Gov. Ned Lamont dumped his own climate goals in the incinerator with plans to expand natural gas.  Everywhere we turn, the governor is talking up natural gas.  His State of the State address?  “Before you rule out natural gas…that’s where most of our power comes from and will for the f oreseeable future.”  A meeting with President Trump?  He and the president reportedly “found at least one area where his interests and the president’s [interests] align: getting more energy from nuclear and natural gas into New England.”  A decision to replace a heating and cooling loop in the Hartford Capitol District?  Use natural gas instead of a clean energy system. This embrace of natural gas is drastic and unnecessary.  Lamont’s Executive Order in December 2021 described the crucial role of clean energy for reducing greenhouse gas emissions that are causing climate change and listed problems that Connecticut was already experiencing: “8 to 9 inches of global sea level rise, accelerating coastal erosion, hotter warmest and coldest days of the year, multiple unprecedented and extreme weather events, poor air quality, closed school days and businesses due to heat waves,” plus “recent price spikes for heating oil, propane, and natural gas and their negative impact on Connecticut consumers.”  Notice that price spikes in fossil fuels were causing problems, not the expansion of clean energy.  The order listed numerous actions to increase energy efficiency and make renewable energy available. Since then, Governor Lamont’s failure to lead on clean energy opportunities such as a clean car and truck plan, a wind power project to be developed with Massachusetts and Rhode Island, increasing the number of nonresidential solar installations, solar canopies on parking lots, among other opportunities not taken, have left Connecticut in the lurch.  The latest failure, choosing natural gas for the Capitol Area Systems facility, is particularly cruel.  Many people advocated for a clean energy facility, and the governor and DAS abruptly and without explanation just said “No.”  The announcement stated that DEEP doesn’t consider the facility to be a major source of air pollution, and it “is no longer subject to state or federal Clean Air Act requirements.”  Does that mean that fewer nearby residents will get lung cancer or have serious asthma episodes, compared with the past?  Is it supposed to be OK that people who live and work nearby will have “only” minor pollution?  It’s not OK!  It’s not even close to being OK, and Lamont repeating it will not make it OK. Lamont thinks that natural gas will be cheaper, but that view ignores the realities that:  1) natural gas prices are predicted to rise in 2025 ($3.80 dollars per million British thermal units [BTU] in 2025 and $4.20 in 2026, compared with $2.20 in 2024 U.S. Energy Information Administration); 2) natural gas damages the environment in ways that aren’t captured in its short-term price; and 3) all fossil fuels, including natural gas, have high dollar costs of disease, among them:  cancer, asthma, and lost work and school days due to disease. Of course, the Capitol Area System announcement and other backtracking announcements have been silent on the problems listed in the Executive Order: “sea level rise, accelerating coastal erosion, hotter warmest and coldest days of the year, multiple unprecedented and extreme weather events, poor air quality, closed school days and businesses due to heat waves,” to which we can add extreme drought and wildfires.  So that’s the future the governor knows we’re in for. For the sake of all Connecticut residents and the environment, the governor desperately needs a new vision of energy sources for the short- and long-term.  He needs to find some fresh energy and commitment to work with the many experts in Connecticut to rapidly increase clean energy and rapidly decrease dependence on natural gas.  Governor, just say “No” to natural gas! Christine Feely is a member of the Sierra Club Connecticut. ...read more read less