U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis announced Wednesday afternoon that Connecticut will receive $5.8 million in grants for the creation of green jobs, pleasing both U.S. Rep. John Larson and U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro. The money comes from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Green Jobs Innovation Fund. The Connecticut Department of Labor in Wethersfield and […]
Energy & Environment
As climate change continues to impact Connecticut, keep up with the latest news on environmental legislation, energy, coastal resilience, pollution, and land use.
Posted inEnergy & Environment, Politics
Last-day legislative drama centers on Haddam land swap
With no major legislation remaining, the General Assembly was free today to mull and eventually approve the contentious Haddam land swap, one of the intensely personal issues, favors and grievances that add drama to the frenetic last day of every annual session. Bills are held to the last day for myriad reasons, often having nothing […]
Posted inEnergy & Environment
Esty refuses to say if legislators should approve Haddam land swap
Legislators trying to judge the propriety conveying open space in Haddam for a development project overlooking the Connecticut River will have to make do without the opinion of Daniel C. Esty, the commissioner of environmental protection. Esty today declined to respond to a request yesterday from three legislators on the Environment Committee for his opinion […]
Posted inEnergy & Environment, Money
State panel approves Connecticut’s first wind farm
Connecticut’s first commercial wind farm is on the books: The Connecticut Siting Council in a 6-1 vote, approved the first of two related projects in Colebrook. “A great message was sent by new the new administration that Connecticut is open for wind renewable energy,” said Greg Zupkus, co-founder of BNE Energy of West Hartford, the […]
Posted inEnergy & Environment, Money
Study: State does well in linking transportation spending, policy goals
A new report gives Connecticut and 12 other states high marks for measuring the effectiveness of transportation spending in meeting policy goals ranging from traffic safety to environmental protection. The report, by the Pew Center on the States and the Rockefeller Foundation, assesses states on their use of goals, performance measures and data to link […]
Posted inEnergy & Environment
State clean energy program ranks in national top 10
For the second year in a row, Connecticut’s Clean Energy Options program – a voluntary program under which utility customers can purchase alternative green energy – is rated among the top 10 utility-run green power programs in the U.S. That’s pretty heady company given that about 850 utilities offer such programs and many of the […]
Posted inEnergy & Environment
Will wind turbines really create jobs?
If you believe BNE Energy’s industrial wind turbine project in Colebrook will create jobs, read Joel Rinebold’s testimony before the Connecticut Siting Council. Who is Joel Rinebold? He was hired by BNE to prepare an Economic Energy Analysis for their projects in Colebrook and Prospect. Interestingly, Mr. Rinebold is a former executive director of the […]
Posted inEnergy & Environment
A 21st Century ‘Gone with the Wind’
Perhaps to be no more than a memory, cherished only in books, a picturesque, bucolic Connecticut town could be gone with the wind… Currently, Connecticut has no regulations for the siting of wind energy power plants and without them we are an easy target for the wind industry to market their wares. Furthermore, our Siting […]
Posted inEnergy & Environment
State leadership on clean energy/energy efficiency will create jobs
Job creation is one of Connecticut’s top priorities, and the creation of new jobs through energy efficiency and clean energy projects in schools, homes and public buildings should be a high profile initiative led by Gov. Malloy and supported by the Connecticut legislature. Jobs that provide an energy or environmental benefit, also known as “green […]
Posted inEnergy & Environment
Creation of DEEP a move toward environmental health, economic growth
In proposing a merged Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) with Dan Esty as its head, Governor Malloy took a bold step toward implementing his stated vision that Connecticut’s environmental health and economic future are fundamentally and inextricably linked. Governor Malloy deserves credit for taking action so early in his tenure to pull together […]
Posted inEnergy & Environment
Supporters, foes of outdoor wood furnaces square off in hearing
The tension between use of local, low-cost energy sources and the health effects of breathing wood smoke played out for hours in a hearing room Wednesday, as the Environment Committee heard testimony from at least 68 people about a bill that would ban outdoor wood-burning furnaces everywhere but farms. About 3,000 of these furnaces are […]