Advocacy Alert – Help Connecticut Reduce Vehicle Emissions

CT NOFA has signed on to the CT Coalition for Climate Action’s recent update, which is as follows:

As we continue to see climate change impacts across the globe, there are a few things you can do this month to help CT do its part.  Right now, the state is considering new regulations that will help cut transportation emissions.  Opposition is expected to be substantial. Here are some ways to engage to elevate the support these regs will need to make it through the legislative review process.

Actions:

1. Sign onto comments
   1. Sierra Club’s:
      1. Organizations: Link here.
      2. Individuals: Link here.
   2. Save the Sound’s: Cleaner Cars & Trucks for Connecticut (p2a.co)

2. Attend DEEP’s hold public hearings on August 22. Here’s more:
   1. 9 am public hearing on Advanced Clean Cars II regulation. Hearing Link: https://ctdeep.zoom.us/j/81807291329. All persons interested in providing comments at the hearing must register at: https://ctdeep.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUld-6qpzopGN1HeEa0hX8pIHIl_2O3jWCm
   2. 1 pm public hearing on Advanced Clean Truck and Heavy-Duty Low NOx Omnibus regulations. Hearing Link: https://ctdeep.zoom.us/j/87125048941. All persons interested in providing comments at the hearing must register at: https://ctdeep.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMsdeyoqjMjHtX7jJG4FmIJTY8mCelygD1Q
   3. CTLCV sample talking points: Clean Vehicle Standards Talking Points (ctlcv.org)

Additional Background:

Vehicles are Connecticut’s biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions, and the pollution they generate is associated with higher rates of asthma, cancer, and heart problems. The new regulations, which align with California’s, aim to decrease emissions and establish electrification targets for motor vehicles.

Why adopt California’s standards? The federal Clean Air Act recognizes California’s leadership and expertise in reducing emissions from motor vehicles by granting it the authority to establish its own emissions standards which are more protective of public health. The Clean Air Act also allows other states to adopt California’s more stringent standards, rather than the weaker federal standards. Seventeen states have done so, including Connecticut in 2005. Now it’s time to update our regulations by adopting the latest standards, to improve our air quality.

A recent study conducted by the international climate change consulting firm EBP found that Connecticut’s adoption of California’s standards will decrease GHG emissions and reduce emissions of air pollutants harm human health. It observed that “the absence of the policy would jeopardize achieving Connecticut’s clean air and carbon emission reduction goals and efforts to improve public health.” Moreover, the report concludes that the economic and societal benefits of adopting California’s standards are “compelling and significant.” Among those anticipated benefits:

• $25.7 billion of value added to Connecticut’s GDP
• $40.1 billion increase in net business income
• 128,200 net new job-years in CT
• 137 million metric tons of CO₂ emissions avoided, the equivalent of planting 3.5 billion trees
• 154,000 metric tons of air pollutants avoided that directly impact human health

The emissions reductions are expected to deliver improvements across 24 personal and societal metrics including human health, productivity, social equity, food and water security, biodiversity, and mitigation of natural disasters such as wildfires and flooding.

Similarly, a report released last month by the American Lung Association, Driving to Cleaner Air, examined the potential health benefits of adopting the ACC II standards and identified the following benefits for Connecticut:

• $11.5 billion in monetized health benefits
• 1,060 premature deaths avoided
• 22,900 asthma attacks avoided
• 120,000 lost work days avoided