NEW HAVEN, CT - Today, the Connecticut Fund for the Environment and its program Save the Sound released its legislative agenda for 2012, urging lawmakers to support legislation that would protect Connecticut’s environment and Long Island Sound.
“This is an important session to continue to move Connecticut toward an economically vibrant, clean-energy economy,” said Roger Reynolds, senior attorney for CFE. “We need to ensure that people buying or renting homes or buildings have access to information on the energy efficiency of the unit so that they are able to make decisions that are cost-effective and will benefit the environment. We also need to protect our shorelines and riverfronts from the inappropriate development that led to such devastation in our two storms and create economic incentives for water companies to conserve water and maintain healthy streams.”
“Long Island Sound is a quality of life asset and a stimulus for the regional economy, providing over $9 billion to it every year,” said Leah Schmalz, director of legal and legislative affairs for Save the Sound. “We look forward to working with legislators this session to provide public access to a clean and healthy Sound while creating much-needed jobs. Through an incentive program for clean marinas, harbormasters and marina owners can help reduce pollution while garnering support for local dredging projects and creating hundreds of jobs that keep harbors open and people on the water. We will also continue taking steps to restore the Sound's dead zone by advocating for Clean Water Fund authorizations to be allocated, creating thousands of jobs and improving our sewage treatment plants. However, protecting Long Island Sound does not rest solely on Connecticut's shoulders. We will continue to support the bi-state legislative collaboration that begun last summer to ensure healthy waters, habitats, and open beaches for future generations.”
Specifically, CFE/Save the Sound is proposing that the legislature engage in initiatives which would:
Educate homebuyers, renters and property owners about the energy efficiency of buildings;
Encourage more investment in building energy efficiency;
Increase bi-state coordination between Connecticut and New York state legislators on Long Island Sound policies;
Create jobs and protect clean water through collaborations with Connecticut Marine Trades Association and the Clean Water Investment Coalition;
Support Clean Water Fund FY 2012 authorizations;
Ensure investments are made in new transit services and promote federal funding for rail and bus transit;
Promote the role of natural landscapes in mitigating the effects of floods and major storms; and
Defend against bills that seek to weaken or roll back environmental protections.
