We need all the raised voices we can get in the fight against climate change and for planet Earth’s survival – and now Third Act Connecticut is asking one of our state’s most powerful voices to raise his.
Last month, Third Act Connecticut — our state’s chapter of the national Third Act advocacy organization of Americans age 60-plus – delivered to Gov. Ned Lamont a letter imploring him to voice even greater support for Connecticut’s initiatives on behalf of sustainable and affordable energy. The letter is posted on our website here; we invite everyone to read it.
Why write to the governor now? For us, troubling events this past summer have been a powerful motivator. Our letter notes that Connecticut is now embroiled in a political power struggle in which sustainable energy is being scapegoated for the electricity price hikes that many Connecticut residents have recently experienced.
Rampant misinformation is fueling the struggle. We believe that the misinformation’s creators are currently controlling the narrative and, in the process, clouding the case for sustainability initiatives.
We wrote to the governor to set the record straight – and to ask him to help tell the real story of our state’s sustainability opportunities, for the sake of our children and grandchildren, and generations to follow. Among our letter’s key points:
Cutting greenhouse gasses is the best path to fighting global warming – and reducing electricity bills.
This summer’s price hikes cannot be blamed solely on widely acclaimed programs promoting energy efficiency and reimbursing power companies for pandemic non-payments by vulnerable Connecticut residents. A larger amount of the increases can be traced to Connecticut’s contract with the Millstone nuclear power plant; this contract also saved ratepayers more than $200 million just two years ago.
In reality, the most significant reason for the higher electric bills is simply that it was a hot summer, with the hottest July on record and high reliance on energy-gobbling air conditioning. And eliminating emissions of greenhouse gasses (including CO2 from combustion and leaked, unburned methane) is the best way to both fight global warming and reduce electric bills.
Offshore wind is essential to achieving Connecticut’s sustainability goals.
Offshore wind has enormous potential to meet Connecticut’s sustainable and affordable energy needs – and help mitigate global warming’s already evident environmental and economic impacts. Due to New England’s strong offshore winter winds, the technology can provide winter power with the kind of reliability and stable pricing that fossil fuels cannot offer – in addition to delivering significant economic advantages to Connecticut, including many good, prevailing wage jobs.
Yet, delays in contract negotiations for offshore wind projects risk development and supply chain problems, with further delays and cost increases. Offshore wind must be an essential component of Connecticut’s overall decarbonization plan.
We deeply appreciate the governor’s steadfast environmental advocacy to date. But at this critical time, we also need him to advocate for – and act in accord with — this key truth: the majority of Connecticut citizens overwhelmingly support a cleaner environment, the climate change fight and the implementation of sustainable energy.
Governor Lamont has a unique role and voice – and, in this fight, the opportunity to make the most meaningful kind of difference. We look forward to his response.
Peter Festa and Mary Sherwin are members of the Third Act Connecticut/Democratizing Energy Team.