Fifty Shades of Climate Denial
Across New England, candidates for governor struggle with reality
Across all six New England states, races for governor are reaching their final stages of pageantry and political pandering, with major real-world implications on climate and environmental justice. Governors oversee state regulatory bodies relevant to climate, environment, transportation, and energy policy, and have veto power (along with a great deal of influence) in state legislatures.
But despite this great responsibility, many of the candidates currently running for these positions have difficulty understanding a basic fact that scientists have known for decades — that carbon emissions generated by burning fossil fuels are leading to runaway warming of the earth’s atmosphere.
Beginning in the mid-20th century, fossil fuel companies have been well aware of the affects their products have on the planet’s climate. But instead of working to eliminate or alleviate these emissions, they have embarked upon a decades-long campaign of denial and delay that continues to this day.
I’d like to take this newsletter to look at the climate platforms and statements of the candidates across the region. Despite overwhelming evidence of a climate crisis, many shades of climate denial continue to color New England politics, fueled by fossil fuel industry propaganda. While meaningful climate policy debates are scarce in these elections, hot takes about our heating planet are easy to find.
Connecticut
Hold onto your hats, the governor’s race in Connecticut features an age-old classic: wealthy white guy Democrat from Greenwich against wealthy white guy Republican from North Haven.
Ned Lamont, the incumbent Democrat, has taken some steps to transition the state away from fossil fuels, including committing the state to a carbon-free electrical grid by 2040, signing the Connecticut Clean Air Act, and creating the state’s Equity and Environmental Justice Advisory Council. Nonetheless, Connecticut has been falling behind on its emissions reduction commitments, and dangerous levels of air pollution still persist throughout parts of the state, disproportionately affecting Black and Hispanic residents.
Bob Stefanowski, Lamont’s opponent in the race, is Connecticut’s answer to Charlie Baker. Stefanowski has not made climate, pollution, or clean energy particular focuses of his campaign, through his major scandal to date involves his lucrative work as a consultant for the green hydrogen project of a Saudi Arabian company overseen by dictator Mohammed bin Salman.
On the campaign trail, Stefanowski has voiced his support for alternative energy — green hydrogen in particular — but has opposed allocating major resources to boosting renewable technologies.
In a recent interview with The Day, Stefanowski tiptoed lightly when expanding upon his thoughts about climate change.
“Global warming is a problem,” he said. “I know a lot of Republicans say it’s made up; it’s not made up. There’s something going on. I don’t know exactly what it is, but we need to address it, but we need to do it in a balanced manner.”
Maine
Recently returned from Florida, former Gov. Paul LePage has entrenched himself as a foe of clean energy. While current Gov. Janet Mills has overseen an explosion of Maine solar power and the divestment of state’s employee pension from fossil fuels, LePage imposed a moratorium on wind projects, vetoed bills supporting solar net metering, and supported increasing domestic offshore drilling. As governor, LePage even installed a fossil fuel lobbyist as the head of the state’s Department of Environmental Protection.
While Mills did anger environmental and ratepayer advocates by vetoing a bipartisan bill that would have brought a ballot question to voters about a consumer takeover of the state’s investor-owned electric utilities, LePage has worked as a lobbyist for one of these same for-profit utility companies.
Ultimately, LePage seems to see climate change as nothing but a boon for Maine’s economy, saying in 2013 "everybody looks at the negative part of global warming, but with the ice melting, the northern pass has opened up. The new sea traffic is going across the north, and so rather than Maine being at the end of the pipeline, we're at the beginning of the new pipeline."
Massachusetts
In Massachusetts, Geoff Diehl (R) has criticized his opponent, Attorney General Maura Healey, for blocking methane pipelines in the state and for proposing climate and clean energy goals that he calls too ambitious.
As Attorney General, Healey sued Exxon Mobil for deceiving the public on the climate impacts of fossil fuels and pushed for increased scrutiny of pipeline projects. At the same time, her office ruled that municipalities could not ban fossil fuels in new buildings without approval from the state, and her campaign has taken in thousands from utility executives.
