Connecticut legislators are at odds over how to handle the push toward electric vehicles.
WSHU’s Sabrina Garone, host of After All Things, sat down with reporter Molly Ingram to talk about Connecticut’s long history with EVs.
SG: Electric vehicles, or a potential mandate on electric vehicles, is a hot topic in Connecticut right now. What kind of history does the state have with EVs?
MI: So this started 20 years ago. The Connecticut legislature in 2004 voted to adopt California’s Standards for Clean Air, which means whatever California does to curb greenhouse gas emissions, Connecticut has to do it too. And in August 2022, the California Air Resources Board, which sets those standards, voted to phase out the sale of gas-powered vehicles by 2035. And since Connecticut had agreed to follow those California Air standards, the state was, you could say, on the hook to do the same thing.
But first, those standards had to pass the state's regulatory review committee. That's a group of 14 legislators, six senators, eight representatives, equal number of Republicans and Democrats. So fast forward to last fall, the vote was scheduled in that committee in November, and it was up in the air. All the Republicans were a hard no, and Democrats were back and forth. And remember, since there are equal members of both parties, one no vote from a Democrat would kill it. The night before it was scheduled, the governor pulled the vote and kicked it to the legislature for this session.
SG: So then what's going on related to that right now?
MI: This session's EV conversation has centered around House Bill 5485. The bill would create an Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Coordinating Council. That would be a working council to look at what the state needs to do to promote electric vehicle sales. So they would look at how to install a bunch of charging stations, where those charging stations should be, how to fortify the electric grid and all of the things that would need to be done before the state could move to be mainly electric vehicle sales. And the bill passed the Transportation Committee on Wednesday, and it's headed to the House for a vote.
The bill has not been received well by Republicans. They say it's too close to the California standards that failed to pass a few months ago. And they don't support it for two main reasons. One, they don't want the government telling people what kind of cars to buy. And two, they don't think the state has the right infrastructure to be able to handle a fully electric fleet. So Democrats, many of whom support the California standards, say that a bill like this is the first step in ensuring the state can handle an electric vehicle fleet. They say no language in the bill would amount to a ban on gas-powered vehicles and, therefore, that it shouldn't be a problem for Republicans.
SG: Governor Ned Lamont has his own pretty strong opinions on this. Could you tell us more about where he stands on the issue?
MI: Yeah, so Lamont has been very supportive of adopting the California standards. When the review committee was getting ready for a vote in November, and it was clear that Republicans were not in support, he repeatedly said he didn't understand why they were going back on previous commitments they had made to clean air. But on Wednesday, he said the state would probably end up with the federal regulations for clean air instead of the California regulations. States have no choice but to abide by the federal standards. The California standards are just a step further.
SG: What happens next?
MI: The bill to create the Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Coordinating Council goes to the House floor for debate. I expect it'll be a very lively debate. There will be lots of passionate conversation. The session ends at the beginning of May. We're about six weeks out, so whichever way it goes, we'll have an answer soon.
