WASHINGTON – As part of a renewed attack on the Affordable Care Act, House Republicans grilled Access Health CEO James Wadleigh and the heads of other state marketplaces on Tuesday, saying they had wasted billions of taxpayer dollars on an effort that has raised health insurance deductibles and premiums.
Energy and Environment
Posted inEnergy & Environment
With cash for bike trails, new era begins at ConnDOT
The Connecticut Department of Transportation marked a milestone Tuesday as the state Bond Commission authorized $8.3 million in bicycle and pedestrian projects, including $5.1 million to construct a missing piece of the New Haven-to-Northampton, Mass., bicycle trail in Farmington. For the first time, the state is paying to construct a bike trail, the beginning of an annual commitment of $11.2 million.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Does Connecticut need another gas pipeline?
Answers to two questions are key to approving a new gas pipeline in Connecticut:
1) Is there a problem?
2) Do proposed solutions to the problem create collateral damage?
In the case of the Connecticut expansion of the Northeast Energy Direct pipeline, the answers are NO — supplies of natural gas this winter will NOT run out and YES — contamination of our water supply is feared.
Posted inEnergy & Environment
Invasive species keep coming. Will climate change bring more?
It’s an unexpectedly busy summer for invasive species in Connecticut. A new beetle is attacking pines and an old one is attacking ash trees. There’s another dangerous mosquito. The big question — will climate change bring even more problems?
Posted inEnergy & Environment
Climate change threatens Connecticut’s vital shoreline rail
As the state invests in a multi-billion-dollar plan to upgrade the rail line, there are those who say the impact of climate change isn’t being considered carefully enough. They worry the plan will entrench the line in locations vulnerable to storms and flooding. But others say it’s too expensive to move the line, and there are other ways to mitigate the impact. First of two stories.
Posted inEnergy & Environment
Session tally: Energy and environment hits, misses and almosts
For those pursuing energy and environmental initiatives, this legislative session was already heading toward half-a-loaf results before the budget impasse erupted. In the end there were big wins, big losses and everything in between.
Posted inEnergy & Environment, Health
Affordable energy bill advances; telehealth bill goes to governor
Bills designed to drive down Connecticut’s high electricity costs and to establish standards for telehealth both advanced during state legislative proceedings Wednesday.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Connecticut’s timid approach to clean energy penalizes consumers, costs state jobs
The Connecticut legislature’s reluctance to fully launch a program to develop a system of shared renewable energy is not only costing the state jobs and federal energy subsidies. It is also causing the state’s consumers to pay more than they have to for electric power. We are missing the clean energy revolution.
Posted inEnergy & Environment
CT to make a start on electric vehicle incentives
In the face of tight state finances, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy is about to unveil financial incentives for electric vehicle purchases and leases using money from outside the state budget. Malloy will announce that $1 million from the Northeast Utilities/NSTAR merger settlement fund will be used to help jump-start a sluggish EV market in Connecticut.
Posted inEnergy & Environment
Eversource and UI electric rates heading for big drop in July
Electric rates charged by Connecticut’s two utilities are headed for major reductions for the six months beginning July 1. Eversource Energy standard offer rates for residential customers will drop by more than one-third, and United Illuminating rates will drop nearly one-third.
Posted inEnergy & Environment, Politics
Northeast Dems try to block Obama plan for drilling in Atlantic
WASHINGTON — President Obama may soon break a key environmentalist commandment: Thou shalt not drill for oil in the Atlantic. But Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal and a long list of other East Coast senators want to stop him.
Posted inMoney, Politics
New England governors inch forward on energy
With the careful language of a State Department communiqué, New England’s governors renewed their commitment Thursday to “coordinated action to address our regional energy challenge.”
Posted inEnergy & Environment, Money
On conservation’s front lines, districts facing budget cuts
The five little-known Connecticut Conservation Districts help municipalities and the public with soil and water conservation problems and projects they can’t handle themselves. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s proposed budget would end all $300,000 in state funding for the districts — money they say is necessary to run their offices and leverage larger sums in the form of grants.
Posted inPolitics
Blumenthal wants foreign worker visas boosted — and program reformed
WASHINGTON — Sen. Richard Blumenthal wants to expand a program that allows U.S. companies to hire workers with specialized skills, but after allegations of abuses the senator also wants the program investigated.
Posted inPolitics
Bank that boosts Connecticut exports under fire
WASHINGTON – For years Connecticut companies, large and small, have benefitted from a federally backed bank that helps them sell their goods overseas — but a bitter fight over whether the Export Import Bank is taxpayer-funded corporate welfare has put its future in question.
