Environment Connecticut 2024 Legislative Agenda

Clean Cars, Clean Air:

Air pollution from the tailpipes of cars and trucks fouls the air we breathe and harms our health. That’s why 20 years ago Connecticut enacted its Clean Cars Law to require carmakers to sell cleaner cars that burn little or no gasoline and emit less pollution to Connecticut’s drivers.

We support legislation that:

• Keeps Connecticut’s commitment to clean cars and clean air by keeping its clean car standards that require automakers to sell cleaner cars and phase-in sales of more zero-polluting cars and trucks.
• Makes it easier and cheaper to own and charge electric cars through expanded electric refueling stations and rebates for electric car and truck purchases.

Save the Bees:

3 out of every 4 food crops need pollinators and bees are the best at doing that job. But bees are dying off in record numbers from threats like habitat destruction, viruses and parasites and exposure to deadly pesticides. That’s why we’re working to end the use of bee-killing pesticides and create new and stronger habitats for bees and other pollinators. 

We support legislation that:

• Prohibits most uses of neonicotinoid pesticides that kill bees and other pollinators.

Beyond Plastic:

All the throwaway plastic packaging, bags, takeout containers and more that we use every day get burned at incinerators, shipped to landfills or end up littering our communities. We can make our air and land cleaner by eliminating the most unnecessary types of single-use throwaway plastics, like polystyrene (styrofoam) containers and cups.

We support legislation that:

• Requires restaurants to use more sustainable alternatives to foam takeout containers.
• Bans single-use disposable foam cups, takeout containers and similar products.

Clean Water: No Toxics On Tap

We need clean water to drink. But the drinking water in many Connecticut communities is becoming polluted with toxic “forever” chemicals called PFAS that could cause cancer and other illnesses. We’re working to end the production and use of PFAS in the products we buy, clean up pollution in our communities and stop the industries responsible for this crisis from sticking taxpayers with the whole tab.

We support legislation that:

• Stop future contamination of our land and water by phasing out the sale of consumer products containing PFAS. 
• Supports cleanup programs to get PFAS out of our rivers, streams and drinking water.

Climate Change & Clean Energy:

Global warming-fueled climate change is making Connecticut’s winters shorter and warmer and our summers longer and hotter. We need transportation options that allow us to travel around the state with lower costs and less pollution. We need to get 100% of our energy from clean, pollution-free sources And we need to make our homes and businesses energy efficient so that they use less energy, reducing energy bills for our families and reducing the pollution that fuels climate change. 

We support legislation that:

• Strengthens the Global Warming Solutions Act by requiring Connecticut to get to net-zero climate pollution by 2050 and sets realistic and effective interim pollution reduction requirements prior to 2050.
• Holds state agencies accountable to the climate pollution impacts of permitting decisions.
• Replaces existing caps on annual solar power construction with bold new goals for expanded solar and battery deployment to power as many homes and businesses as possible.
• Reduces pollution and saves consumers and businesses money with financing programs and big targets for replacing inefficient, polluting heating and hot water systems with clean, affordable heat pumps.