By State Senator Dan Debicella

Remember the debate about the Oregon Spotted Owl back in the 1990s? The debate was about saving an endangered species vs. protecting jobs in the logging industry. Environmentalists wanted to stop the logging of trees where the Spotted Owl lived, while the people who worked in the logging industry wanted to keep their jobs.

Fortunately, we have largely moved beyond this “environment vs. economy” debate as business and government have found new and innovative ways to help the environment without hurting taxpayers or consumers. I consider myself both an environmentalist and a fiscal conservative—and in the past year I have found a number of ways we in Connecticut can go green and create jobs at the same time.

Brownfield Remediation. Brownfield remediation allows us to reclaim polluted land for economic development. Many old industrial sites have polluted soil that prevents use of the land. We passed a new brownfields law this year that gives loans to businesses that clean up the land, and streamlines the approval process for cleaning from state agencies.

Closer to home, both Shelton and Stratford have brownfield sites. I am working to clean these sites and generate economic development and job creation in our towns. Much of Canal Street in downtown Shelton sits on brownfields that were polluted in the last century, but we have reclaimed many of these lands. The Riverwalk sits on an old brownfield site, and the new Birmingham Condos have been created from an old factory. Currently, Mayor Mark Lauretti, Representative Jason Perillo, and I are working to get bonding money from the state to clean up other areas of Canal Street to prepare them for a multi-million dollar development that will bring more jobs and tax dollars to Shelton.

In Stratford, the Raymark properties continue to pose both problems and opportunities. Stratford successfully cleaned up the main Raymark site—where WalMart and Home Depot currently are, providing hundreds of jobs for our area. However, there are still over twenty properties with Raymark waste on them, and the EPA recently suggested we consolidate this toxic waste in residential neighborhoods. State Representative John Harkins and I firmly oppose consolidating waste near where people live, but are working with the EPA and community groups to find a workable alternative (most likely a combination of removing soil from town and capping some locations with clean soil). Cleaning up these sites the right way and making them usable again for economic development would be a boon for Stratford.

Increasing Clean Energy Supply. Energy costs are sky high in Connecticut because of an imbalance of supply and demand—demand keeps skyrocketing, while no new power plants have come online. Alternative energy offers a way to both lower energy costs by increasing supply and protect the environment. By pursuing affordable alternatives, including fuel cell technology, and solar and tidal power, we can lower the cost of energy by increasing our supply of energy produced in Connecticut. While I do not think it is realistic to fully replace oil and coal power in the near future, these alternative energy sources are now economically viable and should supplement our energy supplies to help lower prices.

I supported legislation this year that requires property tax exemptions for residential solar energy heating and cooling systems, along with other types of alternative energy systems. Also, I supported legislation to eliminate the sales tax on certain types of alternative energy equipment, and legislation that permits municipalities to adopt ordinances exempting from the property tax farm-based electric generating facilities that use certain types of renewable energy sources.

Preserving Open Space. Preserving open space is terrific for the environment and greatly enhances our quality of life. Shelton has done an admirable job preserving open space without sacrificing economic development. I recently voted for a bond package that includes $15 million to purchase additional open space, and will be working to get some of that money directed to our region.

Protecting Our Waterways. Long Island Sound and the Housatonic River are tremendous economic resources for our area—a large number of businesses still depend on our waterways for use in commerce and transportation. I am committed to carrying on former State Senator Doc Gunther’s protection of our waterways. I was proud to vote in favor of the $415 million in revenue bonds included in our just passed two-year bond package for clean water program loans to municipalities, along with about $180-million in clean water grants to municipalities. Ensuring we have a clean Long Island Sound and Housatonic River will not only improve our quality of life, but will promote economic development in our area.

Best of all, all of these initiatives were passed this year without any increase in sales or income taxes. Rather than raise taxes, we have reinvested money from economic growth in our environment—which will hopefully help drive further economic growth.

I firmly believe promoting economic development and protecting our environment are complimentary goals, and will continue to work for both.