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Executive Summary
Connecticut can make major strides toward
reducing its emissions of global warming
gases over the next several decades – and
meeting reduction goals outlined by the New England
Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers –
by adopting the policy recommendations of the
Connecticut Climate Change Stakeholder Dialogue
(CCSD) in conjunction with a series of additional
global warming measures outlined in this report.
In 2001, the governors of the six New England states
and the premiers of the eastern Canadian provinces
adopted a landmark commitment to reduce the
region’s emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases
that contribute to global warming. In December
2003, the Connecticut climate stakeholder group
– which included participants from business, government,
academia and the nonprofit sector – issued
a series of 55 policy recommendations that
would significantly reduce Connecticut’s emissions
of global warming gases if implemented.
However, the stakeholder recommendations would
not, on their own, reduce emissions to the degree
called for in the regional agreement (to 1990 levels
by 2010 and 10 percent below 1990 levels by 2020).
In addition, the recommendations are not designed
to achieve the long-term goal agreed to by the governors
and premiers of stabilizing atmospheric concentrations
of global warming gases at levels that
will prevent dangerous interference with the climate
system – a goal that will require emission reductions
of 75 to 85 percent below current levels.
By adopting eight near-term policy strategies – and
considering adoption of an additional eight strategies
– Connecticut can achieve its short-term global
warming emission reduction goals and lay the
groundwork for further medium- and long-term reductions.
Global warming, caused by human-induced
changes in the climate, is a major threat to
Connecticut’s future.
• Since the beginning of the Industrial Age, atmospheric
concentrations of carbon dioxide –
the leading global warming gas – have increased
by 31 percent, a rate of increase unprecedented
in the last 20,000 years. Global average temperatures
increased by about 1° F during the
20th century, a rate of increase greater than
any in the last 1,000 years.
• The effects of global warming are beginning
to appear in Connecticut and worldwide. Average
temperatures in Connecticut have increased
by about 1.4° F since 1895 and are
expected to increase by between 2° F and
10° F over the next century. These temperature
increases are expected to be accompanied
by increased precipitation.
• The results of these changes could include
higher sea levels, degraded air quality, increased
heat-related deaths, and the loss of
Connecticut’s hardwood forest species. These
impacts can be expected to negatively affect
Connecticut’s economy, the health of its citizens,
and the state’s delicate environmental balance.
Emissions of global warming gases are on the
rise in Connecticut.
• Between 1990 and 2000, Connecticut’s net
emissions of global warming gases increased
by 11 percent. According to projections compiled
for the stakeholder dialogue, emissions
could increase by an additional 21 percent between
2000 and 2020 in the absence of further
action to reduce emissions.
Implementation of the Connecticut Climate
Change Stakeholder Dialogue recommendations
would represent a positive first step for Connecticut.
• Implementation of the stakeholder recommendations
would reduce global warming emissions
in Connecticut by 9 percent below
projected levels by 2010 and 22 percent below
projected levels by 2020. The recommendations
achieve these goals largely through improved
energy efficiency and reduced use of
fossil fuels. • Implementation of all 55 CCSD recommendations,
however, would still not achieve emission
reductions of the magnitude called for in
the regional Climate Change Action Plan. The
CCSD’s final report estimated that global
warming emissions in Connecticut in 2010
would remain 4 percent above 1990 levels in
2010 and 2 percent above 1990 levels in 2020
(assuming continued operation of the state’s
nuclear reactors beyond the expiration of their
operating licenses).
Connecticut could significantly reduce its global
warming emissions by adopting eight additional
policy strategies.
• These eight policy strategies, if adopted and
implemented along with the CCSD recommendations,
would reduce Connecticut’s emissions
of global warming gases to 1990 levels
by 2010, and bring the state closer to achieving
the regional reduction goal for 2020 – even
without the relicensing of the region’s nuclear
reactors, which pose significant threats to public
health and the environment. (See Fig. ES-
1.) The strategies would also put Connecticut
in a better position to make the long-term
changes necessary to achieve the goal of eliminating
the state’s negative impact on the climate.
The strategies are:
1. Setting energy-efficiency standards for at least
seven residential and commercial appliances.
2. Reducing electricity use by increasing funding
for energy efficiency programs through the
state’s Conservation and Load Management
Fund.
3. Reducing heating oil and natural gas use
through conservation programs with sufficient
funding to maximize efficiency savings.
4. Implementing “pay-as-you-drive” automobile
insurance, in which insurance rates are calculated
by the mile, rewarding those who drive
less, while potentially reducing accidents.
5. Requiring the sale of low-rolling resistance replacement
tires that improve vehicle efficiency
without compromising safety.
6. Implementing a public sector emission reduction
strategy with concrete, measurable goals.
7. Implementing and funding an aggressive strategy
to promote the use of solar photovoltaic
systems in homes and commercial buildings.
8. Adopting limits on carbon dioxide emissions
from power plants.
Connecticut should also investigate additional
policy strategies to further reduce global warming
emissions.
• Connecticut should also consider the future
adoption of a series of other strategies that
could help the state achieve its emission reduction
goals in both the short and long term.
These strategies focus heavily on reducing
emissions from cars and trucks, promoting
“smart growth,” and encouraging the generation
of clean electricity close to the point of
use.
Connecticut should seize the opportunity to reduce
its emissions of global warming gases.
• The governor and legislature should move forward
with implementation of the recommendations
of the Connecticut Climate Change
Stakeholder Dialogue, and build upon the
stakeholder process by continuing dialogue on
such difficult issues as reducing vehicle-miles
traveled, limiting suburban sprawl, and encouraging
the development of non-fossil, nonnuclear
sources of energy.
• The state should adopt the near-term measures
listed in this report, thus closing the gap between
the stakeholder process results and the
regional goal for 2010 and narrowing the gap
for 2020.
• Connecticut should continue to participate in
regional efforts to reduce global warming gas
emissions, particularly the efforts of the Conference
of New England Governors and Eastern
Canadian Premiers and the northeastern
states’ negotiations to establish a regional
power-sector carbon cap.
• Connecticut should commit to achieving the
regional long-term global warming emission
reduction goal by 2050 and begin to plan for
making the technological and other changes
that will be needed to achieve that goal.
• Connecticut can and should reduce its global
warming emissions without increasing the use
of nuclear power or extending the life of the
state’s nuclear reactors beyond their current
operating licenses.
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