Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and Attorney General George Jepsen, joined by Robert Klee, commissioner of the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection issued a joint statement today in support of the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan to regulate carbon emissions from power plants.
“This is about our future,” Malloy said, complimenting President Barack Obama and EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy – Connecticut’s former DEEP commissioner – for their commitment.
“In Connecticut, we have already implemented a forward-thinking vision, reducing carbon pollution by more than 10 percent from 1990 levels,” Malloy said. “The air we breathe is cleaner that it has been in decades as we build an advanced energy economy that delivers good-paying jobs. And we’re continuing to move forward with an aggressive, ambitious goal in to reduce carbon emissions by 80 percent below 2001 levels by 2050.”
“The State of Connecticut has consistently demonstrated a commitment to clean air, reduced emissions and the development of alternative energy sources, and this plan will play an essential role in continued efforts to protect our environment and public health, safety, and welfare,” Jepsen said. “It is appropriate and critical that the EPA exercise its legal authority and satisfy its obligation to regulate. Such regulation will complement the contributions of the existing Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative in promoting improved air quality and reducing health risks to our residents.”
Klee said the state’s progress has resulted from participation with eight other states in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, which “serves as a flexible, market-based solution other states should be able to replicate or adopt under the EPA rule to cut carbon emissions from power plants in a cost-effective way. As a result of the RGGI program, carbon emissions from power plants in Connecticut have declined 34 percent from 1990 to 2012, $137 million has been generated for energy efficiency and renewable energy programs, and new jobs have been added to our economy. “Our state has also taken strong steps to reduce the demand for power from conventional fuels – another path the EPA rule suggests – by focusing on energy efficiency and deployment of renewable energy projects.”