CT Green Scene

Two Environmental Bills Die in General Assembly

Green Laws Die on the Vine
Reprinted from CONNPost.com
Dated: May 3, 2008

By KEN DIXON

HARTFORD — The two bills that would change the way Connecticut recycles are now in the General Assembly garbage heap, a failure of the kind of green legislation that so many lawmakers hail as the wave of the future.

And another green-minded effort — banning plastic shopping bags — also died in the Environment Committee without a vote.

The bill to expand the state's nickel-deposit law to include non-carbonated beverages died last month after heavy lobbying that has succeeded in an annual elimination of the bill in recent years.

And a bill that would start pilot programs for so-called single-stream recycling — putting everything from cardboard to Coke bottles in 64-gallon cans for curbside collection — died on Friday morning.

Earth Day 2008: Contact Your Senator, Member of Congress and Mayor Today

To contact your Senator go to: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

To contact your member of Congress go to: https://forms.house.gov/wyr/welcome.shtml

To contact your Mayor go to: http://www.usmayors.org/USCM/cgi-bin/database_search4.asp

SUGGESTED TEXT FOR YOUR EMAIL MESSAGE
provided by Earth Day Network, founded by the organizers of the first Earth Day in 1970:

We elected you to lead, and are now asking you to lead us out of the climate crisis with the boldness and courage that the crisis requires.  As the home of the world’s boldest innovators, the world’s strongest economy, and one of its leading democracies, the United States Congress must champion the effort to solve global warming or risk losing our economic future and our democratic principles.   

We demand that Congress act now to cap greenhouse gas emissions and stop global warming by implementing the following:

1. Impose an immediate moratorium on the building of all new conventional coal-fired power plants, and require a phase out of 30 percent of existing coal plants by 2030.

2. Require that all utilities generate 30 percent of their electricity from renewable energy sources by 2030.

3. Require that all new buildings, renovations and developments immediately reduce fossil-fuel energy consumption by 50 percent, and that all new buildings become ‘carbon neutral’ by 2030.

4. Protect the poor and middle class from unfairly bearing the cost of solving the climate crisis.

Is Your Mayor on the List?

Pop Quiz: What do these Connecticut mayors have in common?

Sydney Schulman	Bloomfield	CT
John Fabrizi	Bridgeport	CT
Wiliam Kupinse, Jr.	Easton	CT
Kenneth Flatto	Fairfield	CT
Craig Henrici	Hamden	CT
Eddie Perez	Hartford	CT
Susan Mendenhall	Ledyard	CT
Elizabeth Paterson	Mansfield	CT
Mark Benigni	Meriden	CT
Sebastian Giuliano	Middletown	CT
James Richetelli, Jr.	Milford	CT
John DeStefano, Jr.	New Haven	CT
Dannel Malloy	Stamford	CT
Joseph Crudo	Stratford	CT
R. Scott Slifka	West Hartford	CT

Look Out, Here We Come

"Congress may be in recess, but the climate change movement is in full gear," said Gillian Caldwell, Campaign Director for 1Sky. "As a nation, we've never shied away from a challenge, and climate change is one of the greatest challenges we've ever faced. But it's also a tremendous opportunity for us to benefit from a sustainable economy and ensure our national security by embracing energy independence."

At each district office, supporters are presenting their Congressperson with copies of the 1Sky policy platform, which calls for the U.S to: (1) Conserve 20% of our energy by 2015, creating 5 million new green jobs focused on climate solutions and energy efficiency ; (2) reduce global warming pollution at least 25% below 1990 levels by 2020 and at least 80% below 1990 levels by 2050; and (3) impose a moratorium on new coal plants and end fossil fuel dependence through strong standards and incentives for energy efficiency and renewable energy.

The Greenest Candidate???

I don't know about you all, but I'm still largely undecided about who to vote for since up until this point, neither Obama nor Clinton have proven their eco-worthiness to me. This post on Greenbang certainly perked my ears up, but the fact that Obama's campaign is LARGELY FUNDED BY THE NUCLEAR POWER INDUSTRY, has me convinced that he'll have our environmental problems compounded in no time flat.

