This op-ed was originally published here in the Hartford Courant on September 17, 2020.
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State leaders have a significant role to play in the race to protect Connecticut against the worst outcomes of the climate crisis. There is a troubling disconnect between what Gov. Ned Lamont and Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Commissioner Katie Dykes say they believe about fossil fuels and the actions they take on behalf of Connecticut residents. Time and again, they have both publicly voiced support for moving the state toward increased use of renewable energy, and away from a dependence on natural gas.
Their forward-thinking, science-based statements momentarily fill advocates with hope that Connecticut officials will in fact demonstrate bold leadership on climate by stopping the planned fracked-gas power plant in Killingly. Then we read about the decision by DEEP to tentatively approve a wastewater discharge permit for the project, and our bewilderment returns.
Their inconsistencies are not only frustrating, but they pose real threats to our environment and to public health. Allowing wastewater discharge into public waters would jeopardize water quality. Further, the wastewater treatment costs would fall to residents, since NTE Connecticut would be using the town’s publicly owned treatment plant, which has recently been upgraded at a large expense to ratepayers.
Natural gas infrastructure also poses grave risks to health and safety. Gas power plants release nitrogen oxides into the air, which are known to lead to respiratory health ailments. Additionally, natural gas use involves the potential for gas leaks, which then release methane into the air and soil. The science is clear that methane is a powerful greenhouse gas that is a significant contributor to climate change.
The global pandemic has led to an economic crisis, leaving over 700,000 Connecticut workers unemployed or underemployed. As other advocates have suggested, Connecticut could address this crisis while also addressing the climate crisis by initiating a green jobs program that would put people back to work while also making progress on our time-sensitive climate goals. Building infrastructure — not fossil fuel infrastructure, but rather infrastructure that would lead to grid modernization and increase our ability to rely on renewable energy — is an important component of achieving these goals.
The decision to approve or deny permits to expand fossil fuel infrastructure is a moral one. If state leaders allow for the building of new fossil fuel infrastructure despite the risks to ecological and human health, then the message is that they value the convenience of gas more than the well-being of those who will be the most impacted by its furtherance. Acting in the interest of the common good requires us to make decisions that look past short-term gains for some in favor of long-term gains for most.
We must also consider the environmental burdens that currently exist on the backs of front-line communities. The town of Killingly is already home to a gas power plant, plaguing residents with pollution. Due to recently constructed power plants in Bridgeport and Oxford, residents have to breathe dirty air and worry about their children’s health. Communities of color and low-income communities have disproportionately felt the burdens of environmental degradation and disregard for their basic human rights.
To further compound our bewilderment, the energy that would come from the proposed Killingly power plant is not actually necessary in order to meet Connecticut’s energy needs. To place further burdens onto an already burdened community in order to meet a nonexistent need is not only illogical but also immoral.
The governors and state environmental protection agencies of New York and New Jersey are using their authority to deny permits for projects that would have detrimental impacts on the safety, health and well-being of their residents. Connecticut state leaders could, and should, do the same.
On Oct. 1, the public will have the opportunity to weigh in on the wastewater discharge permit during a virtual public hearing. For the sake of our collective health, we hope you will join advocates in calling on Gov. Lamont and Commissioner Dykes to deny the permit and stop this power plant.
Rachel Lea Scott is the associate director of the Collaborative Center for Justice, a Hartford-based social justice organization.
