Hartford Courant on SGWC, 11.2.07 Press

PUSH PLANNED FOR MANDATORY EMISSION LIMITS
COALITION OF ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS TO SEEK GENERAL ASSEMBLY SUPPORT FOR LEGISLATION

Hartford Courant - Hartford, Conn.
Author: MARK PETERS
Date: Nov 2, 2007

Connecticut needs to move past voluntary measures and institute mandatory limits on the emission of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases blamed for climate change, a coalition of environmental groups said Thursday.

The newly formed organization Stop Global Warming Connecticut said it wants to introduce legislation that would require emission reductions to 10 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 and 80 percent below more recent levels by 2050.

The coalition will spend the coming months building support in the General Assembly to place an overall limit on the emission of carbon dioxide and similar gases that come from cars, manufacturers, power plants and commercial and residential buildings. The group also wants legislators, at their next session next year, to expand efficiency standards, update building codes, pass low-carbon fuel requirements and take other concrete steps to begin meeting the proposed emission standards.

The coalition is also studying how an emissions cap would affect the state's economy. Members said it has become clear that global warming, if left unaddressed, will carry high costs for businesses and consumers worldwide.

Coalition members pondered what the effects of rising oceans, more intense hurricanes and droughts would have on the basic services that businesses and consumers in Connecticut rely on, such as sewage treatment plants or clean drinking water.

Environment Northeast, Connecticut Fund for the Environment and the four other groups said at a news conference in Hartford that they formed the coalition because global warming and its effects dwarf other environmental issues.

"We've all come together to tackle one of the defining issues of our age," said David Sutherland of The Nature Conservancy in Connecticut.

Tackling climate change is unlike other battles over emissions, which have addressed air quality and health issues through local action. Global warming requires action not just by Connecticut, but by the United States and other countries worldwide, environmentalists say.

Coalition members said the state can be a leader on the issue by adopting policies that could be a model for Congress, which is currently debating the issue.

The state is already part of the first-in-the-nation Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, which places limits, starting in 2009, on the emission of carbon dioxide from power plants.

Gina McCarthy, commissioner of the state Department of Environmental Protection, said it's clear that voluntary programs to reduce emissions aren't the answer, but imposing mandatory limits faces challenges.

Carbon dioxide emission caps have to treat various sectors of the state economy fairly and are complicated by areas such as transportation.

"You can look at mandatory reductions in every sector - the question is how you get there," McCarthy said.
 

The Connecticut Business & Industry Association said government-imposed limits will have serious implications for industry, but will do little to change consumer habits, such as how much people drive their cars, said Eric Brown, associate counsel for the business lobbying group.

"Those mandates are never going to apply to anyone but the industrial sector," he said. "There is not going to be political will to mandate personal behavior."

Brown said the state is already ahead of most of the country on the issue of global warming, and market forces, like the high cost of energy, are causing businesses to address climate change.