Our friends at the Connecticut League of Conservation Voters (CTLCV) joined over 80 other Connecticut environmental advocates in Hartford to discuss the executive order with Governor Lamont and Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) Commissioner Katie Dykes and ask questions about how this will impact Connecticut towns. During the announcement, Governor Lamont acknowledged that climate change is an imminent and urgent threat and that he plans for Connecticut to be a national leader in climate action.

“We were thrilled to hear that Connecticut is moving closer to a zero-carbon future and that the Lamont administration is taking the issue of climate change seriously,” said CTLCV Executive Director Lori Brown. “Under Governor Malloy, the GC3 made carbon reduction a priority—but many important stakeholders and community leaders were left without a seat at the table. We are thrilled to see this revamped committee will include experts in environmental justice and equity as well as more community inclusion.”

Under this newest executive order, the Council will have the responsibility to monitor and report on Connecticut’s progress towards reducing carbon emissions and preparing for the developing impacts of climate change. To accomplish this, the Council will be developing new groups to better monitor and report on Connecticut’s resilience and mitigation strategies. This Council will report directly to the Governor on an annual basis beginning January of 2021.

“We need a zero carbon, clean energy economy to fight our climate crisis and grow green collar jobs,” said CTLCV Deputy Director, Amanda Schoen. “This last session, CTLCV helped build support for the new 2,000 MW procurement of offshore wind, which represents a third of our state’s power production. This new executive order lays the groundwork for additional procurements in renewables and could even set the stage for regional collaboration on clean energy projects. We were also encouraged by the Governor’s commitment to energy efficiency, and hope this will translate to stronger support for programs that draw down our energy consumption and help hundreds of thousands of struggling households pay their energy bills.”