Our next step in taking on climate change

In order to support a massive influx of electric cars, we will obviously need extensive charging infrastructure.

When it comes to climate change, Connecticut has set ambitious goals. In 2008, we passed the Global Warming Solutions Act, which sets goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions 45 percent below 2001 levels by 2030 and 80 percent below 2001 levels by 2050. The state is also a signatory of the United States Climate Alliance, which adheres to the goals set by the Paris Agreement, meaning our ultimate goal is net zero emissions by 2050.

We have already made significant progress towards that goal. As of 2018, statewide emissions were down 17.8 percent from 2001. However, one area where emissions have remained stubbornly high is the transportation sector. It has been the biggest emitter of greenhouse gasses in Connecticut every year since 1990. In 2018, the transportation sector emitted 15.8 million metric tons of carbondioxide equivalent, more than 50 percent of what the entire economy can emit if we are to reach our 2030 goal.

Senate Bill 4, which is currently awaiting a vote in the Connecticut State Senate, aims to address these emissions. The bill would expand funding for the Connecticut Hydrogen and Electric Automobile Purchase Rebate program, which helps people buy new and used electric vehicles. This is critically needed, because there were only just over 17,000 passenger electric vehicles on the road in June 2021, estimates say that we will need 500,000 by 2030 to achieve our emissions goals.

In order to support a massive influx of electric cars, we will obviously need extensive charging infrastructure. Fortunately, this bill proposes establishing a grant program to support the building of electric vehicle charging stations that are open to the public. It also creates guidelines for the installation of charging stations in community residential areas like condominiums, ensuring that electric vehicle owners who want to put in a charging station are able to do so without jumping through too many hoops.

The bill also authorizes up to $75 million over five years to update traffic signals to help reduce congestion on the roads. If nothing else, it’ll be nice to be able to spend a little less time stuck in traffic each morning. But there are also environmental benefits. The less time we have to spend sitting at stoplights, the less we have to have our cars running, and the more we save on carbon-dioxide emissions (not to mention gas money).

The way in which the bill allocates money for the programs is also important. For example, the last time you renewed the registration on your car, you may have noticed the “greenhouse gas reduction fee” of $2.50 per year ($5 per year if the car was new). Under current law, the first $3 million of revenue per year goes towards the CHEAPR program. But the remaining revenue goes into the general fund, where it can be used to fund anything in the state budget. This bill redirects the revenue so that all of it goes towards the CHEAPR program, expanding funding for a vital program and also guaranteeing that you are truly getting what you think you’re paying for.

Senate Bill 4 will not solve all the environmental challenges facing Connecticut. But it is a meaningful step in the right direction, and one that we must take now. Climate change will be the defining challenge of the 21st century. We will either rise to the occasion and meet it within the next 30 or so years, or we will be remembered for centuries as the people who failed to prevent environmental catastrophe. Having only just come of age myself, I sometimes find it daunting to look ahead to a future shrouded under the specter of climate change. It is measures like Senate Bill 4 that give me hope for the future and convince me that we are, in fact, on the right path.

To express your support for Senate Bill 4, reach out to your state representatives directly and tell them to vote in favor of the bill.