CT Climate News

Have you had it with developers, many of them out-of-state, swooping in to destroy Connecticut's fields and forests, just to line their own pockets? The Courant's Don Stacom reports on them regularly. The reporting is excellent.   This depressing trend is happening in too many places. We need an organized way for people to respond quickly and easily. CT Climate News is working on that, starting with this post. Part 1: About the Proposed Willington Warehouse Project on 160 Acres of Forest Hillwood, a Perot Company based in Texas, proposes a massive warehouse on 160 acres of forest in Willington just off I-84. They'll need a zoning change to go forward. For background, see Don Stacom's article, Tax revenue vs. conservation: Proposal for mega-warehouse sparks controversy in this tiny CT town . The warehouse would be 28% bigger than Buckland Hills Mall, according to residents' petition , opposing the warehouse. This graphic showing the site location is from the develop

 Apply by July 29, 2022 for priority consideration Google.org invites applications for its Impact Challenge on Climate Innovation, which seeks to fund “big bet” projects that accelerate technological advances in climate information and action. Through the challenge, Google.org seeks to support immediate, ambitious climate action that will keep global temperatures from rising beyond the threshold needed to prevent severe impacts on people, wildlife, and ecosystems. According to Google, open data and advanced digital tools, including AI and machine learning, are unlocking the information governments, researchers, and nonprofits need to take quick and decisive action—and ensure that those actions deliver results. Selected organizations may receive up to $5 million in funding, along with access to Google’s technical expertise and products, to accelerate progress toward a more sustainable and resilient future. Proposed projects should apply technology by creating or enabling new solution

  Bloomberg Initiative for Cycling Infrastructure (BICI) Now Accepting Grant Applications Deadline: Feb 3, 2023 This is a competitive grant program seeking to foster catalytic change in city cycling infrastructure around the world, with grants of up to $1 million available for global cities.. Why not think big, Connecticut?! More at https://bloombergcities.jhu.edu/bici Community Foundation of Eastern Connecticut Environmental Grants Deadline: Jan 13, 2023 Grants of up to $50,000 to for environmental programming. Funding is for environmental education and conservation activities that benefit the Foundation's 42-town area. Priority will be given to programs that: Preserve and protect environmentally significant lands, waterways, and wildlife habitats – for the benefit not only of the ecosystem, but for the health, livelihood, and enjoyment of local residents; Engage youth, especially youth of color, in environmental education to help develop the next generation of stewar

Rapid pace of green space losses show towns don't recognize urgency of climate crisis Connecticut towns are letting green space be destroyed, making our climate crisis worse. Towns need to update their plans to reflect the rapidly worsening climate crisis. In one year, a mature tree absorbs more than 48 pounds of CO2 from the atmosphere and releases a day's supply of oxygen for four people. Every acre of woodland absorbs about 6 tons of CO2/year, or the amount of CO2 produced by driving 26,000 miles. 130 Acres: large-scale apartment, industrial project in East Granby Details at https://www.hartfordbusiness.com/article/new-jersey-developer-eyes-large-scale-apartment-industrial-project-in-east-granby East Granby's POCD is from 2014. 30.3 Acres: Massive warehouse proposed in South Windsor The site plan application of property owner UW Vintage Lane II LLC of Glastonbury calls for building the warehouse on 30.3 acres bordered by Talbot Lane and Governors Highway. The propertie

The United Nations & Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change keep warning us repeatedly: "The climate crisis is a code red for humanity. Urgent action is needed before it is too late. The window of opportunity is closing to avoid catastrophic climate change." But too many Connecticut towns--and certainly developers--don't get it. Multiple towns are taking us backwards by allowing forested land to be cleared for new warehouses and other anti-environmental projects. The latest is proposed for Bloomfield. Other projects will be featured in future posts. Preserving trees, forest and land in its natural state is essential climate action. Bulldozing and paving over forests, wetlands and fields just speeds up climate change instead of slowing it down. Bloomfield: 8.728 Acres of Forest and Wetlands To Be Bulldozed for Warehouse at 59 & 69 Douglas Street. Be a voice for climate action. Submit comments or speak at June 23, 2022 hearing on this proposal. Check this

