trending Market Intelligence /marketintelligence/en/news-insights/trending/78SNutxbcjhTZX2dxcW7aw2 content esgSubNav
In This List

Conn. governor orders new actions on climate adaptation, clean energy

Podcast

Next in Tech | Episode 49: Carbon reduction in cloud

Blog

Using ESG Analysis to Support a Sustainable Future

Research

US utility commissioners: Who they are and how they impact regulation

Blog

Q&A: Datacenters: Energy Hogs or Sustainability Helpers?


Conn. governor orders new actions on climate adaptation, clean energy

Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont has issued an executive order seeking to update the state's plans for adapting to climate change impacts and for getting the state to 100% zero-carbon electric supplies by 2040.

The order expands the scope of the Governor's Council on Climate Change to, in addition to tracking the state's progress on emissions reductions, develop and implement climate change adaptation strategies in such areas as infrastructure, agriculture, natural resources and public health.

"Climate change is happening faster than we thought. ... It is impacting us in significant ways as a state," Lamont said in a Sept. 3 press briefing. If the state doesn't act to tackle those impacts, "the cost to the state will be devastating."

The United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned in 2018 that the world will see an uptick in the number and severity of climate-related disasters such as wildfires, hurricanes, flooding and drought if it continues on its current global-warming trajectory. Moreover, the Union of Concerned Scientists in 2018 projected the consequences of rising seas will strain many coastal real estate markets, including in Connecticut. The report indicated that about $1.9 billion worth of real estate properties in Connecticut is at risk due to sea-level rise.

The council is tasked with reporting back to the governor by Jan. 15, 2021, and annually thereafter on how emissions reduction strategies are being integrated into new agency policy planning efforts as well as the extent to which those actions may be affecting lower-income communities.

In its review on climate change adaptation and resiliency options, the council will work with state agencies to compile and maintain an inventory of vulnerable assets and operations.

"We're accelerating what we have to do not only in terms of resiliency, but what we have to do in terms of our substations and Amtrak and water treatment, all of which are at risk, all of which are in the flood plain," Lamont said.

By the January 2021 deadline, the council will also update the state's adaptation and resilience plan to include more recent scientific information about climate change. The governor also wants the council to come up with options for funding the adaptation and resilience strategies and for aligning the state's efforts with regional and municipal adaptation efforts.

The governor also ordered the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, in consultation with the state Public Utilities Regulatory Authority, to analyze pathways and recommend strategies for having the state achieve 100% zero-carbon electric supplies by 2040, which builds on the state's current goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions statewide by about 45% by 2030. In August, the state issued a request for proposals for up to 2,000 MW of offshore wind energy resources, as required by a new law enacted earlier in the year.