EV battle echoes Lamont’s view on climate issues
When Gov. Ned Lamont took the stage at the annual summit for environmental activists in Hartford on Tuesday, he received warm applause as a friend and supporter. Loud cheers? Not so much. The governor’s relationship with the climate change community is a bit complex.
He had spent much of the previous 24 hours working behind the scenes to push Connecticut toward phasing out sales of new gasolinepowered cars by 2035. With no Republican support for the measure, Lamont is delivering answers to holdouts in his own Democratic Party after an embarrassing balk late last year, when he had to cancel a vote on the day it was scheduled.
It’s a decent bet that Connecticut will join some 17 other states in the so-called California standards for electric vehicle sales this year. Most likely the legislation would start in a special session next week in a 2-step process that could include a later review by a 14-member bipartisan panel.
That’s just one of many environment issues Lamont has worked to advance and it’s far from a done deal. Folks at the Connecticut League of Conservation Voters allday summit, with sessions covering energy policy, sustainable management, food waste, PFAS, offshore wind, emissions standards and other topics, can appreciate having a governor who shares their causes.
For example, Lamont is committed to a goal of zero carbon emissions in electric generation by 2040. In 2021, he pushed legislation that would set limits on pollution from cars and trucks. In 2022, he helped design a bill with incentives for electric vehicles, which passed. And last
year he pushed for advanced technology to reduce solid waste, with a $5a-ton surcharge on some loads to pay for it.
And yet, despite his back-room efforts and public pronouncements on environmental issues, advocates believe the agenda has fallen short. There is a wide sense that this governor, at the peak of his powers, could do more to bolster measures that have failed in a hesitant General Assembly.
You know, more cajoling.
Two big measures I just mentioned, the pollution limits, known as the Transportation and Climate Initiative, and the solid waste surcharge, both died before any votes in the House or Senate. Other environment-related measures Lamont has backed also failed, most famously highway tolls, his out-ofthe-gate signature effort in 2019 — which of course falls into several categories including smart budgeting.
Why the mixed results?
Lots of factors explain Lamont’s spotty record on environment legislation despite his unwavering support. In the politically divided world of the 2020s, these measures have almost no Republican votes. That gives influence to a smallish number of Democrat holdouts, many of whom — notably members of the Black and Puerto Rican Caucus and lawmakers from eastern Connecticut towns — worry that their low-income constituents will see energy costs rise.
Environment legislation is tough stuff because at its core, we’re asking local taxpayers to help solve a problem that’s largely global, with strong industry opposition. There’s a reason why former Democratic U.S. presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama disappointed environmental activists.
“There has been a concerted effort by the fossil fuels industry to put out huge amounts of propaganada and all kinds of false problems, statements that are happily repeated by the opponents for partisan purposes,” said Lori Brown, executive director of the Connecticut League of Conservation Voters. “For example, ‘Gee, they’re going to take your car away.’ ”
Then there’s the reality that power only works in a democracy when used sparingly. Lamont, in his second term, has maintained authority with high approval ratings resulting from a strong record in the pandemic and huge budget surpluses; and by musing that he just might seek a third term in 2026 at age 72, he’s having so much fun.
“When it comes to the bully pulpit, he hasn’t done enough,” one person familiar with Lamont-era environment legislation said.
Some would add the back room, too. Lamont, a telecom entrepreneur from the well-heeled country club culture of Greenwich, doesn’t mind a good fight but he’s just not given to twisting arms and breaking kneecaps. And his tight spending habits make it harder to buy off hesitant lawmakers.
Still, the sense among backers of environment legislation is that Lamont would see better results if he were more willing to haul holdout lawmakers into his office, one at a time, and browbeat, threaten, sweet talk, promise, trade favors and generally do what it takes to get their votes.
When I asked Lamont whether he’s doing those things in the EV debate, he said, “No, but I certainly listen,” and gave details about what he’s telling urban lawmakers about charging stations. “Right now this is in the legislators’ court,” he added.
The governor can be very hands-on but he also prefers to leave much of the negotiation to legislative leaders and his lieutenants. His Yale-trained environment commissioner, Katie Dykes, is spot-on in her policies but less than beloved by some lawmakers.
Progress on electric vehicles
There’s a parlor game among some of us state government watchers, known as “What Would Malloy Do?” That’s former Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, whose legendary willingness to use both the carrot and the stick, in public and in private, still reverberates inside the Capitol walls, sometimes with wincing when the stories are told.
But as one person said, even Malloy had to pick and choose his battles. Lamont, for his part, has put huge effort into state finances, building a centrist coalition with moderate spending hikes and tax reductions against demands for unsustainable spending on the left and unrealistic tax-cutting on the right. That’s working and that’s his legacy.
On the current environment issue, the California electric vehicle standards, Lamont and Dykes met Monday with three leaders of the Black and Puerto Rican Caucus, who presented a list of questions.
“It is my sense that the governor and his folks actually heard the BPRC,” Sen. Gary Winfield, DNew Haven, told me after the private New Haven gathering.
Winfield, a former head of the caucus, said the main concern is access to charging infrastructure and affordability of electric cars.
Republicans express similar concerns but they frame the California standards as robbing consumers of free choice. That’s going to prove to be a false narrative, as the whole auto industry will convert to electric if it can get past some recent bumps in the road.
Without GOP votes, Lamont can’t lose a large bloc of Democrats. Winfield sounded optimistic. “We’re not there yet but we have the ability to be there,” he said.
The 2-step strategy is to first pass a bill that requires the legislature to confirm the California standards for electric vehicles again in three years, and establishes a “supercommission” to oversee the transition with representatives from all corners including the auto industry.
The question would then go back to the regulations review committee, 7-7 Democrats and Republicans, if the two holdout Democratic senators, Sen. Cathy Osten of Sprague and Sen. Joan Hartley of Waterbury, agree to approve the 2035 standards. Or it would go back to a full vote in the legislature — a move that could require Lamont to use some leverage.
If he does, they’d better cheer for him at the 2025 summit.