The CT League of Conservation Voters maintains its 2022 Watchlist of environmental bills online, showing which bills passed, which failed, and whether they were good or bad for the environment. More to come in CTLCV's Environmental Scorecard. If CTLCV makes its May 6 Zoom webinar on 2022 legislation available online, we'll share it here. In addition, Sierra Club Connecticut reports in its May newsletter: Good Bills that passed: Senate Bill 4 tackles pollution from Connecticut’s transportation sector, which is responsible for 37.4% of greenhouse gas emissions. The bill gives Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) the authority to move forward with medium- and heavy-duty vehicle regulations adopted by a growing number of states from coast to coast, including California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, and Washington. This will allow the state to proceed with adoption of various life-saving reg

According to Morning Consult's "Taking the Temperature: An Energy and Climate Tracker , " just 32% of US adults are currently very concerned about the impact of climate-change fueled natural disasters on their community. That percentage is down from 43% in September 2021. When it comes to concern about climate change and its impacts generally, 38% of US adults are "very concerned." That number is down from 46% in August 2021. Does hurricane season have anything to do with raising people's awareness of climate change and its impacts?  

A Very Good Year for Forests, Parks & Trails The 2022 session of the CT General Assembly ended at midnight Wednesday night. Overall, this was a very good year for forests, parks, and trails (budget updates at the bottom). But it almost wasn't. There were three bills that passed the Senate and awaited final action in the House on Wednesday: SB 117 , which proposed new requirements for DEEP's approach to trees considered to be hazardous to people in State Parks and Campgrounds; SB 238 , which included technical fixes to Connecticut’s Forest Fire compact with other states, Forest Practices Act administrative improvements, and several technical changes to unrelated DEEP programs; and SB 491 , which proposed selling a piece of Housatonic Meadows State Park in Sharon to an abutting private interest with no restrictions and no known public benefit. Wait, what?! (imagine the screeching of brakes here) So, what happened?! SB 238 passed with an amendment incorporating the spirit bu

Funding Supports Environmental and Water Activities The EPA's Environmental Finance Center Grant Program offers support for regional centers that will provide services for Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) funded water-related activities. The centers will also support multi-environmental media activities. Supported organizations will provide local governments, states, tribes, and non-governmental organizations with eligible services, such as support in administering funds, capacity building, technical assistance, training, reports and studies, tools, and other eligible activities to protect human health and the environment. Additional priorities include maximizing the potential for BIL funds to provide significant benefit to disadvantaged or tribal communities, tackling the climate crisis, and advancing environmental justice and equity. The application deadline is June 17, 2022. Summary here .  

If spring has you tackling home improvement projects, be sustainable about them! PaintCare makes it easy to recycle leftover paint. There are currently 25 dropoff sites in Connecticut . What they accept: PaintCare sites accept house paint as well as primers, stains, sealers, and clear coatings such as shellac and varnish. Accepted products, also referred to as “PaintCare products” and “architectural coatings,” are the same ones that carry the PaintCare fee when purchased. To be accepted for drop-off, PaintCare products must be in their original containers of no larger than 5 gallons in size, must have the original manufacturer’s printed label on the container, and must be covered with a secured lid. Open or leaking cans not accepted. Check the full list here . Want to become a dropoff site? PaintCare welcomes partnerships with waste collection facilities in states with a PaintCare program, especially those that operate household hazardous waste collection programs, transfer stations, r

Considering Connecticut's trash problem , anything that helps us do a better job with recycling is a good thing (in addition to reducing the waste stream in the first place). The Can'd Aid Crush it Crusade offers support to help get community recycling programs off the ground throughout the United States. Crush it Crusade grants provide recycling bins, training on how to launch and manage a recycling program, and seed funding, typically ranging from $5,000 to $10,000. Support is provided to organizations at all stages of development, launch, and improvement. Seed funding can be used for staff and volunteer training as well as various supplies needed to get a recycling program started. Applications may be submitted at any time. Visit the Can'd Aid Crush it Crusade website to review the FAQs (PDF) before applying.  

