Kelly, Formica Call for Federal Action on Clean Air, Respond to Dem Proposal to Adopt California Emissions Standards on Trucks

HARTFORD – Senate Republican Leader Kevin Kelly (R-Stratford) and Senate Republican Leader Pro Tempore Paul Formica (R-East Lyme) are raising concerns about new language released earlier today to amend Senate Bill 4 An Act Concerning the Connecticut Clean Air Act, currently being debated in the State Senate.

The amendment adds language that allows the Commissioner of the State Department of Energy and Environmental Protection to impose California’s emissions standards for medium and heavy-duty trucks. The Republican lawmakers also wrote to CT’s Congressional delegation renewing their calls for federal action on clean air initiatives.

“Every Connecticut resident deserves clean air. But the provisions regarding truck emissions added to Senate Bill 4 will not achieve that goal,” said Sens. Kelly and Formica. “More than 90% of ozone levels in southwest Connecticut and more than 80% of ozone levels in some remaining parts of the state result from pollution that originates in areas located out of Connecticut’s jurisdiction and control. We could take every truck off the road and it still wouldn’t stop the massive pollution that blows into Connecticut from states to our west. The proposed truck emissions policy would add new costly burdens onto CT’s working- and middle-class families without making a difference in the air we breathe. It would impose enormous new costs on job creators, farmers, and on all goods shipped through our state – from clothing to food to home heating oil.

“What would make a difference? Our Congressional delegation in Washington pushing for federal changes to improve air quality in the states that create the pollution that enters Connecticut – something CT Republicans have urged them to do for over a year and which they have failed to deliver. In addition, committing to direct federal infrastructure dollars to be spent in a way that prioritizes reducing emissions with full transparency and accountability. Or how about Connecticut not shipping garbage to be burned in states to our west, where the pollution eventually flows back to the air we breathe?

“Senator and former New Hampshire Governor Maggie Hassan (D) once said New Hampshire could take every car off the road and only see ozone levels drop by just 3%. Connecticut will continue to sit at the end of the tailpipe of the nation’s exhaust fumes unless we get federal action. Time and again Connecticut residents are asked to shoulder new sacrifices and promised they will see cleaner air as a result. But the reality is, unless other states make the same commitments as Connecticut residents, nothing will change. We need our Congressional delegation to deliver and get Washington to act to achieve the clean air all residents deserve.”

Click to read Sen. Kelly and Sen. Formica’s letter to Connecticut’s Congressional delegation.