Last month, Gov. Ned Lamont met with Trump Administration officials to try to bring more fossil fuel gas to Connecticut in a move that counters the governor’s original stance on bringing clean, affordable energy to the state. President Donald Trump has shown over and over again that his commi tment to fossil fuels is purely to pad the already overflowing wallets of Big Oil and Gas executives – off the backs of energy customers. By now, Lamont should know better than to align himself with an administration that puts profits over people. But Governor Lamont does not seem to have gotten the memo. A Lamont-Trump agreement to expand gas risks doing more harm for our health, climate, and wallets. Connecticut residents already face some of the highest gas heating bills in the nation – with a monthly average of $90 to $140 — and building more gas infrastructure won’t lower those costs or provide Connecticut with clean air. Utilities add the costs of building out more gas infrastructure, like pipelines, onto customers’ bills. In other words, more gas makes for higher monthly charges. Currently, regulators are considering a 43% increase in residential gas heating bills —an average monthly jump of $46.74 by November 2025. Why? Because the gas industry continues to rely on aging infrastructure, and maintaining and upgrading that system is costly. Eversource alone is spending a whopping $900 million between 2025 and 2029 to replace hundreds of miles of aging gas pipelines. Lamont’s plan risks deepening the state’s reliance on fossil fuels and gas infrastructure, and the rising costs that come with them. More gas also means more air pollution, and Connecticut is already failing to meet federal air quality standards. Burning gas, oil, and propane in furnaces and water heaters generates the same pollutants as car exhaust, contributing to more smog, which worsens asthma and other lung diseases. Data from 2017 shows that in one year alone, pollution from fossil fuel buildings in the state led to over a hundred premature deaths, 1,300 cases of respiratory symptoms, and 2,500 lost work days due to health reasons. Harmful health impacts fall disproportionately on communities of color who tend to bear the brunt of fossil fuel pollution, particularly for those communities living in one of the three asthma capitals in the state, Hartford, Bridgeport, and New Haven. All in all, pollution related hospitalization, lost wages, medication and other expenses cost Connecticut $520 million annually.  Moreover, Lamont’s embrace of Trump’s gas expansion plans directly conflicts with Connecticut’s climate laws, including the goal of achieving 100% zero-carbon electricity by 2040 – which Lamont himself proposed. States across the nation are taking advantage of wind, solar, and energy storage as reliable, clean, and affordable alternatives to polluting fossil fuels. Connecticut should be leading the way, not doubling down on outdated fossil fuel systems that overheat the planet and pollute our air. Despite what Trump says, his dirty energy plans won’t save Connecticut money. But they will further enrich his climate-denying backers in the oil and gas industry.  Governor Lamont should be “Trump-proofing” Connecticut from this oil and gas industry and its campaign on disinformation and harmful policies. The bottom line is that Connecticut did not elect Trump as our governor; we elected Lamont and it’s time for our governor to fulfill his original promises that got him into office. Expanding gas in the state in collaboration with the fossil fuel-friendly federal government would derail efforts to build an affordable, clean energy system that would serve generations to come.  At a moment when the energy, climate, and affordability crises are at a peak, Governor Lamont  should be finding ways to secure a healthy, renewable energy future, not align himself with an administration that pursues policies that run against the well-being of Connecticut.  Samantha Dynowski, State Director of the Sierra Club Connecticut, writes on behalf of herself and Shannon Laun, Conservation Law Foundation ...read more read less