Clean Water Action coordinates the Connecticut Climate Coalition, a coalition of more than 90 health, faith, business, and environmental organizations.

The debate over the science on global warming has shifted to a debate about how best to address the problem. Since 2002 Clean Water Action and Connecticut Climate Coalition supporters have been working to demonstrate public support to make progress at the state level a reality.

In 2004 we worked to pass global warming goals legislation in the spring of 2004. The legislation adopted the New England Governors pollution reduction goals of cutting pollution to 10% below 1990 levels by the year 2020 and 80% by 2050 and mandated that the state release a climate plan by February 2005.

The Connecticut Climate Change Action Plan includes policies to strengthen consumer energy efficiency programs, reduce black carbon diesel soot, invest in mass transit, protect open space, double the recycling rate and invest in clean energy. The state climate plan is available at www.ctclimatechange.com

In 2008 we worked with environmental groups across the state to pass a law strengthening our voluntary state climate goals by making them mandatory emissions limits and the law requires that the agencies update the state climate plan every three years and show steady progress towards achieving the reductions.

We are now working to transform Connecticut into a national model for action on global warming. Our current priorities are to dramatically expand investments in energy efficiency programs for electricity, heating oil and natural gas, ramp-up investments in solar power, prevent new coal plants from being built in Connecticut, reduce diesel pollution, and support more towns as they become 20% by 2010 clean energy communities.

Get Involved

To join our e-mail list with updates about what you can do, e-mail coordinator Roger Smith hartcwa@cleanwater.org, or call us at (860)232-6232
For more information visit www.newenglandclimate.org

Resources

• Download our campaign fact sheet (pdf, 129kb)
• If your organization would like to endorse the Connecticut Climate Coalition, please download the CCC Endorsement Packet (pdf, 24 kb)
• Report: A Climate For Action: Assessing Connecticut's Global Warming Progress (pdf, 2.7 MB)
  

  Connecticut has a history of setting national precedents with strong environmental policies. In the past few years, the "Sooty Six" law to reduce sulfur dioxide from power plants and the 2003 mercury law have prompted other states to issue similar regulations, and their successes have undercut national arguments by industry that such standards were technically infeasible.

  This report from the Connecticut Climate Coalition and Clean Water Fund reviews Connecticut's progress on the Climate Change Action Plan released on February 15, 2005 looking at 14 critical policies which account for 91% of the total forecasted reductions in 2010 and 93% of the total in 2020.