Environment Committee Defeats Bills
by Christine Stuart | February 13, 2009 12:05 PM
Posted to Environment
Rep. John Piscopo’s attempt to get a public hearing on repealing Global Warming legislation Friday failed by a voice vote of the Environment Committee.
“Global warming is not even happening,” Piscopo, a Republican from Thomaston, said.
The carbon tax program, also known as the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, was entered into under a false premise, Piscopo said.
The RGGI program creates a regulatory structure for incentives and penalties designed to reduce carbon emissions statewide.
Environment Committee Co-Chairman Rep. Richard Roy, D-Milford said he was opposed to Piscopo’s bill and urged the rest of the committee to vote against it.
Rep. Paul Davis, D-Orange, said in the interest of science he wouldn’t mind hearing from experts on both sides of the argument.
Sen. Andrew Roraback, R-Goshen, said he can’t imagine voting to repeal Global Warming legislation, but thinks the committee is doing itself a disservice by not welcoming a discussion on the matter.
The proposal to bring the bill up for a public hearing was defeated by a voice vote.
Also freshman lawmaker Rep. Annie Hornish’s attempt to get two bills to prohibit product testing on animals and prohibit the use of animals in emergency medical training exercises, was unsuccessful.
Roy said all the animals bills have already had a hearing and recommended that these two proposals be set aside until next year.
The rest of the bills on the committee’s agenda will be drafted into committee bills or raised for a public hearing.
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