At the end of last year, Connecticut’s Legislative Regulation Review Committee had the opportunity to do what more than a dozen states across the country have already done — greenlight the adoption of a package of common-sense, tailpipe pollution standards.

The new programs, which would cut air and climate pollution from cars and trucks, had already been approved by the nonpartisan Legislative Commissioners’ Office, giving the committee the green light to proceed.

Instead, the committee, with seven Republicans and two defecting Democrats signaling they would vote down the Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT) and Advanced Clean Cars II (ACCII) standards, torpedoed efforts to clean up our transportation sector. Meanwhile, impacted communities across the state continue to wait for relief from tailpipe pollution in one of the most roadway-dense states in the country, which also has the highest rate of air pollution–linked deaths in New England.

Connecticut residents living near major freight corridors and depots — which tend to be disproportionately low-income and communities of color — are especially vulnerable to tailpipe pollution, suffering high exposure and burdensome health impacts, even if they don’t drive a vehicle themselves.

Amidst the culture wars and misinformation campaigns, our state lawmakers seem to have lost sight of how clean vehicle programs work. No one is proposing to ban gas-powered cars from Connecticut, as those who have fought this program have asserted.

Under ACCII, consumers would be able to buy new plug-in hybrids (which have gas tanks and internal combustion engines) in perpetuity, while the used car market, where the majority of consumers purchase vehicles, remains completely unregulated. Car buyers will also be able to purchase new gas-powered cars in the state until 2035 and drive them well beyond. Meanwhile, the program requires automakers to provide increasing numbers and models of electric vehicles to the state to give people clean car choices and incentivize manufacturers to introduce more affordable EVs.

The ACT rule would gradually increase the supply of pollution-free heavy-duty vehicles in Connecticut. Vans, trucks, and buses drive through densely populated areas every day to deliver packages, pick up garbage, and take kids to school — zero-emission options can help prevent our neighborhoods from being choked with health-harming diesel exhaust.

The rest of the Northeast (including states like Massachusetts and Rhode Island as well as Republican-led states like Vermont and Virginia) has passed us by in the fast lane on the road to clean vehicles. Ironically, major oil and gas-producing states like New Mexico and Colorado have already passed more stringent standards than Connecticut.

The legislature’s decision not to take up these vital clean cars and trucks programs is a victory for the oil and gas industry, their front groups like Yankee Institute, and trade associations like the Connecticut Energy Marketers Association, who have spread falsehoods and run misinformation throughout the state. Their “car ban” rhetoric is as dangerous as it is untrue. The result of this dishonest, cynical opposition has been the failure to protect residents from health-harming transportation pollution by Connecticut’s Republican and Democratic legislators.

Recently, many Democrats hoped to find consensus by reaching across the aisle with H.B. 5485, a bill that would establish a council to study EV charging infrastructure without committing to stronger air quality standards. But clean vehicle opponents in industry and politics oppose this bill, too, calling it a “clear path towards an electric vehicle mandate.” Time will tell if the majority party has learned their lesson — when they give an inch, the opposition takes a mile.

As the 2024 legislative session continues without decisive action on clean transportation, supporters of clean air and climate are left wondering if Connecticut’s leaders will stand up for policies they robustly supported as recently as 2022. Continued delays and political wrangling will only cause more pollution harm to the vulnerable residents opponents of clean air policies claim to support.

Samantha Dynowski, State Director, Sierra Club Connecticut on behalf of herself and
Andy Bauer, Chair, Portland Clean Energy Task Force
Nathan Frohling, The Nature Conservancy of Connecticut
Lori Brown, Executive Director, CT League of Conservation Voters
Dr. Mark Mitchell, Mitchell Environmental Health Associates
Sharon Lewis, CT Coalition for Economic and Environmental Justice
Shannon Laun, Conservation Law Foundation
Jay Stange, Transport Hartford
Tom Swan, Connecticut Citizen Action Group
Barry Kresch, EV Club of Connecticut
Diane Lauricella, Norwalk Zero Waste Coalition
Charles Rothenberger, Save the Sound