HARTFORD, Conn. — The latest Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory released this week by the state’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection revealed that emissions increased in 2022 for a second consecutive year.
“It is disturbing that Connecticut is not on track to reach our greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals, largely because we have not taken the steps to reduce transportation related emissions,” Dr. Mark Mitchell, co-chair of the state’s Equity and Environmental Justice Advisory Council, said in a release from DEEP on Thursday.
The GHG Emissions Inventory is the “most comprehensive accounting of the state’s air pollution that contributes to climate change,” according to the release.
DEEP noted that Connecticut has progressed since 1990, but more work must be completed to reach pollution reduction goals set by the legislature. Connecticut met its 2020 emissions goal set by state stature, but an accelerated pace of reductions is necessary to reach statutory medium and long-term goals.
The top three emitting sectors in 2022 were responsible for over three-quarters of the state’s total emissions, DEEP said, noting that transportation amounted for 42%, residential heating with fossil fuels made up 21% and commercial building heating with fossil fuels consisted of 13%.
In 2020, the state met an emission-reduction goal set by the 2008 Global Warming Solutions Act, according to DEEP, but reaching the next goal – a 45% reduction in GHG emissions from 2001 levels by 2030 – will take an average reduction of greenhouse gases equivalent to 1.1 million metric tons of carbon dioxide each year between 2022 and 2030.
The DEEP release said that Connecticut has not yet achieved this rate, a goal the legislature set to curb climate change, improve the health of state residents, create opportunities for state businesses, and reduce energy costs for all state residents.
DEEP Commissioner Katie Dykes said that as the state celebrates Earth Week, the department is continuing to do its part to reduce the global threat posed by climate change for the benefit of all of Connecticut and the entire planet.
“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,” Dykes said, in the release.
Dykes said that the transportation sector continues to be the state’s largest source of emissions, while emissions from residential and commercial buildings are 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,” Dykes said.
Connecticut Department of Public Health Commissioner Manisha Juthani, MD, is quoted in the release as saying the Greenhouse Gas Inventory reinforces that residents will continue to experience severe health impacts of human-caused climate change.
“Increased emissions can result in drastic shifts in precipitation patterns, more frost-free days, and more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere,” Juthani said, in the release. “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.”
Juthani noted that other dangers from climate change include the worldwide increase of waterborne illnesses, other infectious diseases, and threats to mental health.
Mitchell said the emissions are significant causes of air pollution-related conditions including asthma, premature birth, autism, ADHD, and Alzheimer’s Disease.
“This disproportionately affects low-wealth communities, such as Hartford, where I live, and also disproportionately affects people of color of all income levels, due to historical and systemic racialized policies, such as the location of highways and other sources of pollution,” Mitchell said, adding that he must advocate for the health of all these populations, “which requires rapid phasing in of zero emissions cars, trucks and buses.”
The report concludes by assessing progress toward emissions reduction in each section, including a review of policies and programs designed curb greenhouse gas emissions and impacts.
The release also notes that in 2021, the state’s GHG emissions were 34.7 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (a measure of all greenhouse gases, relative to CO2), up 6% from 2020. DEEP estimates that emissions will increase to 35 metric tons in 2022. The number is 28% below 2001 levels and was driven largely by reductions in the electric power sector since 2010.
DEEP also said that declines in GHG emissions in 2020 and 2021 were most likely caused by the economic downturn associated with the COVID-19 pandemic and that it was probable that emissions would rebound as the economy recovered.
“Hence, the 7% increase in emissions since 2020… is an expected outcome and underscores the need to intensify efforts to reduce emissions,” the DEEP release said.
The news isn’t all bad. The federal Environmental Protection Agency just awarded Connecticut $62 million to expand residential solar power in underserved communities.
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Dalton Zbierski is a digital content producer and writer at FOX61 News. He can be reached at dzbierski@FOX61.com.
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