News
Attorney General, at Regional Energy Summit, proposes CT-NY commission on environment and energy
By Attorney General's office
Jul 24, 2008 - 12:33:57 PM

Attorney General Richard Blumenthal -- attending a “Regional Energy Summit” on Long Island -- announced a landmark proposal to create a Connecticut-New York commission to establish a consensus on environmental and energy needs.

After the successful defeat of Broadwater, Blumenthal said, Connecticut and New York should now take a joint and intelligent approach to environmental and energy planning and develop a regional strategy.

“The states of the Northeast, and particularly Connecticut and New York, share many important resources, and face many critical challenges,” Blumenthal said. “Long Island Sound is one of the most precious from every standpoint -- environmental, aesthetic, and economic. It joins our two states irrevocably, provides billions of dollars in economic and other benefits, and must continue to be the focus of a shared commitment to its protection.

“I propose that Connecticut and New York establish a joint commission consisting of citizens and government officials, representing a broad range of important interests, including businesses, ordinary citizens, environmental groups, commercial and recreational users of the Sound, utility regulators, and consumer advocates. Joining together both sides of the Sound, this commission can work to develop a regional consensus about environmental protection, energy needs, and ways and means to meet all concerns.”

Blumenthal said the proposed commission should consider:

* designating areas of Long Island Sound that must be protected from all development -- perhaps through a new federal or multi-state marine park.

* reviewing ways in which our states can work jointly to support new renewable sources of energy.

* additional new ways to encourage energy efficiency and conservation to reduce oil reliance.

* jointly supporting liquefied gas facilities -- alternatives to Broadwater off the New York or New Jersey coasts -- that help meet the energy needs of our region with this relatively clean energy source.

Blumenthal said this proposal would not replace current state and federal licensing and environmental authorities, but could provide a sound basis for shared long term planning for both states’ mutual needs.

“Unfortunately, one of the sources of our current problems has been the blind loyalty of the Bush Administration and its Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to Big Energy, rather than to citizens or the environment. FERC’s lawless and senseless policy of approving each and every project presented to it, in the order they appear, rather than putting all legitimate possibilities on the table and selecting only the best and safest has assured a path littered with contention and litigation.

“Recently Gov. Paterson has taken an important step toward interstate cooperation by decisively rejecting the proposed Broadwater monstrosity, a project that would have blighted the Sound environmentally and aesthetically, creating a clear and present security danger, as well as a navigation nightmare -- all while making large swaths of the Sound permanently out of bounds to the citizens who own it. Broadwater is effectively and deservedly dead.

“Similarly, we have reached a point that realistically requires the Islander East Pipeline -- also deservedly dead -- to be unequivocally forgotten. It posed an utterly unacceptable threat to important environmental resources, including critical marine life and the pristine Thimble Islands area.

“In fact, the Islander East proposal provides an excellent example of what has been wrong about our energy policies and practices in the recent past. Years ago, when Islander East first informally presented its proposal to my office, I told them, and I have repeated many times since, that the proposed route was environmentally intolerable, but that a different route was far preferable and even potentially acceptable. Yet, both Islander East and FERC plowed ahead, only to be stopped by my office and the federal courts.

“In addition, future projects must ensure that the burdens and benefits are shared fairly on both sides of the Sound. Several years ago, when Cross Sound Cable was first proposed, the cable company claimed that power would flow both ways and benefit both New York and Connecticut. In fact, virtually all of the power has always flowed to Long Island from Connecticut, decreasing costs to Long Island consumers and increasing costs for Connecticut. In the future, a joint commission must ensure that benefits and burdens are fair to all.

“I welcome the opportunity to work together toward the critical goals of preserving and protecting Long Island Sound while ensuring that our lights stay bright and our homes stay warm.”

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