Just months after a push to mandate electric vehicles in his state, Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont pulled the plug on the effort.
After introducing the plan in July as “decisive action to meet our climate pollution reduction goals,” the Democrat reversed course, after being pressured by state lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle to drop it the mandate that was tied to emissions standards set in California. . The move is a blow to the agenda of climate activists and environmentalists, especially those in Lamont’s own party who have been in an EV mandate.
Republican members of the Connecticut General Assembly’s bicameral Legislative Regulatory Review Committee had pushed back for months against Lamont’s effort to mandate the purchase of electric vehicles by 2035. Connecticut Senate Republican Leader Kevin Kelly , and the other members of the 14-member panel have the responsibility to decide on the proposed regulation.
“The Republican minority leader and other Republicans on the panel led opposition to the proposed EV mandate in recent months. After Democrats on the committee expressed concern about the regulations, Lamont eventually withdrew the proposal from the agenda for a committee hearing on Tuesday, when lawmakers were poised to vote on it.” Fox News reported
Kelly and others praised the move.
“Common sense has prevailed,” the Republican leader said in a statement. “The governor’s decision to withdraw the regulations is a reasoned approach to addressing the growing concerns raised by working and middle-class families. California’s adoption of emissions standards banning the sale of gasoline-powered cars is a substantial policy change that must be decided by the General Assembly.”
“There are too many questions about the capacity of our electric grid, the cost and location of grid improvements, and the negative impact on urban, rural and working poor families,” Kelly continued. “More than 90% of our pollution comes from outside Connecticut’s control. We need a national and international approach to improve our air quality. A state-by-state strategy will only prolong the achievement of better air clean”.
Connecticut state Sen. John Kissel called Lamont’s decision a “prudent step.”
“The elected representatives of the people are the ones who should make this decision. Something life-changing, something that will take away our election, has to be decided by the full state legislature,” added Kissel, the GOP caucus chairman.
“Ask anyone on Main Street in Connecticut those questions,” he said. “They will tell you that they, the people, have to decide. It should be the people’s choice. The people of Connecticut deserve credit for speaking up. I thank my colleagues on the committee and the governor for withdrawing these regulations”.
Today, CT Republicans put the brakes on the Lamont Administration’s proposed EV mandate and put working and middle class families first! Thank you to everyone who spoke out in favor of a common sense plan and approach to implementing cleaner air and transportation solutions. pic.twitter.com/xy2LCHhn1o
— CT Senate Republicans (@CTSenateGOP) November 28, 2023
Not everyone was celebrating, however, as one climate and energy attorney pointed out.
“The Committee’s failure to advance these regulations aligns Connecticut’s environmental policy with that of Alabama, Mississippi and West Virginia rather than Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island and the dozen or so states we are proud to call our clean air partners,” Charles Rothenberger. , with Connecticut-based Save the Sound, told Fox News Digital.
“Unfortunately, we will now lose another critical year in which Connecticut residents do not enjoy the environmental, health and economic benefits of this program,” he added. “And there will be less consumer access to cutting-edge, low-cost clean vehicles as those vehicles are shipped elsewhere.”
State Sen. Paul Cicarella, who is also a member of the decision-making committee, believes that Democrats recognized that “there was no plan to implement” Lamont’s EV mandate.
Environmental groups had a meltdown.
“It is outrageous that members of the Regulatory Review Committee have overstepped their bounds to roll back environmental progress and block important clean air regulations,” said Lori Brown, executive director of the Connecticut League of Conservation Voters. “If our state doesn’t move forward, it will be because of partisan politics and not what’s best for the people of Connecticut.”
But many others see the death of the mandate as a definite victory for Connecticut consumers.
“This is a victory for consumers who would have paid a heavy price for the state’s efforts to ban gas cars and trucks in the future,” said Chris Herb, president of the Connecticut Energy Marketers Association, adding that it was “. too much too fast and we’re not ready for an EV-only future.”
Connecticut think tank Yankee Institute President Carol Platt Liebau called it “a victory for the people of Connecticut” in a statement to Fox News Digital, noting that “these costly regulations have not been proven and expensive would actually improve the environment.” “
“People overwhelmingly opposed the regulations because they would have imposed significant costs on our state’s consumers and businesses and strained our energy infrastructure, without delivering the overall environmental benefits advocates claim,” Liebau added. “Innovation, technology development and individual choice in the marketplace should guide car and truck sales in Connecticut, not government mandates.”
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