Transmittal Letter to Governor Ned Lamont

Introduction                50 Years           The Climate Challenge

April 20, 2022

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 2021, as authorized by Connecticut General Statutes (CGS), Section 22a-12. The Council was established on June 25, 1971 by Public Act 872 making 2021 the Council’s 50th year. This report uses over fifty indicators of environmental health and human activity to illustrate environmental trends, both positive and negative, for the 2021 calendar year. In 2021, the Covid-19 virus continued to have had an impact on certain indicators, skewing the data trends for some of the indicators, such as patterns of energy consumption and transportation.

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.

In sending this report, the Council wishes, also, to acknowledge your efforts through the Governor’s Council on Climate Change and Executive Order 21-3 to address the State’s serious climate challenge. Indeed, decarbonization of electric grid, increased use of renewable resources for heating and cooling and the expanded use of electric drive vehicles is critical to reducing greenhouse gases generated by the combustion of fossil fuels.

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

Respectfully submitted,


Keith Ainsworth, Esq.
Acting Chair