HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — An environmental organization is raising concerns about how Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont’s administration plans to spend $6 million from a legal settlement with Volkswagen.
Lori Brown, executive director of the Connecticut League of Conservation Voters, questioned Wednesday why more than $4.7 million will be spent to replace greenhouse gas-emitting vehicles with diesel and fossil fueled-powered ones.
She says diesel emissions contribute to Connecticut’s “notoriously bad air quality and high asthma rates,” advocating for electric vehicles instead.
The Democratic governor this week announced 15 projects being paid with funds from the settlement Volkswagen reached with federal officials over an emissions testing scandal. They’re projected to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions by almost 68 tons.
The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection plans to focus a future round of settlement funding on electrification projects.
