Category: Environment

NHCM Celebrates Hiring of City Climate Director, Steve Winter

by Chris Schweitzer, New Haven Climate Movement

In 2019, New Haven Climate Movement youth led the effort to pass the New Haven Climate Emergency Resolution. Soon after its passage, then Mayor-elect Elicker committed to create a climate office to work on cutting climate pollution and fossil fuel use. On Dec. 9, 2022, Alder Steve Winter was hired to become Climate and Sustainability Director.

Steve has supported climate organizing efforts, including helping pass NHCM’s Electrification Resolution in 2020, and supported the Board of Education Climate Emergency Resolution in 2022. The City has set aside $2 million in Federal funding for projects that cut greenhouse gas emissions and pollution in neighborhoods (for example, energy efficiency programs).

NHCM is now working hard to implement projects identified in the BoE Resolution in 2023, and will be advocating for much greater investment in cutting fossil fuel climate pollution.

For more information about NHCM’s work or to get involved go to newhavenclimatemovement.org.

Connecticut Green Energy News

Number 288, Sept. 16, 2022

News and events for advocates of clean energy, energy efficiency, and climate action at the state and local levels, focusing on Connecticut. Brought to you by People’s Action for Clean Energy (PACE) and Eastern CT Green Action (ECGA). To subscribe, email peter.millman7@gmail.com.

Connecticut wins $52 million in federal backing for electric vehicle build-out along state’s highways
Hartford Courant: ​Connecticut has won federal approval, and $52 million over five years, to build out electric vehicle chargers across the state.​ ​Funding is part of $900 million authorized by the sprawling federal Infrastructure Law signed last year by President Joe Biden to install 500,000 chargers at regular intervals across 53,000 miles of U.S. highways. In Connecticut, 10 locations are planned for at least four public fast chargers with a minimum power level of 150 kilowatts per port along the interstate system.​ The state Department of Transportation expects…to partner with the private sector that owns or operates electric vehicle charging network sites.

Why electricity prices are rising unevenly across New England
Connecticut Public: You may have noticed that your most recent electric bill is higher than usual — and if that change hasn’t happened yet, it’s probably coming this fall. These price spikes are occurring across New England, but bills are rising more in some places than others. Some ratepayers in New Hampshire saw the price of electricity double this summer, resulting in bills up to $70 higher, while many in Massachusetts are only paying an extra $11 per month. If it seems unfair, blame the energy markets. And if it’s confusing because everyone in New England shares an electricity grid, well, read on…The primary reason for the spike is our reliance on fossil fuels. Specifically, natural gas…This year’s price fluctuations have exposed the volatility of fossil fuels, but many experts say things could be different in the future as we “electrify everything” and source more of our power from renewables.

Boston moves to ban fossil fuels in new construction
GBH: The Boston City Council Wednesday voted to sign up for the state’s new pilot program banning fossil fuels from most new construction except labs and hospitals.​ ​The move is the first step in a process that could ultimately make New England’s largest city part of an innovative experiment — that is controversial in some quarters — designed to help mitigate climate change.

Petition to Lamont to Stop Using Gas-Powered Equipment on State Land

Stanley Heller, Promoting Enduring Peace

Gas-powered equipment gives off exhausts dangerous to the workers who use the tools daily and anyone in the immediate area. The two-cycled engines are the worst. A large part of their fuel is not even burned. Instead, it gets aerosolized. The stink is unpleasant but more important are the toxic chemicals that are released along with microscopic particles. Tiny particles can go deep into the lung and can cause lung cancer, heart disease, strokes, asthma, and other respiratory ailments.

The noise from gas-powered machines ranges from irritating to hazardous. Some lawn mowers and leaf-blowers give off sound comparable to that of a nearby jackhammer or motorcycle. Even when it’s not causing direct harm the noise can bother babies and others who sleep during daylight hours, those who study and the increasing number of people who work from their homes. Quiet and fresh air shouldn’t be considered luxuries!

