As we approach our 10th anniversary on July 1, 2021, the Connecticut Green Bank is incredibly excited that Governor Lamont’s House Bill 6441, with bipartisan support, will advance the green bank model that we have pioneered to extend beyond clean energy to now include environmental infrastructure. This increased scope will encompass structures, facilities, systems, services, and improvement projects related to water, waste and recycling, climate adaptation and resiliency, agriculture, land conservation, parks and recreation, and environmental markets such as carbon offsets and ecosystem services.

We extend our gratitude to state policymakers for expanding the Green Bank’s mission to confront climate change beyond the clean energy sector. We want to thank many key parties for their leadership and support of this scope expansion:

• The Governor’s Office and the Governor’s Council on Climate Change (GC3), for their extensive work and community building on this important topic.
• The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, especially Commissioner Katie Dykes and Dr. Rebecca French, Director, Office of Climate Planning, who have been leading a stakeholder and public engagement process to support Connecticut’s efforts to confront climate change.
• The Office of Policy and Management (OPM), specifically Secretary Melissa McCaw and Claire Coleman, Undersecretary for Legal Affairs, who brought the GC3 proposal into a Governor’s bill on climate change.
• Senator Christine Cohen and Representative Joseph Gresko for their leadership on the Environment Committee.
• Leaders of the Banking Committee, who championed a similar proposal in 2019, and the Energy and Technology Committee, who have been steadfast partners in their support for the Green Bank’s mission over the last decade.
• Many mission-aligned groups in Connecticut, including the Audubon Connecticut, The Nature Conservancy, CT Land Conservation Council, Save the Sound, CT Forest and Park Association, CT Conservation Districts, CT Conference of Municipalities, and the CT Council of Small Towns, who were partners in advocating passage of this legislation.

In addition to the scope expansion, this passage creates an Environmental Infrastructure Fund within the Green Bank; increases bonding terms for clean energy and environmental infrastructure projects; and increases, from 80% to 100%, the amount of financing Green Bank and other non-equity financing sources can provide to projects.

Upon Governor Lamont’s final approval of this legislation, we look forward to building upon our last 10 years of success by implementing this policy and by meeting its promise in helping Connecticut mitigate and adapt to climate change.