Connecticut

An Environmental Rights Amendment is an amendment to a state constitution guaranteeing the citizens of that state a right to a clean and healthy environment. The right to a clean and healthy environment can help to address climate change and provide a key tool to regulate greenhouse gases and achieve environmental justice goals.

Environmental justice (EJ) community investment requirements help ensure communities most impacted by environmental burdens are benefitting equitably from public programs by requiring a certain percentage of funds and/or benefits from other policies are allocated to EJ communities.

Just transition offices and staff assist workers and communities transitioning away from fossil fuel extraction and use, typically through retraining programs and support with relocation and economic diversification. Offices and staff also coordinate with other state agencies to effectively design policy to achieve a just transition.

Just transition funds support initiatives and investments aimed at facilitating the equitable transition of workers and communities affected by shifts in industries or policies that transition from fossil fuels.

State divestment means ending new investment in the fossil fuel industry and phasing out existing fossil fuel investments in public funds, such as state pensions, over time. States can also set greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets for their investment portfolios.

Community choice aggregation allows local governments to procure power on behalf of their residents, businesses, and municipal accounts from an alternative supplier while still receiving transmission and distribution service from their existing utility provider.

Coal securitization is a financing tool that allows utility companies to refinance debt they issued to build coal plants and close the facilities early without taking a financial hit or passing costs on to ratepayers.

Stretch building energy codes are an optional, more stringent building code established by the state that local jurisdictions can adopt to require that newly constructed buildings are more efficient than the baseline state codes.

Building performance standards establish energy and/or greenhouse gas performance targets for existing buildings in a state. These targets increase in stringency over time, leading to efficiency improvements in buildings to conserve energy and reduce emissions.

Clean heat standards establish a performance standard requiring heat providers to deliver a gradually-increasing percentage of low-emission heating services to customers.

All-electric buildings policies require new buildings to be constructed with all-electric heating, cooling, and cooking systems to transition away from fossil-fuel use in buildings.

Low NOx Omnibus Rules establish stringent tailpipe emission standards for heavy duty vehicles, updated testing procedures, and technology-neutral compliance mechanisms to reduce nitrous oxide (NOx) pollution. The regulation must be adopted first by California, and other states may adopt the regulation under the federal Clean Air Act.

Medium- and heavy-duty (MHD) electric vehicle rebates consist of programs and policies that offer rebates to make MHD electric vehicles more affordable to increase their adoption in a state.

Electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure requirements establish mandates for the installation of EV charging infrastructure in new construction or developments, such as residential or commercial buildings, and public parking lots.

A low carbon fuel standard (LCFS) is a market-based mechanism to reduce the carbon intensity of transportation fuels and account for the fuel's life cycle greenhouse gas emissions.

Buy clean requirements mandate or incentivize the use of low-carbon construction materials, such as concrete and steel, in public projects to address embodied carbon.

Hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) regulations include phasedown commitments, rulemakings, disclosure requirements, bans, or other measures that reduce HFC usage and emissions.

Sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) regulations include phasedown commitments, reporting requirements, bans, or other measures that reduce SF6 usage and emissions.

Oil and gas methane regulations include phasedown commitments, reporting requirements, leak detection and repair, or other measures that reduce methane emissions from oil and gas production.

Fracking bans prohibit the practice of hydraulic fracking for the production of oil and/or natural gas by a certain year. Legislation often requires an environmental agency or department to promulgate regulations.

Landfill methane regulations include rulemakings, emissions monitoring, emissions control, or other measures that reduce methane emissions from decaying organic waste in landfills.