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

CT wins a round against out-of-state smog, but it’s unclear for how long

  • Environment
  • by Jan Ellen Spiegel
  • October 2, 2019
  • View as "Clean Read" "Exit Clean Read"

A federal ruling scored a victory – though likely a temporary one – for Connecticut in its ongoing fight with the Environmental Protection Agency over the pollution from other states that winds up in the Northeast.

A three-judge Federal Appeals panel in the District of Columbia Tuesday unanimously agreed with six states, including Connecticut, that the EPA needs to do more to control smog coming from 20 upwind states under the “good neighbor” provision of the Clean Air Act.

The states, led by New York, filed suit in January against the EPA’s 2018 Cross-State Air Pollution Rule “Close-Out” decision. In that decision, the EPA said it had done enough to address cross-state air pollution under a 2016 requirement and was closing out the rule.

The federal appeals court disagreed, and sent the matter back to the EPA for more rigorous monitoring of pollution that travels across state lines.

In a statement, Connecticut Attorney General William Tong called the decision “a major victory for downwind states like Connecticut who rely on strong interstate regulation to protect our air quality. We sit at the end of the tailpipe of the nation’s exhaust fumes, and without EPA action we are at the mercy of our country’s heaviest polluters.”

The state has consistently failed to meet ozone standards set by the EPA due to emissions from other states’ power plants, industrial facilities, automobiles and other polluters. Those emissions “cook” in the summer sun and become the ozone or smog that travels into Connecticut, in particular, on the prevailing winds.

Connecticut ozone exceedance days have been creeping up in recent years but were down a touch this past summer. (See all the data here.)

But there are already indications the Trump administration will appeal the decision. And the state is part of several other major environmental lawsuits against Trump administration policies that could have impacts on the quality of Connecticut’s air. The suits include opposition to the rollback of auto emission and mileage standards and the Trump administration’s replacement for the Clean Power Plan, which would allow existing power plants to pollute more.

Altogether, these and other legal challenges leave any air pollution solution in Connecticut with an unclear future.

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

Jan Ellen Spiegel Jan has won awards for her reporting on energy, environment and food and agriculture. In 2013 she was the recipient of a Knight Journalism Fellowship at MIT on energy and climate. She is a former editor at The Hartford Courant, where she handled national politics including coverage of the controversial 2000 and 2004 presidential elections. As a freelance reporter, her stories have appeared in The New York Times, The Boston Globe, and elsewhere. She was an editor at the Gazette in Colorado Springs and spent more than 20 years as a TV and radio producer at CBS News and CNN in New York and in the Boston broadcast market. She graduated from the University of Michigan and attended Boston University’s graduate film program.

SEE WHAT READERS SAID

RELATED STORIES
Lamont’s budget keeps transportation program afloat through 2026 with new truck fee
by Keith M. Phaneuf

Gov. Ned Lamont's new budget would keep Connecticut's transportation program solvent through 2026 with a new fee on trucks.

CT has big plans for tackling climate change. Now it has to make them happen.
by Jan Ellen Spiegel

Gov. Ned Lamont wants to expand the role of the Connecticut Green Bank to include funding for climate change projects.

New Haven lawmaker would ban exclusionary beach policies
by Keith M. Phaneuf

A New Haven lawmaker wants to stop municipalities from imposing exorbitant fees that restrict many out-of-towners from using their beaches.

A shocker in the plan to finally update residential solar rates: No complaints
by Jan Ellen Spiegel

Connecticut is on the verge of changing one of the key financial underpinnings for residential solar electric systems.

Lamont: ‘I don’t want to build Killingly’ Energy Center
by Jan Ellen Spiegel

The governor hinted at slowing permitting and being able to “play some games there.”

Support Our Work

Show your love for great stories and outstanding journalism.

$
Select One
  • Monthly
  • Yearly
  • Once
Artpoint painter
CT ViewpointsCT Artpoints
Opinion Lamont’s new vaccination priorities are simple and smart
by Richard Davies

Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont’s new age-eligibility vaccine plan is simple, smart and straightforward. The more complicated the rules are, the greater the chance of screw-ups and of well-connected people getting their shots before they should. The governor is doing a good job.

Opinion Gas pipeline will threaten water quality, wildlife and wetlands
by Susan Eastwood

The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection has granted tentative approval of the 401 water quality certification for the Pomfret to Killingly natural gas pipeline. I urge DEEP to deny the 401 certification, as the proposed pipeline would violate the Connecticut’s water quality standards, and the conditions in the draft certification fail to protect our streams, wetlands, and wildlife.

Opinion Connecticut and the other Connecticut. Which will endure?
by Ezra Kaprov

What comes to mind when you hear the word ‘Connecticut’? Possibly, you think of a 43-year-old Puerto Rican man who arrived here with his family following Hurricane Maria. He works full-time as a machinist at the Sikorsky plant, and he coaches a prizefighter on the side.

Opinion COVID-19 increases urgency for legislature to pass medical aid-in-dying law
by Dr. Gary Blick

The COVID-19 crisis has exposed the profound tragedy of loved ones dying alone, in a hospital or nursing home, without the care and comfort of loved ones surrounding them. This pandemic also demonstrates the fragility of life, the limits of modern medicine to relieve suffering, and has magnified the systemic racial disparities in our healthcare system, resulting in higher hospitalization and death rates for people in communities of color. We must eradicate these disparities, so everyone has equal access to the full range of end-of-life care options.

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