There’s also the amount of global warming gases given off by the equipment. In CT 40 million gallons of gas are burned just for lawn care! We at PEP started a petition asking the governor to take the lead by stopping the use of gas-powered equipment on land the state owns directly. Use electric power or rewild. See the petition at: tinyurl.com/petition-CT-owned-land.

Too Much Pavement at Tweed = Flooding, Pollution, Wildlife Disruption

by Kathy Czepiel, Communications Specialist, Save the Sound

The proposed Tweed-New Haven Airport expansion must undergo a thorough environmental review process, Save the Sound’s legal team asserted in an April 18 letter to the New England Region office of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

While the airport authority has stated its intention to do an Environmental Assessment (EA), we urged the FAA to demand a more rigorous Environmental Impact Statement, as required by the National Environmental Policy Act.

Floodplain and resilience problems related to stormwater flooding and sea-level rise at this vulnerable location are a major concern, especially because the airport’s EA fails to include the impacts of a taxiway expansion that will inevitably be built. Increasing the airport’s footprint could also significantly affect inland and tidal wetlands, local and migratory wildlife habitat and water quality.

An annual community meeting with local officials and the airport authority is scheduled for June 9 at 6 p.m. at the Nathan Hale School cafeteria, 480 Townsend Ave., New Haven.

Come and ask your questions about the proposed expansion and its impact on the environment and human health.

Save the Sound, 900 Chapel St., Suite 2202
New Haven, CT 06510.
phone: 203-787-0646

For more information on Tweed efforts, visit www.10000Hawks.org.

West River Watershed News

Explore the West River and its tributaries. Sign up with WRWC to do “Streamwalks” (beginning in June) to gather data on our watershed. (We initially did this in 2015 and it’s time to update.) This is a really FUN and EYE OPENING experience! Training provided. Invite your friends! Contact Linda Green lkgreen2@yahoo.com.

Look for alewives in the West River. If/when you see them, please send Shauntasia the details: watershedliaison@savethesound.org. (No one has recorded any so far this year after last year’s bumper crop.)

3-month free UNH program to train citizen scientists. 17 of 20 slots still available. Program begins June 22. $$ available for laptops and internet access.. Transferable college credit. Targeting young (and not so young) residents of West Haven and New Haven. An amazing opportunity. Spread the word. https://newhaven.edu/arts-sciences/undergraduate-programs/marine-biology/coasts-program.php.

Volunteer for bacteria testing of New Haven’s three rivers. One-half day (Saturday) per month during the summer. Training provided. For more information and/or to volunteer, contact Mary. marymushinsky@att.net.

CT Green Energy News, No. 269, May 6, 2022

[News and events for advocates of clean energy, energy efficiency, and climate action at the state and local levels, focusing on Connecticut. Brought to you by People’s Action for Clean Energy (PACE) and Eastern CT Green Action (ECGA).]

On climate change, a political shift in Connecticut
CT Mirror. “With the final passage Friday of a “Connecticut Clean Air Act,” the House put a bow on a productive session for addressing climate change and clean energy, a comeback for environmentalists after…last year’s defeat of the Transportation and Climate Initiative…The defeat pushed activists to be better organized and more aggressive, fueled a desire among lawmakers to deliver an overdue victory on climate change and imparted hard lessons about messaging, not the least of which was the necessity of making greenhouse gas emissions relevant to a broader audience…This year, Democrats were not spooked by the near-unanimous Republican opposition to Senate Bill 4, the clean air act…Three other environment bills passed with bipartisan support this week…’This has been a banner week for climate policy in Connecticut’, Brown said.”

