Transmittal Letter to Governor Ned Lamont

Introduction                A Global Pandemic               Summary            The Climate Challenge

April 20, 2021

The Honorable Ned Lamont
Governor of Connecticut
State Capitol
Hartford, CT 06106

Governor Lamont:

The Council is pleased to submit Environmental Quality in Connecticut for 2020, as authorized by Connecticut General Statutes (CGS), Section 22a-12. This is the Council’s forty-ninth Annual Report to the Governor. The report uses over fifty indicators of environmental health to illustrate environmental trends, both positive and negative, for the 2020 calendar year. In 2020, the Covid-19 virus appears to have had an impact on patterns of energy consumption and transportation. Additionally, Covid-19 restrictions limited the capacity of the State to conduct some of its normal monitoring and compliance activities.

Though this report can be printed, it is designed to be read as an online document on the Council’s website. Online, the values on its charts will appear under the reader’s cursor and the reader can access the many supplemental documents which are hyperlinked within it. “Quick Summary” boxes above most of the charts show the data trends for the past year and past decade. This year, a page was added at the beginning of the report that lists the best performing indicators and those most in need of improvement to meet the State’s established environmental goals.

In sending this report, the Council wishes, also, to acknowledge your efforts through the Governor’s Council on Climate Change and the Transportation Climate Initiative to address the State’s serious climate challenge.

As always, the Council looks forward to providing you with any additional information you might request.

Respectfully submitted,

Keith Ainsworth, Esq.

Acting Chair