Even while many students remained suspicious of Richard Blumenthal’s personal record on the environment, the Connecticut attorney general spoke last Wednesday as part of the Earth Day Keynote Address. The lecture coincided with 1,400 separate events across the country that addressed ways to curb the global increase in carbon dioxide emissions.
Blumenthal argued that Connecticut has always been at the forefront of environmentally conscious states.
“Connecticut has led the fight when carbon dioxide emission was barely in the public consciousness,” he said.
However, several students disputed Blumenthal’s claims that Connecticut is doing all it can, especially in terms of confronting the Bush Administration on its environmental record.
“He was pretty critical of the administration and that was accurate,” said Ashley Casale ’10. “But he is in a state position and not necessarily doing much himself.”
Blumenthal was first elected attorney general in 1990 and is currently serving his fifth term. In 2003, Connecticut and eleven other states filed a suit against the administration for taking moves to limit the 1963 Clean Air Act. The administration refused to implement energy efficient standards for appliances, which, according to Blumenthal, is breaking the law.
“Connecticut helped lead 15 states in suing the department of energy and we won,” said Blumenthal. “Now there will be standards applied by law, and the administration will have to enforce them.”
Blumenthal said that he is also playing a leading role in opposing the Broadwater Energy venture, a plan to build and install a floating facility in Long Island Sound, one that would import liquid natural gas to homes, businesses and power plants in the New York and Connecticut area.
According to the Broadwater Energy homepage, the floating facility would be about 1,200 feet long, 180 feet wide and would rise about 75 to 80 feet above the water. The facility would receive shipments of natural gas every two to three days from ocean carriers.
Blumenthal explained that he strongly opposed building the facility, because although natural gases might be cleaner than others, he recognizes there are better alternatives.
“There is renewable and solar energy,” Blumenthal said. “It is most important that they are energy efficient. In the long run that will be one of the ways that we will fight global warming.”
He argued that the key to any strategy against global warming is efficiency. Not only will this help save the environment, but it will also make the U.S. less dependent on foreign governments.
Some students still felt uninspired and were skeptical about Blumenthal, claiming that he was more a politician than a moral crusader.
“I think it is good that he is trying to do things,” said Emily Sarice Greenstein ’10. “But the attorney general won’t solve your moral qualms.”
Blumenthal concluded with a quotation from journalist Tom Friedman: “We can have the greatest generation if we have the greenest generation.” He said that this goal is what Wesleyan and its students are attempting to accomplish, both through education and through action.
“I think we have an obligation to leave this world better than we found it,” Blumenthal said.
Certain students still seemed to hope that an Earth Day speaker would have more of a background in grassroots environmental organizing, rather than state politics.
“It was a little too political for me,” Casale said in reference to Blumenthal’s career.
Other students complained that Blumenthal was touting Wesleyan for being environmentally friendly when, in fact, the University could be taking many more steps to protect the environment.
One of the most telling moments of the night came when a student raised her hand to ask Blumenthal how he intended to educate Connecticut about environmental issues.
“I’m counting on you to do that,” he replied.
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