Lawmakers Approve 2040 Target for Zero-Carbon Emissions
CT Examiner. “Connecticut lawmakers approved legislation codifying as law Gov. Ned Lamont’s goals for a zero-carbon emissions from Connecticut’s electric supply by 2040, in addition to expanding two programs aimed at incentivizing large solar projects…Asked what the point of the goal is if a “zero-emission” electric grid doesn’t mean there are zero emissions generated by power plants in Connecticut, Arconti said it sends a signal to the regional market that the state is serious about its commitment to renewable energy, and that the grid operator needs to change its market rules that renewable advocates say block them out…Lawmakers also agreed to double the caps on two solar incentive programs – the Non-residential Energy Solutions program that allows businesses to seek incentives for solar projects; and the Shared Clean Energy Facilities program that allows customers to subscribe to a “shared” clean energy project larger than what they could build alone.”

CT Green Energy News, April 15, 2022

Connecticut should seek zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, says a study from Yale and Save the Sound in the New Haven Register. “Despite once being hailed as an early leader in combating climate change, Connecticut must aggressively boost its current pace of carbon reductions in order to keep up with the intensifying rate of warming in the region​..​.[The report] called on lawmakers to set a goal of reaching zero-carbon emissions in Connecticut by 2050 — hastening the state’s current mid-century target of reducing emissions by 80 percent. Even those more modest goals, however, remain out of reach at the state’s current rate of transitioning away from fossil fuels, officials have acknowledged.. ​’Connecticut is not doing its fair share​.'”

Connecticut jumps into the electric bus lane per NEWS 8 WTNH. “A pilot program of 10 EV buses is rolling right now in New Haven…Over the next 15 years, 500 buses will be phased in costing tens of millions of dollars. One electric bus costs $900,000. One diesel/hybrid costs $600,000. The federal government kicks in 80%. The state pays the other 20%. ‘Over the life cycle of having that bus, we save around $400,000 total in fuel savings…and maintenance costs are 50% lower…So it’s a net positive for taxpayers when we switch to electric buses.’ A diesel engine has lots of parts. The view of the electric battery system shows a simple row of tubes and a square battery.”

Join the Gather New Haven Farm Based Wellness Program

The Gather New Haven Farm-Based Wellness Program is an intensive lifestyle intervention 16-week summer program that supports participants in achieving their nutrition and physical activity-related goals by meeting on a local urban farm within New Haven once a week for two hours from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. We engage in urban farming activities, we engage in group physical activities, we do a 10-minute mindful meditation and then move on to a nutrition discussion and a cooking demonstration which includes vegetables that participants are given to take home with them each week. On-site childcare is provided for participants with children. We also offer an additional Saturday session focused on physical activities from 9:30 to 11 a.m. The program is free, no cost to join.

The program aims to recruit participants within the New Haven area who have any diet-related disease (prediabetes, diabetes type 2, excess weight, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, etc) and are looking to make healthy lifestyle changes.

May 10-Sept. 3
Spanish on Tuesdays, 5:30-7:30 p.m. at 15 James St.
English on Thursdays, 5:30-7:30 p.m. at 170 Ward St.
Bilingual on Saturdays, 9:30-11 a.m. at 613 Ferry St.

For info and to register: 203-516-7270

Construction Underway at Haven and Exchange Street

by savethesound.org

The construction of our current ecological restoration project at Haven and Exchange Street in Fair Haven is well underway and on schedule to be completed by the beginning of May.

Students from the John S. Martinez School explored the Haven and Exchange Street site.

One of the goals of this new green space is to filter and absorb polluted stormwater runoff from nearby streets before it reaches the Mill River. To restore the natural filtration process, we have removed the impervious asphalt and concrete surfaces in this dead-end roadway and have replaced them with porous sediment that has already seen a few rainfalls. Once construction is completed, we will open the site for volunteer planting events.

Students from the John S. Martinez School explored the Haven and Exchange Street site last month.
Students, families and the entire Fair Haven community will have the opportunity to help us plant native trees and shrubs in this space to absorb stormwater, restore and rehabilitate wildlife, and reconnect the community with the Mill River.

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