Issue Position: Energy and the Environment

Issue Position

Rosa believes that an environmentally sound economy can also be a robust economy. That is why she is committed to increasing access to alternative energy sources and more efficient cars and to increasing opportunities for green job creation within the state of Connecticut. In addition, Rosa believes that as stewards of this country for our children and grandchildren, we have an obligation to protect our valuable natural resources.

Lowering Energy Costs
Rosa recognizes that we need a new energy policy to reduce our dependence on foreign oil and lower energy costs for Connecticut families. She has called for a rapid move toward investment in biofuels and new technologies that harness clean energy sources such as wind and solar power. In the short term, Rosa supports addressing escalating energy costs by cracking down on price gouging and manipulation of the energy futures market, and by releasing oil from reserves and drilling on previously designated land.

Through her work on the Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee, Rosa has helped to boost homegrown biofuel production and has helped to bring increased oversight to our energy and agriculture futures markets to prevent the speculation and manipulation that drives up prices.

Rosa's work on the appropriations committee has also helped to double the funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), which helps many of Connecticut's most vulnerable families to keep the heat on in the winter and provide cooling during the hottest summer months. Rosa is proud that, because of this program, thousands of Connecticut families will not have to make the impossible choice between food and heat each winter.

Green Jobs
A cleaner, smarter energy policy will both lower costs and create hundreds of thousands of new jobs. Research shows that investment in renewable energy creates up to five times as many jobs as the same investment in fossil-fuels. Rosa has worked to increase opportunities for green job creation within the state of Connecticut so that Connecticut workers can be on the forefront of this sector of the economy.

Protecting Connecticut's Natural Resources
Rosa believes that we must treasure and protect our local national resources. She has been a leader in strengthening important environmental laws -- particularly those that protect our waterways. She was an original co-sponsor of multiple critical pieces of legislation to prevent water pollution.

Rosa helped to secure the Long Island Sound's designation as an Estuary of National Significance, a designation which recognizes the environmental and economic importance of the Sound. She was also instrumental in preventing the construction of a Broadwater Liquefied Natural Gas facility in the Sound. This development would have exploited a valuable natural resource and threatened billions of dollars of commerce and tourism that directly benefit the Connecticut economy and make use of Long Island Sound in environmentally sustainable ways.

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