Environment

Protecting and preserving our environment is one of the most important duties for members of Congress. We simply won’t have a world to live in if we continue our neglectful ways.

 

It is imperative we preserve open space, keep our air free of pollution, and ensure our water is free from industrial waste. Christopher has been constant and unwavering in his support for these goals, and he has consistently opposed regulatory changes that weaken our environmental laws.

 

Recently, Christopher was awarded the title, “Greenest Republican in Congress” by the Republicans for Environmental Protection based on his voting record and leadership efforts on environmental issues. Christopher’s work is also recognized by the League of Conservation Voters, which honored him as an “Environmental Champion.” He received a perfect score of 100 percent on their 2007 Congressional Scorecard, with a lifetime average of 92 percent. This ranks Christopher as the #1 Republican in Congress on environmental and energy issues.

 

Land Preservation

 

Our wild lands and open spaces are national treasures, which must be protected. Christopher has been working for several years to help acquire land to preserve within the Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge, named in memory of the much-admired congressman Christopher succeeded.

 

Christopher, with support from his Connecticut colleagues, helped secure funding from the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund to add both the Stratford Great Meadows Salt Marsh and Calves Island in Greenwich to the Wildlife Refuge to forever preserve the beauty and precious resources of these places.

 

Christopher is an advocate for protecting wilderness areas nationally as well. He’s committed to protecting the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) from oil and gas exploration and development. It is unconscionable we would consider desecrating one of North America’s last great wilderness areas when we are unwilling to take even the smallest steps towards slowing the growth in demand for energy resources.

 

Drilling in ANWR could reap the United States a supply of oil that might last us only six months. But if, as Christopher proposed in the Energy for our Future Act, SUV’s and light trucks are held to the same fuel efficiency as cars, in three years we will save as much gasoline as is recoverable from ANWR.

 

Christopher is a sponsor of the Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act (NREPA), which would increase protection of approximately 20 million acres of public land in Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Washington and Oregon. According to experts, NREPA could save at least $245 million in taxpayer money and create at least 2,300 new jobs in habitat restoration.

 

Christopher will continue fighting to protect our public lands by opposing any attempts to change rules that prohibit logging and building roads in our national forests.

 

Clean Air

 

Clean and healthy air in Connecticut must be a priority. Our state has done much to improve our air quality, from instituting a new auto emissions testing program establishing tougher anti-pollution standards on the “Sooty Six” pollution-emitting power plants, including sites in Norwalk and Bridgeport.

 

But the greatest threat to our air quality in Connecticut comes from older power plants in Midwestern states – some plants that have been in use for 80 years are still in operation. Current law exempts these facilities from complying with emissions standards for all new power plants in the Clean Air Act. Pollution emitted by these outdated facilities drifts downwind to Northeastern states along the Atlantic seaboard and dramatically affects our air quality.

 

That is why Christopher is a supporter and original cosponsor of the Clean Smokestacks Act, which would require all power plants, regardless of their age, to comply with current emissions requirements. This bipartisan legislation would also set new, more stringent standards for all power plants’ emission of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, carbon dioxide and mercury.

 

Christopher also helped create the Brownfields cleanup program, which provides grants to clean up contaminated industrial sites and turn them into usable land. He believes this is one of our most important tools to curb urban sprawl. To strengthen this program, Christopher cosponsored the Brownfields Redevelopment Enhancement Act and America’s Brownfield Cleanup Act.

 

Clean Water

 

Christopher will continue to advocate for the protection of our nation’s waterways and wetlands, and oppose any attempts to weaken regulations that safeguard the water we drink.

 

Unfortunately, the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers under the past two Administrations have made a series of decisions that allow the dumping of waste in rivers and streams, and limit the federal government’s ability to protect wetlands and isolated waters.

 

This is why Christopher led the fight against the practice of “mountaintop removal” mining and has joined colleagues from both parties to introduce the Clean Water Protection Act, which would prohibit the dumping of industrial waste into rivers and streams. Furthermore, Christopher is a cosponsor and supporter of legislation to help ensure strong federal protection for our nation’s water resources. He will continue to fight to help guarantee that people and wildlife will continue to enjoy the benefits of safe, clean water long into the future.

 

Christopher is also the lead Republican cosponsor of the Clean Cruise Ships Act, which will prevent cruise ships from emptying the ships’ sewage or bilge within 12 miles of shore. This will help ensure our ocean water stays clean, as cruise ships’ discharges damage the marine ecosystems on our coastlines.

 

We must preserve one of our region’s most precious natural resources, Long Island Sound. As a member and co-chairman of the Long Island Sound Caucus, Christopher has worked to secure full funding for Long Island Sound programs. He supported the Long Island Sound Stewardship Act, which the President signed into law in 2006. The legislation appropriates $25 million to protect and preserve areas along the Sound’s shorelines.

 

Click here to read more about Christopher's work to protect the Long Island Sound.

 

Climate Change

The threat from global warming is very real. With or without a binding international agreement, it is clear that it is time for the United States to take a leadership role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and combating potentially catastrophic climate change.

 

Christopher is an original cosponsor of bipartisan legislation designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in a way that is timely, meaningful and cost-effective. The Climate Stewardship Act targets the worst greenhouse gas offenders: electricity generators, petroleum refiners, and other large industrial facilities, which account for 85 percent of overall U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.

 

It would provide the international leadership needed on this issue by reducing greenhouse gases in the U.S. via a market-driven system of tradable emissions allowances. A similar approach under the Clean Air Act of 1990 has been extremely successful in reducing the emissions of acid-rain causing pollutants.

 

To track or progress in achieving emissions reductions, Christopher is supporting legislation to allow the federal government to track greenhouse gas emissions and make the emission levels for those companies participating available to the public via the EPA’s web site.