Take Action

Dear Friends,

We had a great turnout for our rally and hearing on the Comprehensive Energy Strategy (CES) on Thursday, September 7th! Thanks for all who turned out just in time for the sun to break out. So many Connecticut environmental groups were represented: CT Sierra Club (of course), 350CT, LCV, Clean Water Action, CCEJ, CT NOFA, Connecticut Fund for the Environment, Consumers for Sensible Energy (thanks for the tee shirts!), Food & Water Watch, and many concerned citizens! (Hope I didn't leave anyone out!)
Kudos for DEEP for putting on numerous hearings on the CES. They were patient while hearing over two thirds of every hearing saying we need more clean energy and efficiency and no more fossil fuel infrastructure. The CES is giving a little more than a wink and a nod to clean renewable energy and still pushing decades worth of natural (methane) gas. This is counter productive. It's taking two steps forward and five back. It's like rooting for both teams in the same baseball game (try that one sometime).
For the future, Martha Klein Chapter Chair

1) The CES draft www.ct.gov/deep/energystrategy

2) The Sierra Club reaction to the new CES http://content.sierraclub.org/press-releases/2017/07/more-clean-energy-needed-draft-comprehensive-energy-strategy

3) Media articles about the CES release http://www.ctnewsjunkie.com/archives/entry/environmentalists_critical_of_slow_march_toward_renewable_energy

https://ctmirror.org/2017/07/26/connecticut-updates-goals-for-energy-climate-change/

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Time to step up? Calling all volunteers! Our environment is under increasing pressure; not only from Washington DC but right here in Connecticut. Maybe you can use your skills acting locally. Here’s your chance! Click on the form to the left and a Word doc will appear. Just fill it out and save it, then email it to connecticut.chapter@sierraclub.org 

We have volunteer opportunities from local and state legislative work to hike leader. Volunteer opportunities range from one-time events to monthly chapter work. Can you spare a few hours a month? Maybe this is your time to join the resistance.

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Thank Senators Murphy and Blumenthal for standing up to Trump's anti-environmental agenda! (Sample letter)

U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal
706 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington DC 20510

U.S. Senator Christopher Murphy
136 Hart Senate Office Bldg.
Washington, DC 20510

Re: Please protect our wilderness monuments and parks from drilling and pollution

Dear Senators:

On April 26, Trump signed an order that paves the way for stripping protections from any of America’s national monuments designated since 1996. That same week, Trump signed an order to reverse restrictions on drilling in sensitive waters in the Arctic and Atlantic oceans.  

Meanwhile, Congress is working to reverse more pollution protections, while the Senate has launched efforts to open one of America’s wildest places, the pristine Arctic Refuge, to dirty oil development. I am deeply concerned about efforts by President Trump and Congress to strip protections from our public lands and waters and undo critical pollution protections.

I am grateful for your leadership and for standing strong against President Trump's anti-environmental agenda, and I want to thank you for that. Please do not support any legislation that would make it easier to undo or downsize our national monuments.

- Please vote NO on any measure that opens our wildlife refuges (namely the Arctic Refuge) to oil and gas drilling.

- Please vote NO on any measure to weaken pollution and climate change protections.

Please do all you can to see that the White House and Congress respect America’s love for public wild lands by not supporting legislation that sells out our national monuments or wildlife refuges to oil and gas interests.

Sincerely,
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What You Can Do Against Methane pollution in CT

Contact Commissioner Klee at DEEP and request that correct figures for methane leakage and global warming potential be used as DEEP revises the Connecticut Comprehensive Energy Strategy (CES). Let the Commissioner know that renewable energy options and increased energy efficiencies are the only way to achieve the greenhouse gas emission reductions that the state is committed to, and that time to achieve those reductions is short and growing shorter. Email robert.Klee@ct.gov or call (860) 424-3571 

Contact your state senators and representatives (find them here) and ask that they approve a new CES in the next legislative session with no ratepayer subsidies for fracked gas expansion, and replaced with an immediate push for a 100% renewable energy powered electricity grid.

Sample letter:

Dear Commissioner Klee/State Senator/State Representative, Ratepayer subsidized gas conversions are driving massive interstate gas pipeline construction. Numerous well-respected scientists such as Robert Howarth have released studies showing that in the near term, methane will cause 86 times the global heating of carbon dioxide. The amount of fugitive methane emissions is underestimated in the models that DEEP uses to inform the CES revision process. The ratepayer subsidized conversions to gas are not economically sensible as gas is not cheaper than oil, are not good for the climate as methane will harm the climate much more than carbon dioxide, and hurt our economy as public funds are transferred to private corporations.  

  • Renewable energy infrastructure creates more jobs than fossil fuels.
  • There is no economic benefit in gas conversions. 
  • There is no benefit to the climate in converting hundreds of thousands of new customers, or electric generating plants, to gas; in fact, these conversions will hasten climate change. 
  • Additional fossil fuels are not needed because renewables are now competitive in cost and in the long run cheaper.
  • Connecticut lags far behind the national average in renewable energy use. 
  • A renewable energy economy is socially just.
  • We are out of time to delay dealing with the impact of climate disruption.

Respectfully submitted, 
Your Name and Town
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 While it's seemingly worlds away to think about John Muir using solar power, chances are that if he'd had the ability to see the benefit of clean energy intertwining with today's technology, the connection to environmental protection would be clear. His former home in Alhambra Valley, nearMartinez, California, is a historic Victorian that's now a designated National Historic Site and has been preserved for visitors to learn more about his life and work.

