TC not meeting emission targets; Transport to blame

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Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection

Vehicle emissions in Connecticut in 2018 were above 1990 levels, according to a state report.

Connecticut is not on track to meet the greenhouse gas emissions targets set by the legislature, and transportation emissions are the main culprit.

The annual greenhouse gas emissions inventory released on Monday, which examines data up to 2018, shows that transportation emissions are higher than they were in 1990, despite greater energy efficiency from vehicles. motor vehicles.

Under state law, economy-wide greenhouse gas emissions are expected to be 10% below 1990 levels by 2020, 45% below 2001 levels d ‘by 2030 and 80% below 2001 levels by 2050.

The state was on track to meet 2020 levels in last year’s report, which looked at 2017 data, but has now come back above it. Emissions from the building sector also tend to increase, but transport emissions are by far the most important sector.

It must be a wake-up call. We are not on track to meet our emissions targets, said Katie Dykes, commissioner of the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, in an interview. We need to use all the tools at our disposal to reduce emissions across our economy. This means that we need to continue the conversation about the need for additional tools.

Dykes declined to say whether this meant a renewed effort, armed with the latest data, to get the legislature to allow the implementation in Connecticut of the Transportation and Climate Initiative, or TCI, a multi-state program designed to reduce emissions from transport by different means, from electricity to vehicle use to more widespread public transport and even better broadband access to encourage teleworking. The money for such programs would come from a cap and investment system that would likely include a slight increase in gasoline prices.

The bill was never put to a vote in the regular session after Republicans and many in the fossil fuel industry called the potential increase in gasoline costs estimated at around 5 cents the gallon from 2023 of gasoline tax, which others argue it is not.

Opponents re-launched the same tactic with events slated for the next week ahead of a special legislative session slated for later this month that could include the TCI review.

A recent survey for the Connecticut Energy Marketers Association, the state’s leading association of fuel oil dealers, showed people were unhappy with the price of gasoline, which has risen from its lows in the early days of the pandemic in 2020.

TCI has always been designed to be an emissions reduction tool, modeled on the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, which aimed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the electricity sector. The new report shows that this has been a great success.

Emissions from the electricity sector have fallen dramatically since 1990 and are now on the verge of falling below emissions from residential buildings.

Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection

Vehicle emissions in Connecticut in 2018 were above 1990 levels, according to a state report.

The continuing upward trend in vehicle kilometers traveled is also worrying for transport emissions. Although the report is only for 2018, the data on VMT is more current. There was a drop in 2020 at the start of the pandemic. But it increased further last summer and is now at pre-pandemic levels, Dykes said.

Dykes said executive action by the governor on issues related to emissions could be considered later this month, but declined to say what they might be. Throughout the summer, we’ve been looking at additional tools we can use within the authority we have, she said.

And she continued to stress, as she has done throughout the TCI debate, that the problem is climate change. She cited the recent United Nations climate report which portrayed dire climatic circumstances around the world. And she just pointed out the last few months here in Connecticut.

Smoke from wildfires in the west has affected the air quality here. Storms that are causing urban flooding to levels never seen before. Not to mention a series of heat waves, she said. All we’ve been through this summer is climate change is here and the impacts are coming sooner than expected.

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