Sen. Harding: “Green Monster” Bill’s Failure to Pass is “a big victory.”

Sen. Republican Leader Stephen Harding, the Ranking Senator on the Environment Committee, issued the following statement on the “Green Monster” bill not being taken up in the Senate prior to the legislature’s midnight adjournment.

“It’s a big victory. Republicans have been warning that this bill, while well-intentioned, would give unfettered authority to an unelected official: the commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. It would enable the DEEP commissioner to implement basically whatever she deems fit to meet certain carbon emissions. That could mean new taxes and new government programs that Republicans would object to, but would have no say over. We continue to have many significant reservations about giving any unelected bureaucrat that type of authority to implement policy that would impact the daily lives of the people of the state of Connecticut. Energy bills are often the most expensive bills for Connecticut families. Republicans will always fight against policies that are going to be adding a significant cost to the consumers of the state.”