When I interviewed Diehl this spring, he told me that he believes in climate change, but would also like to pump the brakes on any rapid transition off of fossil fuels.
“I think it’d be great to find that happy medium of all energy sources and make sure that we have the healthiest environment around,” Diehl said.
New Hampshire
For New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, heir of the Sununu political dynasty, climate opposition runs in the family. His father, John H. Sununu, was a key political actor in killing international climate commitments in 1989, working as chief of staff for President George H.W. Bush.
Sununu’s brother Michael, a consultant for the utility and energy industry, has been far less measured in his questioning of climate science, and has expressed his belief that “Mother Nature is still driving climate change.”
Chris Sununu has also previously questioned the scientific consensus around human driven climate change. In a 2016 debate, Sununu stated “is it [climate change] man-made or not? Look, one thing I do know: Nobody knows for sure.”
As Governor, Sununu has continued to promote the interests of the fossil fuel industry. New Hampshire is the only New England state not to set binding emissions targets, and consistently lags behind the rest of the region on climate policy. A very brief look through Sununu’s recent campaign filings shows $4,500 in campaign contributions from gas giant Eversource.
In a recent debate with his Democratic opponent Tom Sherman, Sununu called for piping in more methane to the region, while Sherman called the state to reduce caps on solar and renewable energy net metering.
Rhode Island
In Rhode Island, Republican Ashley Kalus faces off with Democratic incumbent Dan McKee. Kalus’ public statements around climate action have been vague.
“I think we can all agree that it’s our obligation to protect the future of this state and the word,” she said at a forum earlier this year. “And how we get there is very important, because if we don’t take the correct steps in the correct order, and we don’t have a plan that can actually be executed, we’re not going to get anywhere.”
For specifics, she has voiced her opposition to the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and eliminating bus fares. Kalus has spoken in favor of investing in grid infrastructure and energy storage to support electrification, and made her opposition to the state’s recent electrical rate hike a main pillar of her campaign.
Vermont
While Vermont’s Republican Governor Phil Scott has backed off of previous statements questioning the human-driven nature of climate change, Scott has consistently opposed climate legislation.
He vetoed the comprehensive Global Warming Solutions Act in 2020 and has pursued a moratorium on wind energy in the state. This spring, he vetoed a bill creating a clean heating standard. State legislators fell short by just a single vote to override the veto.
In a recent Vermont Public debate, Scott focused on electric vehicle incentives and weatherization of homes as the state’s key avenues of decarbonization. Brenda Siegel, his Democratic opponent, highlighted public transportation, carbon sequestration on farms, increased incentives for heat pumps and solar energy for low-income families, and reforms to the state’s Public Utilities Commission.
Climate News Roundup
Connecticut
The NOAA has given $75,000 for a pilot project engaging communities on climate preparation in Bridgeport, New Haven, New London, and Norwich (NOAA)
Maine
Maine’s populations of softshell clams — the second most valuable fishery in the state — are in a steep decline, driven by the climate-fueled proliferation of invasive predators (Kate Olson — The Guadian)
Massachusetts
An in-depth look at the potential and justification for a transmission network connecting offshore wind projects along the Atlantic Coast (Miriam Wasser — WBUR)
The Department of Public Utilities has taken up to two and a half years to review municipal aggregation plans, which allow communities to choose their own supplier and can have significant rate and climate benefits (Sabrina Shankman — The Boston Globe)
New Hampshire
The Sierra Club and the Conservation Law Foundation have sued New England’s last remaining coal plant over violations of the Clean Water Act (Mara Hoplamazian — NHPR)
Climate change and extreme weather pose yet another threat to native bees (Jennie Durant — New Hampshire Bulletin)
Rhode Island
Rhode Island has named its e-bike rebate program after the late journalist and environmental advocate Erika Niedowski (Alex Kuffner — The Providence Journal)
Vermont
Watch out leaf peepers, climate change threatens the vibrancy of Vermont’s fall foliage (April Fisher — Burlington Free Press)
Across the region
A new report from the NRDC found that increasing transmission networks between regions could help prevent blackouts and reduce electricity costs (Ethan Howland — Utility Dive)