Lamont: CT will still press forward with electric vehicles

Undeterred by a key committee’s opposition, Gov. Ned Lamont charged forward Tuesday with his plan for sharply increasing electric vehicles in Connecticut in the future.

Lamont made his comments after withdrawing a plan to ban the sale of gasoline-powered cars in Connecticut by 2035 due to opposition by the 14-member regulations review committee. Instead, the full legislature will now study the issue closely during the 2024 session.

Surrounded by supportive Democratic legislators at the state Capitol, Lamont said that he supports the clean-air standards of liberal states like California as more drivers are increasingly buying electric cars. Republicans, meanwhile, say Connecticut should join 32 other states that follow the federal Environmental Protection Agency standards that are less strict than those in California and nearby states like Massachusetts, Vermont, New York, and Rhode Island.

“As a businessperson, I like these [California] goals,” Lamont told a large crowd in a function room at the Capitol. “I like these standards. … Right now, what I love is the fact that it’s not Connecticut going alone. It’s not Connecticut and California, which gets everybody’s hair on fire. It’s Connecticut, Virginia, North Carolina, Colorado, New Mexico. There’s a broad base. Almost 40% of the American population is leaning in this direction.”

The controversial proposed regulations on electric vehicles had caused a firestorm of protest among Republicans who say it is impractical to require all new cars sold in Connecticut to be zero-emission electric because the state does not have enough electric charging stations and the costs are too high.

The cost of upgrading the state’s electric grid to power the cars and installing numerous charging stations, they said, would reach billions of dollars.

Senate President Pro Tem Martin Looney, a New Haven Democrat, said that Democrats have been the leaders on the issue and Republicans have not.

“Not to be overly partisan, we are the party of governing,” Looney told the crowd. “The Republican Party, unfortunately, is the party of no without a thought, no without a plan.”

But House Republican leader Vincent Candelora responded, “What the press conference today just demonstrated is it’s the governor’s office that actually does not have a plan. It was good to hear that they’re now going to start taking into consideration the affordability, the impact that this is actually going to have on Connecticut residents, and we’re looking forward to that conversation.”

A key player in the debate has been Sen. Cathy Osten, an important Democrat on the 14-member regulations committee. Osten attended Lamont’s press conference, but did not speak.

She told The Courant that she still has concerns on the regulations and had remained undecided. She is concerned about how the regulations would impact “people of modest means,” adding that more affluent residents have been able to get federal tax credits because they can afford new, expensive electric cars.

“Should we be giving all the tax credits to people who don’t need them?” Osten asked.

The Regulations Review Committee is a relatively little-known panel that often focuses on the arcane nuances of complicated state laws. The committee, for example, is also looking into the regulations of municipal dog pounds.

If the committee had accepted the new regulations, they would have become enacted and would not need further action by the full House of Representatives and Senate under the legislative rules, officials said. Now that the regulations have been withdrawn, they have been sent back to the General Assembly for further discussion.

The committee has seven Democrats and seven Republicans — meaning that one Democratic defection could block the regulations that were being pushed by Lamont and the state’s environmental protection department.

State Representative Patrick Callahan, the ranking Republican on the environment committee, said the legislature needs to be cautious before making projections for 2035.

“We’ve heard from many Connecticut residents who are concerned about this revolutionary move in just 11 years,” Callahan said. “Phasing in new technology should be evolutionary, while also giving people the freedom of choice. I share the concerns of my constituents, including electric grid capacity, insufficient charging infrastructure, the environmental damage from mining the finite resources to make EV batteries, and what to do with batteries at the end of their life, among others. Now that Connecticut is pumping the brakes on these regulations, I urge my colleagues to think about the unintended consequences on residents that would happen by pursuing these emissions standards, at this aggressive timeline, which would only add to the burden on taxpayers.”

Callahan added, “The plan that’s now been pulled was like a reverse Robin Hood situation, because we have to subsidize these vehicles and subsidize the grid, leaving the middle class and lower class to bear the brunt of the cost. We do expect this to come back to the full legislature in some form next year, and I will be happy to continue the fight against these intrusive government mandates.”

Christopher Keating can be reached at ckeating@courant.com