Connecticut Air Pollution Continues to Contribute to Climate Change, Stronger Action Needed

The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) has published its latest Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory, an accounting of the state’s air pollution that contributes to climate change. 

The report’s preliminary data shows that emissions increased in 2022 for a second consecutive year.   While Connecticut met its goal for 2020 emissions set by statute, an accelerated pace of reductions is needed to meet medium- and long-term goals.

Based on preliminary data, the top three emitting sectors in 2022 were responsible for over three-quarters of the total emissions: transportation (42 percent), residential heating with fossil fuels (21 percent), and commercial building heating with fossil fuels (13 percent).

“While we’ve made progress, particularly in decarbonizing the electricity generation sector, we will need to substantially increase the pace of reductions over the next five years to meet our next legislative goal in 2030,” DEEP Commissioner Katie Dykes said when the report was released this Spring.

The transportation sector continues to be the largest source of our emissions, with emissions from residential and commercial buildings a close second. DEEP will continue to work with our partners to ramp up investment in a decarbonized grid, clean transportation, and efficient buildings to help our state get on track to meet our statutory targets.”

What the Greenhouse Gas Inventory reinforces is that we will continue to experience the severe health impacts of human-caused climate change,” added Connecticut Department of Public Health Commissioner Manisha Juthani, MD. “Increased emissions can result in drastic shifts in precipitation patterns, more frost-free days, and more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The public health costs associated with GHG emissions far exceed any dollar value. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the health effects from these disruptions include increased respiratory and cardiovascular disease, injuries, and premature deaths related to extreme weather events. Other dangerous results of climate change include the worldwide increase of water-borne illnesses and other infectious diseases, and even threats to mental health.”

This inventory, for the first time since the 2009 inventory, estimates the amount of carbon dioxide the state’s natural and working lands removed from the atmosphere, according to officials. It indicates that in 2021, Connecticut’s forests and urban trees served as a nature-based solution reducing the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by an estimated 6.3 MMTCO2e (net). 

Charles Rothenberger, a climate and energy attorney with Save the Sound, said, “This latest inventory underscores the urgent need for increased efforts to reduce emissions to meet our legal commitments to Connecticut residents and our moral commitments to future generations. Greenhouse gas emissions actually increasing in recent years shows how transitory progress can be without strong policies in place. Achieving the reductions required by the Global Warming Solutions Act will require deeper, more rapid emissions reductions from the transportation and building sectors in particular, and policies to ensure those reductions are sustained.”

To review the report in its entirety, go here.