Offshore wind closer to sweeping into state
message that our state is serious about securing a major share of this emerging industry,” John Humphries, executive director of the Connecticut Roundtable on Climate and Jobs, said in a statement. “The rapid transformation of the state’s interest in offshore wind development is good news for Connecticut’s workers and their communities because it can jumpstart the needed transition to a thriving clean energy economy.”
It puts Connecticut in a prime position, said Francis Pullaro, executive director of RENEW Northeast, in a statement. “For developers of offshore wind projects, this legislation sends a signal to invest in Connecticut and bring the benefits of affordable renewable energy development to the state.”
Emily Lewis, director of climate and energy analysis at Acadia Center, pointed to the environmental and climate change benefits. “Offshore wind is a critical piece of the puzzle to reducing emissions in the northeast, and Connecticut is now poised to join its neighbors in harnessing this resource and benefitting from growth of this new clean energy industry,” she said in a statement.
The state’s new commissioner of the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, Katie Dykes, was lukewarm on a mandate when she ran DEEP’s energy bureau and as the chairwoman of the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority.
She came around as commissioner when details of timing were addressed, but still worried that 2,000 megawatts was too large a percentage of the state’s overall power needs. But she said she is aware that the timing was good — with turbines getting larger, more efficient and less expensive and federal tax credits due to run out at the end of the year.
In the end she said, “I’m pleased with this bill.”
HARTFORD — The House unanimously passed a bill Tuesday that would provide more transparency on how prosecutors do their jobs.
SB 880 requires prosecutors to collect a wide range of arrest and sentencing data for public view and would also allow poor defendants to have representation during parole hearings.
“Prosecutors have a great deal of authority, flexibility and autonomy,” Rep. Steven Stafstrom, D-Bridgeport said. The public puts a great deal of trust in prosecutors, but at the moment the state has an outdated way of collecting data, Stafstrom said. “This tries to reform our way of tracking data,” he said.
Gov. Ned Lamont is expected to sign the bill. It was his transition team that made the recommendation to provide more transparency and accountability in prosecutorial decisions.
“These new requirements will be an important step toward increasing the confidence that communities have in the criminal justice system by helping to ensure that justice is attained in the fairest ways possible,” Lamont said in a statement after Tuesday’s vote. “Prosecutors play a crucial role in