Governor’s Executive Order #3: “We strongly believe that bold action is required to address the growing threat to our wildlife and habitats from the effects of climate change”

Connecticut Audubon Society’s letter supporting the development of a climate adaptation strategy in the state clearly lays out the threats that climate change poses to the state’s wildlife, and the importance of land protection in the climate change fight.

November 8th, 2019

Commissioner Katie Dykes
Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection 
79 Elm Street 
Hartford, CT 06106-5127

Dear Commissioner Dykes: 

The Connecticut Audubon Society protects Connecticut’s environment by inspiring conservation action. We connect people to birds, other wildlife and their habitats through facilitating research, education, habitat improvement and environmental advocacy. We commend Governor Lamont on the signing of Executive Order #3 to expand the scope of the Governor’s Council on Climate Change, particularly with regard to the development of a climate adaptation strategy that assesses and prepares Connecticut for the impacts of climate change. We strongly believe that bold action is required to address the growing threat to our wildlife and habitats from the effects of climate change. 

We are heartened to see that the Connecticut State Wildlife Action Plan (SWAP) is referenced in this document. This important plan provides a road map to keeping Connecticut’s common wildlife species common and attempting to reverse ongoing declines of threatened wildlife species. A key strategy for wildlife conservation in the face of climate change is to ensure that habitats and wildlife populations remain as robust as possible in order to offer more resilience to the disruptive effects of a changing climate. This requires active management of both wildlife species and the habitats they require. As such, we hope that the members of the council, subcommittees and working groups and the State of Connecticut will join with us in doing everything possible, including working with other states, to ensure the passage of the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act in Congress. This ground-breaking legislation would greatly increase federal funding to implement the SWAP and would result in an increase of federal funding for wildlife conservation in Connecticut by more than $12M annually. This funding will be essential to implement our SWAP and ensure that wildlife and habitats are as robust as possible in the face of climate change. Similarly, we commend the reference to the Connecticut Forest Action Plan, which is currently in the process of being revised and will provide an important blue print for the continued health of our state’s forests. 

Open space protection is another essential tool in both mitigating and adapting to the effects of climate change. As such it is critical that we continue and accelerate our progress toward the goals outlined in Connecticut’s Green Plan. Undeveloped open space and farmland provide important carbon sinks and the protection of large blocks of habitat provides for more resilience for those habitats and the wildlife that depend upon them. Continued development of natural spaces not only fragments the habitat landscape but also converts carbon sinks in to carbon sources, as new structures are built and more transportation and energy transmission infrastructure is required to support the additional development. It is critical that Connecticut accelerates our efforts to protect open space and to achieve the goals set forth in the Green Plan. 

The ecological effects of rising sea levels are among the most urgent threats we face from climate change. Our coastal and riverine habitats allowing for landward migration of critical marshes and beaches must be prioritized in these efforts, as such habitats are essential to the health of Long Island Sound, our rivers and the economy of coastal Connecticut. For them rising sea levels and storm surge are among the most critical and urgent threats we face from climate change. 

Additionally, like the above mentioned Recovering America’s Wildlife Act, the Land and Water Conservation Fund Permanent Funding Act, currently in Congress, will be an essential tool in helping us to achieve our open space goals and we hope the State and members of the Council and working groups will join us in supporting its passage. 

We also hope that strong environmental reviews and protections will remain for the development of renewable energy production capacity. While we understand the need to transition from carbon-based energy to a renewable portfolio, such projects are commercial ventures and the same environmental protections should apply to their siting and development as would proposals for other energy production facilities. Proper siting of such facilities and their associated maintenance and transmission infrastructure is essential to ensure that these projects do not cause more harm than good to our critical habitats and the wildlife the depend upon them. 

Lastly, but not insignificantly, we also strongly feel that public education on the effects of climate change is essential. A citizenry, including school children, educated about the threats we face from climate change is critical in the development of societal will to make the difficult but necessary decisions required to mitigate against and adapt to the effects of climate change on our landscape. As such, we ask for your continued support of a climate change education requirement for all public schoolchildren in our state. While recent attempts at passing such a bill did not pass in the Senate, it is our hope that the substance of the most recent bill (HB 7083) will become a reality under your leadership. 

Thank you for the opportunity to provide comments on this important executive order. We would welcome the opportunity to participate in any of the working groups related to habitats, wildlife and conservation of our coastal resources. 

Sincerely,

Patrick M. Comins, Executive Director