According to the nonprofit CatalogChoice.com, "every year, over 100 million trees are cut down to produce junk mail that often goes straight to the trash. What a waste! " No kidding. We just got an unsolicited 375 page catalog from Uline.com, and we promptly unsubscribed. We googled < Uline.com catalog unsubscribe> to find this link: https://www.uline.com/CustomerService/CustomizeMailing , which did the trick. You can unsubscribe from catalogs one by one, or you can try a service, like the free CatalogChoice.org . A NY Times article, How to Cut Down on Junk Mail , also suggests DMAChoice.org , a tool offered by the Data & Marketing Association, lets you remove your name and address from a number of these lists. After registering an account and paying a $2 fee, you can unsubscribe from entire categories of mail — like catalogs and advertisements — or unsubscribe from specific catalogs you don’t want. We're going to try that one today. You know what else you ca

Get inspired and energized this Earth Day. Join Sustainable CT and Dr. Jonathan Foley to learn about Project Drawdown in this one hour discussion. Starts at 11 am on Friday April 22. Register here .

CT State Senator Will Haskell announced last week, "Politicians can’t just talk the talk. Next week, @SenatorCohenCT and I are walking the walk. Our #CTCarbonChallenge will see who can have the smallest carbon footprint. I’ll be commuting via public transit, sometimes carpooling with colleagues, and getting creative to save our planet."  

Bank of America Global Research has a pretty interesting primer on what "net zero carbon" means, and the ins and outs of getting there -- or not. Summary here . Report here . From the report: Net zero carbon refers to the point where the total amount of carbon added to the atmosphere is equal to the amount removed. Most experts say we need to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050 if we are to manage global warming. The report addresses questions like: Is reaching net zero even possible? Yes. And the capital is available. What sort of impact would net zero have on nations and their respective economies ? It'll be expensive, but not as expensive as doing nothing. Can we spare 0.4% GDP per year to save the planet? The IEA’s Net Zero scenario would require a $5 trillion annual energy sector investment by 2030 – double that of the average 2016-20 spend of $2.3 trillion – but $4.5 trillion per year by 2050 after the higher upfront investments are made. Net zero investments

From the League of Women Voters of CT: With fewer than 20 days left to act, our Connecticut legislature has the opportunity to move us in the right direction by passing S.B. 10 An Act Concerning Climate Change Mitigation S.B. 4 An Act Concerning The Connecticut Clean Air Act Cleaner air improves human health, protects the environment, and contributes to the reversal of climate change. We need clean air and clean electricity generation in Connecticut. Neighboring states are far ahead in making the transition to electric vehicles and decarbonizing the electric grid. Email or call Senate Leadership (Senators Looney and Duff) and ask them to bring S.B. 10 and S.B. 4 to a vote. Increase your impact by including your own legislators. ( Find them here .) Email template to adapt: Subject: Support SB 10 and SB 4 Dear Senators Looney and Duff: I am writing to urge you to bring S.B. 10 An Act Concerning Climate Change Mitigation to the floor for a vote. SB 10 requires the state to eliminate g

The UN Environment Programme has announced that the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) will receive $11 million from the Global Methane Hub and other sources to help countries achieve the Global Methane Pledge , an international commitment to reduce by 2030 man-made methane emissions by at least 30 percent from 2020 levels. The funding will let CCAC serve as a core implementing partner of the Global Methane Pledge. T11 countries, representing 50 per cent of global man-made methane emissions, have now joined the GMP. Noteworthy excerpts from the press release : Methane emissions reached record levels in 2021 , despite the economic slowdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Rapid action to mitigate methane is one of the most effective strategies the world has to keep global temperature rise below 1.5⁰C. Reducing short-lived climate pollutants can cut as much as 50% of the warming projected between now and 2050 (0.6⁰C) and help achieve the Paris Agreement goal to limit warming to 1.

While the UN calls the climate situation a code red for humanity, Connecticut communities insist on making it worse with more development and less conservation. The latest is in Canton, and the would-be builder is Roswell Development, LLC . As Don Stacom reports for the Courant , the Canton site is former farmland along Lawton north of the CVS and UConn Health Urgent Care building. The property is bounded on the north by Washburn Road. The article reports that the planning and zoning commission last month appeared favorable to the idea when it discussed plans to extend the town’s sewer district to include the property. We're at an all hands on deck moment with climate change and biodiversity. But the thoughtless pursuit of property tax and a quick buck is doing us in. Here's the test: Would this development be part of the solution? Or just more of the problem?