Source of the following: Greenbang
As the Clinton-Obama battle heats up, (Greenbang would like to put in a shout for a televised arm-wrestle to settle the matter) Obama is going for the green vote, showing off his eco-credentials as he toured a green building specialist last week.Apparently, Obama said if he were to find himself on the business end of the Democratic nomination, he would mandate carbon caps, greener cars and grants for families for personal green efforts, as well as chucking funding towards new green tech and biofuels.

“Washington is still turning a deaf ear toward the climate crisis,” Obama said.Obama said as soon as he wins the nomination he would convene a panel of experts to start working on a new national environmental policy. He promised to make the federal government carbon neutral by 2025 and make America 50 percent more energy efficient by 2030. He said he would personally reach out to the countries with the highest carbon emissions to encourage and help them improve their environmental records.

The Devil Wears Lip Balm

by Heather Burns-DeMelo

Who am I to scorn Treehugger for selling out to Discovery or look down my nose at Bear Naked and Kashi giving in to Kellogg? After all, I'm only a hard working mother of two whose hard earned money helped fatten their sacrificial lamb.

Sure I was bummed that I could no longer purchase my favorite cereal or Toms of Maine feeling good about voting for a greener economy with my dollars, but Clorox purchasing Burts Bees for $913 million in November has officially tipped my needle from mild disappointment to despair.

And just to add insult to injury, this article in the New York Times reports that Clorox plans to turn Burt’s Bees into a mainstream American brand that's sold in big-box stores like Wal-Mart.

Who's next?


 

Shame on the EPA!

I don't know about you, but I've always counted on the EPA to safeguard our planet. Not that I'm naive enough to think they're perfect, but their recent move to loosen the reigns on corporations who pollute has me miffed.

This week, Connecticut joined 11 other states including,  Arizona, California, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, and Vermont, in a suit against the EPA for streamlining the application process for companies who produce toxic chemicals.

Under the old laws, companies discharging 500 lbs. or more had to file detailed reports, and under the new regulations, companies can forgo filing lengthy forms for 5,000 lbs. or less.

Call me crazy, but given the current state of environmental duress in the US, shouldn't we be getting more stringent about what toxic substances we allow to pollute our planet? Shame on you, EPA!

Read the full article in the New York Times.

Friends United for Sustainable Energy (FUSE USA)

The aging Indian Point Nuclear Power point and its radioactive isotopes are far from a clean, green energy option. Previous arguements against closing the plant included not having enough power to replace the plant's output. This is no longer the case.

FUSEUSA (Friends United for Sustainable Energy) is a grassroots, not-for-profit organization, that advocates for the development and use of  sustainable energy, in an effort to protect public health and safety and to preserve the integrity of the environment. Their current campaign is to STOP the issuance of relicensing of the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plants, (located just outside New York City) that have a peak injury radius which includes Fairfield and Litchfield counties. They have already filed Contentions and Rulemaking Petitions with the NRC, and are currently preparing Intervener Petitions and other legal actions.

FUSEUSA is a member of the Indian Point Safe Energy Coalition (IPSEC) which is a coalition of over 70 community groups dedicated to the closure of Indian Point.  Visit their website or read more about their recent legal action in the NY Times.

How CT Legislators Vote on the Environment

 

By Patricia Gilbanks 

The Connecticut League of Conservation Voters recently released its annual score card, an effort designed to track legislators' voting record on bills that have an environmental impact. In addition to tracking votes cast by our legislators, the nonpartisan organization reports on the negative or positive impact on the environment of laws passed in the preceding year.

The League has three goals for its work in the state: to elect pro-environment lawmakers, to hold legislators accountable, and to engage the public in Connecticut's environmental policies.

They set off a bit of a fracas in the media as legislators complained that the scoring did not always do justice to their efforts on environmental issues.

The Dog Ate Bush's Homework

Most of us know that the current administration isn't exactly eco-friendly, but the fact that they're three years late turning in their homework--scientific data regarding the affects of global warming on our economy, environment and public health--came as a bit of a shock, especially since they told their "teacher" that they had control over when and how they produced their reports. Perhaps that's why columnist Cal Thomas is holding fast to an illusion that global warming is conjured up by progressive Democrats to extract more taxes.