut Public Radio, admonished the audience, saying, “Come on.”

mark pazniokas :: ctmirror.org

From left, Rod Hanscomb, Joe Ganim, Ned Lamont and Oz Griebel.

Lamont and Hanscomb said they support net metering, the practice of requiring utilities to pay customers who have solar panels that produce more electricity than the homeowners consume, power that then flows into the electric system. A recently passed law caps the amount of electricity the utilities have to buy from the owners of the solar panels.

“I think the cap on net metering is insane in this state,” Lamont said.

It was an applause line Monday night.

So was a reference by Hanscomb to the wonders of heat pumps.

Lamont and Ganim said they were opposed to making ratepayers contribute to the cost of a new pipeline that would increase the supply of natural gas in Connecticut, which proponents say could lead to cheaper electricity. They said the region is transitioning to renewable energy sources fast enough that the pipeline would be a bad investment.

“It’s extraordinarily expensive,” Lamont said.

Ganim agreed.

Hanscomb and Griebel were more supportive of the pipeline, saying they supported renewables, but the move must make economic sense. Griebel called the transition a “balancing act.”

Lamont and Ganim said they would support banning the disposal of fracking waste in Connecticut. No waste from fracking, a process for economically extracting natural gas from shale and other rock formations, is currently dumped in Connecticut, which produces no natural gas.

On an audience question about whether Connecticut should allow Tesla to directly sell its electric cars to consumers, bypassing current law that requires automakers to sell through dealers, the candidates were mixed.

“I’m not a Tesla fan,” Ganim said of the expensive electric cars.

Hanscomb and Lamont said they would welcome Tesla, with Hanscomb observing that he supports free markets and Lamont saying the state needs to embrace new technologies and channels of distribution.

“I say, ‘Welcome to the 21st Century!’ ” Lamont proclaimed.

It was another applause line.

Sign up for CT Mirror's free daily news summary.

Free to Read. Not Free to Produce.

The Connecticut Mirror is a nonprofit newsroom. 90% of our revenue comes from people like you. If you value our reporting please consider making a donation. You'll enjoy reading CT Mirror even more knowing you helped make it happen.

YES, I'LL DONATE TODAY

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mark Pazniokas is the Capitol Bureau Chief and a co-founder of CT Mirror. He is a frequent contributor to WNPR, a former state politics writer for The Hartford Courant and Journal Inquirer, and contributor for The New York Times.

SEE WHAT READERS SAID

RELATED STORIES
Cardona taps a top Lamont staffer to join him at the U.S. Department of Education
by Jacqueline Rabe Thomas

Nick Simmons was director of strategic initiatives in Lamont's office for nearly two years.

Lamont, top lawmakers make progress streamlining emergency orders issued during pandemic
by Keith M. Phaneuf

It remains unclear whether the two parties will agree on the extent of the governor’s emergency powers during future crises.

Clark Chapin is the GOP choice for state auditor
by Mark Pazniokas

Clark Chapin has been nominated to succeed the late Rob Kane as the Republican auditor of public accounts.

Keep youths out of the justice system, or hold them accountable? Judiciary committee advances bills that do both
by Kelan Lyons

Republicans were concerned about a provision in one bill that would erase certain juvenile records.

Three measures seek to promote regional sharing, cost savings
by Tom Condon

People believe the property tax burden can be significantly reduced by sharing services on a regional basis.

Support Our Work

Show your love for great stories and outstanding journalism.

$
Select One
  • Monthly
  • Yearly
  • Once
Artpoint painter
CT ViewpointsCT Artpoints
Opinion Enriching the already rich — it’s been the American way.
by David Holahan

There are supposed to be two certainties in life: death and taxes. Here's a 2021 corollary: As the rich get richer and richer, they pay less and less into the U.S. Treasury. It’s no joke, my fellow 1040 filers. A recent study by economists and the IRS found that the richest Americans —yes, those infamous one-percenters— have been cheating on their taxes to the collective tune of at least $175 billion a year.

Opinion There is no equity without standardized race, ethnicity and language data
by The Rev. Robyn Anderson

Over a year into a pandemic that has cost the lives of Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and other people of color at rates that are unjust and preventable, we cannot allow ourselves or our state to continue to use the word “equity” without the data to show policies really are addressing injustice. We all know the disparities aren’t about race; they’re about racism.

Opinion Baseball is still a civil rights battleground
by Steve Thornton

For over 150 years, the baseball field has been a battleground for civil rights. Bigoted politicians like Texas governor Greg Abbott are still fighting the Civil War — on the wrong side of history.

Opinion Getting connected for Connecticut students
by Sabrina Tucker-Barrett

There is one key to ensuring the success of Connecticut students: we must keep them connected. Whether your children are in fifth grade or freshman year, they have or will continue to learn virtually in some capacity, which means unstable Wi-Fi during class, delays in homework submission or inability to research are unacceptable.

Artwork Grand guidance
by Anne:Gogh

In a world of systemic oppression aimed towards those of darker skintones – representation matters. We are more than our equity elusive environments, more than numbers in a prison and much more than victims of societal dispositions. This piece depicts a melanated young man draped in a cape ascending high above multiple forms of oppression. […]

Artwork Shea
by Anthony Valentine

Shea is a story about race and social inequalities that plague America. It is a narrative that prompts the question, “Do you know what it’s like to wake up in new skin?”

Artwork The Declaration of Human Rights
by Andres Chaparro

Through my artwork I strive to create an example of ideas that reflect my desire to raise social consciousness, and cultural awareness. Jazz music is the catalyst to all my work, and plays a major influence in each piece of work.”

Artwork ‘A thing of beauty. Destroy it forever’
by Richard DiCarlo | Derby

During times like these it’s often fun to revisit something familiar and approach things with a different slant. I have been taking some Pop culture and Art masterpieces and applying the vintage 1960’s and 70’s classic figures (Fisher Price, little people) to the make an amusing pieces. Here is my homage to Fisher -Price, Yellow […]

Twitter Feed
A Twitter List by CTMirror

Engage

  • Reflections Tickets & Sponsorships
  • Events
  • Donate
  • Newsletter Sign-Up
  • Submit to Viewpoints
  • Submit to ArtPoints
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Commenting Guidelines
  • Legal Notices
  • Contact Us

About

  • About CT Mirror
  • Announcements
  • Board
  • Staff
  • Sponsors and Funders
  • Donors
  • Friends of CT Mirror
  • History
  • Financial
  • Policies
  • Strategic Plan

Opportunity

  • Advertising and Sponsorship
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Use of Photography
  • Work for Us

Go Deeper

  • Steady Habits Podcast
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Five Things

The Connecticut News Project, Inc. 1049 Asylum Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105. Phone: 860-218-6380

© Copyright 2021, The Connecticut News Project. All Rights Reserved. Website by Web Publisher PRO