Apr 2022 Webinar on Chemical Pollution In January 2022, a team of international scientists released a first-of-its-kind study revealing that chemical pollution has now crossed the planetary boundary safe for humanity, while projections show that chemical pollution will double and possibly triple in the coming decades. In addition to chemical production growing, the particular acceleration of plastics will devastate the environment and propel climate change. Further, production and releases are happening at a pace that outstrips the global capacity for assessing and monitoring, meaning these chemicals are not adequately tested, if at all, for their toxicity to humans and the environment. So what does this mean? It means we have to act. This Earth Month, we can pledge to collectively work on scaled solutions that bend the curve back towards health for people and the planet. Although everyone is affected, children, people of color, and low-wealth communities are disproportionately impact

The Connecticut League of Conservation Voters reports that thanks to our grassroots advocacy, these bills have passed out of committee and are on their way to the House and Senate: SB 4 is an air quality bill that will reduce transportation emissions by investing in electric school buses for communities across the state, incentivizing electric vehicle and e-bike purchases, adding electric vehicle charging stations, and other air quality programs. SB 10 will set a 100% zero carbon target for electricity supplied to Connecticut customers. SB 120 will prohibit the use of the chlorpyrifos on golf courses and restrict the use of neonicotinoids for nonagricultural use. SB 176 will allow more clean and renewable energy generated by rooftop commercial solar and shared community solar. SB 214 will make it easier to buy and maintain an electric vehicle in Connecticut by allowing manufacturers to sell directly to consumers. SB 292 will require clean technologies, such as heat pumps, to be i

I was pleased to read “Connecticut Democrats push bills to reduce transportation emissions, boost electric vehicles” [courant.com, March 9]. Kudos to the General Assembly for considering important legislation to address Connecticut’s air quality. Did you know the state has failed to meet federal health-based air quality standards for ground-level ozone or smog for nearly a half-century? As physicians, we see the effects every day on our patients. Poor air quality actually worsens acute and chronic respiratory problems like asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and other lung diseases and in some cases leads to death. According to a report from the Asthma and Allergy Foundation Asthma Capitals 2021, two Connecticut cities were among the 100 largest U.S. cities where it is most challenging to live with asthma — New Haven (No. 5) and Hartford (No. 17). Now consider that transportation is a leading cause of air quality problems, responsible for 67% of the nitrogen oxide emissions —

Kevin Budris, an attorney with Conservation Law Foundation's Zero Waste project, explains and urges CT residents to contact their legislators to tell them that burning plastic is not a solution to our trash and recycling problems. Read the full essay at the CT Mirror's Viewpoints . Less than 9% of the more than nine billion tons of plastic produced over the past seven decades has been recycled. Today, much of what we put into our recycling bins still ends up in one of Connecticut's five incinerators – or in an out-of-state landfill. Most plastics end up burned in incinerators, buried in landfills, or littered in our environment. Manufacturers keep churning out single-use packaging that can't be recycled. And every year, we're making, burning, and burying even more single-use plastic. Requiring corporations to ensure their packaging is reusable or recyclable and free of toxics – and holding them accountable for their single-use waste – can make a big difference. But

Clean Energy Group (CEG) and the Connecticut Green Bank are hosting a webinar series in March on Connecticut’s new Energy Storage Solutions Program, launched by Connecticut’s Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) in January. The next webinar is Tuesday, March 29, from 3 – 4 pm, on How CEG and CT Green Bank are Helping Connecticut Affordable Housing Facilities Install Resilient Solar+Storage. To support resilient solar+storage installations in multifamily affordable housing facilities – among the most challenging sectors for clean energy development – the Green Bank has partnered with CEG to offer project-specific technical assistance grants for pre-development feasibility studies. This webinar will show examples of the kind of technical assistance developers and facility managers can qualify for, and explain the process to apply. This webinar will also include participation from an affordable housing developer, who will speak to their experience navigating the resilient power p