Transmittal Letter to Governor Ned Lamont
Summary Introduction The Climate Challenge
April 28, 2026
The Honorable Ned Lamont
Governor, State of Connecticut
State Capitol
210 Capitol Avenue
Hartford, CT 06106
Governor Lamont:
As we have for the fifty-four years since Earth Day, the Council on Environmental Quality (Council) has assessed the status of Connecticut’s environment and presents the most recent report, Environmental Quality in Connecticut for 2025, to you as authorized by Connecticut General Statutes Section 22a-12.
This report uses over forty indicators of environmental health and human activity to illustrate environmental trends, both positive and negative, primarily for the 2025 calendar year. As required by Connecticut General Statutes Sec. 22a-12 (a)(5), the Council has also included recommendations for “remedying the deficiencies of existing programs and activities, together with recommendations for legislation.” The Council’s annual report indicates both improvement in some areas of environmental quality and regression in others.
The Council’s annual report notes that greenhouse gas emissions from in-state sources, such as the electric power sector and the transportation sector, continue to be a significant concern. Many of the indicators in this report such as temperature, precipitation, heating/cooling degree days, water level and water temperature of Long Island Sound show that Connecticut’s climate is getting warmer and wetter, and that these changes are having direct impacts on Connecticut’s environment. Consequently, the Council encourages expansion of programs and policies to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and address climate resiliency and adaptation.
The Council is concerned about the potential adverse environmental impacts associated with the recent Federal rollback of significant air and water pollution regulations, favorable treatment given to carbon energy sources, and the elimination of incentives for solar, wind, electric vehicles and other clean energy technologies.
Though this report can be printed, it is designed to be read as an accessible online document on the Council’s website. Online, the values on the 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 decade.
It remains my personal privilege to serve the people of the State in this capacity, and I look forward to any input or suggestions which you may have to inform the Council’s work, which now, more than ever, is vitally important.
Respectfully submitted,
Timothy J. Bishop,
Acting Chair