Who’s Influencing Connecticut Climate and Clean Energy Politics? Five Questions

The report finds overwhelming public and organizational support for priority climate legislation in Connecticut, yet a significant gap exists between this support and legislative outcomes. While 91.7% of testimony positions supported priority bills, most legislation died in committee. The study highlights a stark imbalance in lobbying resources, with electric and gas utilities spending over $24 million—far exceeding the spending of environmental groups and renewable energy firms. Opposition to climate action has shifted from denying climate science to employing 'climate delay' discourses, such as arguing that Connecticut is too small to matter or that policies would disproportionately harm low-income residents.

• There is overwhelming support for priority climate and clean energy legislation in written testimony, with 91.7% of positions taken between 2013 and 2020 supporting such bills.
• Individuals speaking on their own behalf represent the largest group of testifiers, and the vast majority of their positions (97.5%) support priority climate legislation.
• Lobbying expenditures are highly unequal, with electric and gas utilities spending over $24 million over eight years, which is four times the spending of renewable energy firms and over eight times that of environmental organizations.
• Opposition to priority climate legislation is concentrated among specific sectors, including electric and gas utilities, heating oil and alternative fuels, business associations, the auto industry, fossil fuels, and real estate.
• Most climate and clean energy legislation fails early in the process; of 354 bills introduced between 2013 and 2020, only 78 left committee and 56 became law, representing a 16 percent survival rate.
• Opposition to climate action in Connecticut has shifted away from disputing climate science toward using 'climate delay' discourses to stop or postpone individual bills.
• Opponents of climate legislation frequently use nine specific discourses, including arguing that natural gas is essential for the economy, that policies hurt low-income residents, that carbon pricing is just another tax, and that Connecticut is too small to impact global trends.
• Carbon pricing was identified as the most contested issue in the study, exemplified by 2018 HB-5363, which received 197 positions in support and 97 in opposition.
• While solar legislation saw strong support from advocates, it faced significant opposition from the utility industry, particularly regarding net metering and shared clean energy programs.

APA

Culhane, T., Hall, G., & Roberts, J. T. (2021). Who’s Influencing Connecticut Climate and Clean Energy Politics? Five Questions. Climate Social Science Network. https://cssn.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/CT-CSSN-Research-Report.pdf

Chicago

Culhane, Trevor, Galen Hall, and J. Timmons Roberts. Who’s Influencing Connecticut Climate and Clean Energy Politics? Five Questions. Climate Social Science Network, 2021. https://cssn.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/CT-CSSN-Research-Report.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Culhane |first1=Trevor |last2=Hall |first2=Galen |last3=Roberts |first3=J. Timmons |title=Who’s Influencing Connecticut Climate and Clean Energy Politics? Five Questions |publisher=Climate Social Science Network |date=December 2021 |url=https://cssn.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/CT-CSSN-Research-Report.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{culhane2021whos, author = {Culhane, Trevor and Hall, Galen and Roberts, J. Timmons}, title = {{Who’s Influencing Connecticut Climate and Clean Energy Politics? Five Questions}}, institution = {Climate Social Science Network}, year = {2021}, month = dec, url = {https://cssn.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/CT-CSSN-Research-Report.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }