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September, 2000
Press Release:
Greens Ask Governor to call Emergency
Session.
New Haven, CT September 23, 2000
There is an old axiom that the only certainties of
life are death and taxes. Here in New England and Connecticut the Green
Party would like to announce that there is another axiom, as true as the
first two. We will have a fall and winter and it will be cold. We will
have snow, ice and freezing temperatures, if not this month certainly
November and December.
It is also certain that Connecticut and its citizens are in the midst of
an escalating crisis, which is being brought on by ever-escalating fuel
prices. We particularly refer to fuel oil prices but the same is probably
true for natural gas prices. Oil prices are at a ten-year high and the
supply level is at the lowest it has been for the past 20 years. Fuel oil
in northwest Connecticut is selling for more than $129.9 PER GALLON which
represents more than a 50% increase over the same time last year. Anyone
reading the paper, watching TV or paying to fill up the oil tank must
understand that fuel prices will reach close to, if not exceed, $2.00 PER
GLLON this winter. Has anyone seen gas prices going down even though the
governor cut the gas tax by 7 cents? Are we now seeing stories indicating
that our deregulated electric rates will be rising?
For these reasons The Connecticut Green Party is requesting the governor
to call an emergency session of the legislature. Rather than wait until
mid-December to declare "There is a problem" we think that
governor should anticipate what is a certainty and be ready to handle this
problem on an emergency basis. Secondly, we call on the governor and the
legislature to develop a state energy policy that puts energy conservation
"back on the table." While we don't necessarily expect a policy
to be developed in the emergency session, work should begin on it.
We do not want to go into the reasons for the problem and do not, at this
point, wish to cast blame at either the Democrats or the Republicans. The
Green Party does want to alert the governor and the citizenry to the fact
that many people will be forced to choose between heating their homes or
putting food on the table. The time for action to avert these situations
is now.
We do not think that this problem is limited to lower-income persons
although the impact there will be significant. It will affect those
working couples who are earning a good sum but seem to be spending most of
it on their kids, food, gas, real estate taxes and day-to-day living. Many
citizens of Connecticut will be affected by this economic problem and so
the legislature must set forth an operational plan, now, to be able to
help citizens when the time arrives.
The governor should call an emergency session for October 2. If he
complains that a 'true' emergency is necessary the Green Party would
remind him that he had no trouble fabricating an "emergency" to
get the legislature together in order to fund his ill-founded plan to
build a stadium for the Patriots in Hartford. That was a contrived
emergency; this one is real and will affect people's lives. If he does
this now then a plan can be in effect to give people money to assist with
this problem when they need it. We can not depend on the response of the
Federal government alone, the state should take its own action. Since the
heating season usually ends by April 1, the emergency would be over and
the program can be ended on April 1, 2001. No one can claim that the
program will go on indefinitely.
We understand that there will be many opinions as to how such a plan
should work. The Green Party starts from the premise that the state budget
surplus should be used to help people first. We think that shopping
centers and new computers in schools should take second place, if
necessary, to the safety of people. Funds in the surplus are for the
citizens of the state not road builders or contractors.
Our plan would call for a direct rebate to the customer of 40-50 cents- or
whatever cents per gallon that the legislature develops in its plan. The
oil purchaser, landlord or tenant would present their receipt to a state
agency and a check in the amount designated would be cut and sent to that
citizen within 10 days. We cash lottery tickets at various places, we have
motor vehicle offices around the state, surely there is one existing
mechanism, to handle these requests. A simple copy of the receipt and the
funds are sent directly where needed. This is simple and can easily be
shut-down when the heating season ends.
We would also think that the state has to make plans for a longer term
solution to this problem of energy waste. There must be a conservation
program in place, mandated by the state. There must be a need to educate
people to the waste of energy that is daily occurring. We call upon the
state to make funds available for grants to persons to insulate their
homes, to put up storm windows, to assist with alternative heating and
electrical generation systems. We call upon the governor to insist that
the Connecticut State Police enforce the speeding laws in this state. The
speed limit in this state was raised to 65 MPH, not 75 MPH. We think there
are many other areas to consider but we would want this special session to
come up with a short-term plan to solve this coming emergency situation.
We understand that there are those whose incomes are large enough so that
they will not be affected by an oil price increase. Perhaps they will not
feel the need to participate in an energy rebate program
There might be other plans to solve this crisis. We do not claim to have
the only solution to this problem. The Green Party is trying to help the
average citizen of this state. We think that the other two parties must be
responsive to the needs of its citizens. We ask them to join us in calling
for this Special Session if they truly care about Connecticut and its
people.
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