Democrats in the Connecticut General Assembly are joining the Biden administration in an election-year retreat from controversy over how hard to push automakers away from gas engines to electric vehicles to mitigate climate change.
Facing rejection last November, Gov. Ned Lamont withdrew regulations that would have kept Connecticut in compliance with California emissions standards, which call for phasing out sales of new gasoline-powered vehicles by 2035.
Key lawmakers said Monday they have abandoned an effort in the current legislative session that would have kept Connecticut committed to 2035 with caveats, most notably a mandatory legislative reappraisal in 2027.
House and Senate Democratic leaders told the Lamont administration Friday that reports about Biden’s decision to slow the federal transition timetable was the final blow against Connecticut’s affirming the more aggressive California goals.
“The timing could not be more difficult,” said House Speaker Matt Ritter, D-Hartford. “That was tough to read.”
The New York Times reported on Feb. 17 that Biden, in a concession to automakers and labor unions, was slowing the pace for increasing EVs as percentage of new vehicle sales while keeping to its longer-term goals.
The Times’ story was based on anonymous sources, but the Washington Post published a similar story the next day. The Biden administration’s final decision will be reflected in federal regulations to be published this spring.
Connecticut legislators have evinced little appetite for voting to affirm the California standards in April — a certain wedge issue, given Republicans’ near-unanimous opposition in Hartford — if a Democratic administration in Washington is about to go the other way.
The Environmental Protection Agency had proposed regulations requiring that 67% of new car and light-duty truck sales would be zero emission, presumably all electric, by 2032, up from 7.6% last year. While hugely ambitious, the proposed federal regs paled compared to the 100% goal for 2035 set by California.
Adhering to the California standards would not have meant an end to gasoline-powered vehicles. It would not force gas cars off the road nor prohibit sales of used gas-powered cars or new plug-in hybrids.
The Biden administration still is aiming to get to 67% by 2032, but the milestones for getting there would be more modest, The Times reported.
Charles Rothenberg, an environmental lawyer with Save the Sound, said the EPA had been considering the various timetables for increasing EV sales. Important to note, he said, is that the overall goal seems to be unchanged, even if EV sales are not matching expectations.
“I think we’re still on a learning curve for consumers,” Rothenberg said.
The federal and California timetables are designed to push automakers towards ramping up production of electric vehicles, a significant step away from the gas-powered vehicles that are the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S.
At issue nationally and in Connecticut are concerns about whether the electric grid and charging infrastructure could be built out to accommodate a rapid electrification of motor vehicles.
With bipartisan passage of a law in 2004, Connecticut committed to the tougher California standards. But the failure to adopt regulations implementing the updates mean that Connecticut, at least for the time being, effectively is defaulting to the lesser federal rules.
The Democratic co-chairs of the General Assembly’s Transportation Committee, Sen. Christine Cohen of Guilford and Rep. Roland Lemar of New Haven, said in interviews Monday they will continue to work on legislation that would create a commission aimed at addressing the issues that must be resolved to get Connecticut back on track for a transition to zero-emission vehicles.
Democrats had hoped the commission would be part of a larger bill that would have kept Connecticut committed to 2035 but required hitting certain milestones about infrastructure and market forces to keep going forward. Now, it appears to be the only element viable for passage this year.
“We can establish this commission, focus on what the concerns are, and then on a separate track move forward the regulations that we think are appropriate. That might be the right way to go,” Lemar said.
“I think we recognize there are real environmental implications in not doing something,” Cohen said. “We really need to come together and find the right path forward.”
But there will be no attempt to move the regulations forward this year.
The Regulation Review Committee is evenly divided among Democrats and Republicans, and at least two Democrats on the panel were prepared to vote with Republicans to reject the clean air regulations.
Republicans led the opposition to the adoption of regulations would have implemented the latest California standards, one of two regulatory structures states can follow in enforcing clean air standards.
But there were significant Democratic doubts as well, especially by Black and Puerto Rican Caucus members who questioned if their urban constituencies could afford EVs or find charging stations.
Senate Minority Leader Stephen Harding, R-Brookfield, said he welcomed the Democratic retreat, saying the timetable for the transition away from combustion engines was impractical.
“I do question why it took so long for the Democratic Party to reach that conclusion,” Harding said.
House Minority Leader Vincent J. Candelora, R-North Branford, said Republicans might still press for a bill that would formally end Connecticut’s embrace of the California standards in favor of the federal ones.
Lemar said that would be a non-starter.
“Connecticut’s never gonna adopt the federal standard,” he said. We’re never going to be relying on folks in Mississippi and Louisiana, or a potential President Trump, to determine what clean air standards should look like in Connecticut.”