CT Gov. Signs Climate Change Bill On Jacobs Beach In Guilford

GUILFORD, CT — Tuesday, Gov. Ned Lamont went to the beach to sign legislation he championed that increases the ability of Connecticut cities and towns to transition from "planning climate change adaptation and resilience projects to implementing them," in particular, in communities that are most susceptible to rising sea levels, frequent flooding, and drought.

Like Guilford.

Lamont signed the Act Concerning Climate Change Adaptation at Jacobs Beach.

"With Jacobs Beach as the backdrop," the Town's Facebook page reads, "Governor Lamont signed the Climate Change Bill today."

"These are men made events that are happening. It’s accelerating every day, getting worse. Look what’s going on, you go from Sandy to Irene. Remember Isaias just last year," Lamont said. "It’s extraordinary the risk we have in a lot of our ...certainly in our waterfront communities and more more broadly than that."

State Sen. Christine Cohen said the act "will allow towns to create stormwater authorities which will encourage cleaner, less polluted waterways and also provide a much needed funding mechanism for resiliency planning and infrastructure."

In a social media post, she noted that the act "also expands the scope of the CT Green Bank by creating a dedicated funding source, the Environmental Infrastructure Fund, to be used as we shore up coastal and inland areas and plan for sea-level rise, storm surges and the like."

"This bill provides another tool in the toolbox for our towns and cities as we deal with the inevitable ramifications of climate change," she noted. "We are taking great strides and I look forward to continued progress of not just protecting ourselves from that which is bound to happen, but mitigating further impact."

"We’re seeing extreme weather more and more. We know it’s man made and we know the herculean effort it will take to adapt to it," he said. "By signing this bill today, we’re making an enormous investment in our resiliency, protecting ourselves, our children, and our children’s children."

Read the full Act Concerning Climate Change Adaptation here:

Governor's Bill No. 644... by Ellyn Santiago

>

>