In the image above, we mapped the house using Google's Project Sunroof tool to imagine the potential, and it's estimated that the roof receives more than 1,895 hours of usable sunlight per year. Just as the Sierra Club's work has evolved since Muir founded it in 1892, our opportunities for positive environmental impact have also evolved. That's why the Sierra Club and Google are teaming up to help map the solar possibilities of cities across the U.S. and collaborating to help raise awareness for moving to 100% clean energy in your own backyard--or on your own roof. Project Sunroof quickly estimates your roof's position, shading, and usable hours of sunlight, and projects potential annual savings with the financing models available in your area. Check out Project Sunroof to see what your house could contribute to the clean energy movement!

Thank you, Sierra Club
P.S. If you're ready to show your support for 100% clean energy this summer, or are in a state that's not yet ideal for solar, you can add your name to the Ready for 100 #SummerOfSolar pledge here and learn about ways to get your community involved!

Disclaimer: Clicking through will take you to the Project Sunroof site, which is owned and operated solely by Google. Sierra Club is not responsible for any aspect of the site, its contents, or the accuracy of any information presented, including any savings estimates. Sierra Club has not vetted any solar providers that may be presented by Google.

Sierra Club 2101 Webster St Suite 1300 Oakland, CA 94612
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More methane pipelines across Connecticut!??  Not if you can help it!

There is an industrialization of Connecticut’s landscape planned and it’s completely under the radar. There are five methane gas pipelines in the works with all the pollution, danger, and health concerns that come along with them.  Much of this methane is for liquefaction and export where other countries pay more for it. We need you to call your Congressional representatives to say these pipelines are not needed nor wanted by the people of Connecticut.

  • Methane gas is extracted by fracking, fraught with problems not reported in themainstream media; 
  • It’s flammable, toxic, and a potent greenhouse gas;Mixed with: Acid, Corrosive inhibitor, Bactericides, Friction reducer, Iron control, and scale inhibitors which end up in the wastewater and drilling slurry;
  • Methane is 86 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide;
  • Infrastructure cost will be passed on to the consumer and not come out of the profits of the gas industry;
  • The increase in pipelines and expansion of existing pipelines is primarily to export gas;
  • A minimum of 5% of the gas is lost to leaks on the way to its destination;
  • Stopping leaks and reducing demand provide sufficient power;
  • On site storage use is needed for peak use during winter, not buying it on the spot market at peak times;
  • Liquifying the gas for export is energy intensive;
  • Currently, methane is unregulated by EPA, and the current rush to build billion dollar pipeline projects is motivated by the fear of impendingregulation or legislation;
  • Very bad public policy from Bush/Cheney to Obama.Erodes air, soil & drinking water quality
  • Environmental and public health hazards are serious and irreversible
  • Pipeline drilling uses millions of gallons of water/ creates adverse environmental consequences to farms, food chain, citizens, communities and conservation land
  • Risk of rupture & explosion causing loss of life and property damage
  • Accelerates global climate change
  • Erodes property values and impacts consumer mortgages & insurance
  • Stresses local communities’ resources and damages infrastructure
  • Subverts needed investment in carbon-free fuel alternatives
  • Wealth and income shift from 95% to 5%

Compressor stations (c/s) release huge amounts of toxins.  These toxins include benzene, toluene, sulfuric oxide, and formaldehyde. Citizens within 1500 feet of c/s in PA, TX, LA and other states have suffered from nose bleeds, rashes, headaches, sore throats, dizziness and nausea. A typical c/s also emits 46.2 tons of nitrous oxide per year. An anesthetic for dental surgeries, nitrous oxide can cause numbness and mental impairment. Nitrous oxide and volatile organic compounds interact to produce ground level ozone.  Ozone inhibits crop and vegetation growth by as much as 30%.

Compressor stations are dangerous.  Since 2011, there have been explosions and fires at c/s in Lathrop, Pa, Brooklyn Township, PA, Montrose, PA, Branchville, NJ, Windsor, NY, Pinedale, WY, Marengo County, AL, Oaktown, IN, Langton, OK, Nine Mile Canyon in UT – among others.  Explosions have required midnight evacuations of nearby residents, with people evacuated out to a one-mile radius.

CONTACT YOUR LEGISLATORS AND SENATORS:                                                 
Senator Chris Murphy (D CT)
Washington DC                      Hartford, Connecticut
(202) 224-4041                       (860) 549-8463
http://www.murphy.senate.gov/contact

Senator Richard Blumenthal (D CT)
Washington DC                         Hartford, CT,               Bridgeport, CT,
(202) 224-2823                       (860) 258-6940            (203) 330-0598
http://www.blumenthal.senate.gov/contact

Representative Jim Himes  (http://himes.house.gov/)
Washington, DC                     Bridgeport, CT                Stamford, CT
(202) 225-5541                     (866) 453-0028              (203) 353-9400

Representative Joe Courtney  (http://courtney.house.gov/)
Washington, DC                     Norwich, CT                    Enfield, CT
(202) 225-2076                     (860) 886-0139               (860) 741-6011

Representative John Larson  (http://www.larson.house.gov/)
Washington, DC                      Hartford, CT
(202) 225-2265                      (860) 278-8888

Representative Rosa DeLauro  (http://delauro.house.gov/)
Washington, DC              New Haven, CT                      Stratford
(202) 225-3661              (203) 562-3718                     (203)-378-9005          

Representative Elizabeth Esty  (http://esty.house.gov/)
Washington, DC                     New Britain, CT
(202) 225-4476                     (860) 223-8412