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2022 LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES
Each year Sunrise CT sets legislative priorities that we fight for during the CT legislative session. This year our members used ranked choice voting to select three legislative priorities to fight for during the 2022 legislative session.
CLIMATE EDUCATION
Every child deserves to learn about climate change, and what is happening to their future. This is especially important since young people will bear a disproportionate burden of the worst effects of the climate crisis. However, climate education is not currently required to be taught in CT public schools, which means that some students learn about it and some do not. As such, we are fighting for HB 5285, a climate education bill which would require climate education to be taught in every public school in CT.
Climate Education was passed during session and signed into law. Connecticut is just the second state in the nation to pass a bill requiring climate education to be taught in all K-12 schools, so this is a big win and a huge step in the direction of climate action and justice!
EXTENDED PRODUCER RESPONSIBILITY
Right now, municipalities are forced to foot the bill for expensive recycling operations, leading to less sustainable disposal in communities without the necessary resources. Meanwhile, manufacturers are allowed to continue pumping toxic, harmful waste into our state that most often ends up getting dumped or incinerated in frontline, low-income, and BIPOC communities. Effective EPR holds producers responsible for the entire life cycle of their products, from cradle to grave, by requiring that they pay fees adjusted to the recycled content, safety, and sustainable design of their products. Connecticut has already successfully implemented forms of EPR for paint, mattresses, electronic waste, and more - it’s time that we expand this model to include wasteful consumer packaging, gas cylinders, and other hard-to-recycle consumer goods across Connecticut.
House Bill 5142 was an EPR bill passed this session. This bill requires a stewardship program for the recycling of common gas cylinders.
FOSSIL FUEL MORATORIUM
To stop the climate crisis we must first stop putting more greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere. A fossil fuel moratorium would simply not allow CT to construct any new fossil fuel power plants, ensuring that we instead transition to renewable energy.
Unfortunately, there was no movement on this bill during session. Hopefully we will see more action in future legislative sessions.
