Energy And Environment
The threat of climate change cannot wait. Rep. Larson has long been a climate champion and served on the subject’s first ever Congressional committee in 2007, the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, and he is fighting tirelessly to ramp up needed clean energy investment and to bring down your energy bills. He joined Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to introduce the Green New Deal and helped write and pass the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022 and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act in 2021. Together, these laws took historic steps to tackle climate change, investing record funding in the deployment of green energy and lowering costs for Connecticut consumers.
Rep. Larson is fighting back against Trump Administration policies that are making your air dirtier and your energy bills more expensive. Their so-called ‘Big Beautiful, Bill' repealed a number of these hard-fought provisions to lower your energy bills and tackle global warming. Congressman Larson voted against and has been a sharp critic of this new law. Click here to learn how to take advantage of these energy incentives. Rep. Larson is fighting back against these attacks on our environment and is working with his colleagues on the Ways and Means Committee to protect the clean energy incentives that are powering our future.
Investing in Jobs and Green Energy
Congress passed the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022, investing $370 billion to combat climate change, the largest in our nation’s history. This would be enough to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by the end of this decade. Before Republicans took action to dismantle these clean energy efforts, this law:
Extended and Created Tax Incentives to Deploy Clean Energy: tax credits for emerging clean energy technologies, including wind and solar, are reducing emissions while also driving down energy costs and creating jobs. The Inflation Reduction Act included Rep. Larson’s legislation to support Clean Hydrogen Production, a critical industry for our environment and Connecticut’s manufacturing economy.
Overturned a Supreme Court Decision Gutting the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): Responded to a Supreme Court decision limiting the EPA’s authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, by authorizing the EPA by law to take necessary actions to address emissions.
New Energy Savings for Consumers: Provided billions of dollars in rebates and tax credits for consumers to lower their energy costs, including energy efficient appliances, rooftop solar and other residential power generation, and new and used electric vehicles. Many of these incentives will end this year, some as early as September 20, 2025. Check here to see what is expiring and when.For more information on how to take advantage of these tax credits before they expire, click here.
The Inflation Reduction Act is supporting investments in projects across Connecticut’s First District, including:
$3 million for the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection to help the state reduce greenhouse gas and other pollutant emissions.
$5 billion for the Coalition for Green Capital, including the Connecticut Green Bank. They will use a portion of these funds to help pay for the construction of green, sustainable infrastructure in historically underserved communities and neighborhoods.
$1 million to assist Hartford's North End residents whose homes were flooded in 2023.
Roughly $100 million for Connecticut and other New England states to lower the costs for small business owners and residents to purchase energy efficient heat pumps for their homes and offices.
$62.5 million in Solar for All grant funding to support the Project SunBridge program, installing home solar panels and helping low-income residents save 20% or more on their energy costs, including homes in Hartford and Portland.
Fighting Back Against the Trump Administration’s Attacks on Our Climate and Environment
The Trump Administration has placed every grant funded by the Inflation Reduction Act under a ‘review,’ stifling environmental progress and blocking American citizens and small business owners from accessing cost-saving tax credits and programs.
This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the Trump Administration’s attacks on the environment. At a time when there is an urgent need to make global progress on lowering carbon emissions, cleaning our air and water, and protecting our public lands, it is deeply alarming that the Trump Administration is intent on moving our country backwards. Under this Administration, regulations are being repealed, staffing at agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Department of Energy, and the Department of the Interior has been decimated, and scientific research has been degraded. Rep. Larson is committed to fighting back. Since President Trump took office, he:
Voted against Republican-led resolutions undoing regulations that improved energy efficiency standards and promoted cost-savings (H.J.Res 75 – Vote #78, H.J.Res.42 - Vote #59, H.J.Res. 24 – Vote #77, H.J.Res. 20 – Vote #53, H.J.Res 87 – Vote #111, H.J.Res.88 - Vote #114, and H.J.Res. 89 - Vote #112).
Opposed H.R. 26, Republican legislation to block administrations from restricting dangerous fracking projects.
Cosponsored a resolution in support of the landmark Paris Climate Accords, which President Trump withdrew the United States from on Day One.
Sent a letter to EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin demanding the restoration of funding for the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, which was modeled after the Connecticut Green Bank, and has provided our state with almost $63 million in federal funding to improve energy efficiency in homes and buildings.
Cosponsored the COAST Anti-Drilling Act (H.R. 2881), to block President Trump and future administrations from opening up new areas to offshore drilling, including Long Island Sound and the entire New England coastline.
Sent a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. to reverse layoffs at the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), which provides life-saving utility assistance for CT’s most vulnerable residents.
Leading on Hydrogen
Rep. Larson is the founder of the House Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Caucus, which raises awareness of the environmental and economic benefits of the development, manufacture, and deployment of fuel cell and hydrogen technologies. Connecticut companies pioneered the development of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies. Working with our Congressional colleagues and industry, we can continue to promote them for our planet and our local economies. Rep. Larson’s Hydrogen Production Tax Credit was passed in the Inflation Reduction Act. The tax credit incentivizes the production of clean, no and low-carbon hydrogen for use as an energy source, growing our local economy and investing in new clean energy technologies. Unfortunately, the Republicans’ 2025 tax plan will phase this tax credit out by 2027. Rep. Larson will continue to work with Connecticut’s hydrogen fuel cell leaders to reintroduce this bill and fight for this growing industry. He also introduced the bipartisanTechnology for EnergySecurity Act to extend the Inflation Reduction Act’s Investment Tax Credit for fuel cells and linear generators for another eight years.
Addressing PFAS Contamination - “Forever Chemicals”
Research in recent years has exposed the long-term negative impacts Per- or Poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) can have on humans and the environment alike. The prevalence of these chemical compounds in everyday items puts our environment at a unique risk for contamination. Connecticut is no stranger to this, experiencing two major PFAS contamination incidents in 2019. When firefighting crews at Bradley Airport used firefighting foam contaminated with PFAS, 50,000 of gallons of contaminated materials leaked into the Farmington River, calling into question whether the state was equipped with environmentally adequate tools to address immediate emergencies. As a member of the Congressional PFAS Task Force, Rep. Larson isn’t just committed to drawing attention to PFAS contamination, he’s actually doing something about it.
Congressman Larson moved quickly to take action at the federal level, supporting the passage of thePFAS Action Actas an amendment to the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act, providing states with federal resources to clean up PFAS-contaminated sites. The bill also included a provision directing the Department of Defense to begin phasing out the usage of PFAS foam, a big step in ridding the contaminant from everyday items. While fighting to ban PFAS firefighting foam from usage at airports, Rep. Larson helped pass two important pieces of legislation to fight PFAS contamination; H.R. 535 (116th Congress) to federally designate PFAS as a hazardous material, and the PFAS Action Act of 2021(117th Congress), creating EPA standards for air emissions, requiring public cleanup of contaminated sites, and beginning the phase out of PFAS in commercial items. Finally, in 2024, Congressman Larson helped pass the FAA Reauthorization Act, which finally began phasing out the usage of PFAS contaminated firefighting foam at all airports across the country.
More on Energy And Environment
Washington, D.C. - Today, Rep. John B. Larson (CT-01) voted against the Republican bill that cuts taxes for billionaires by slashing Medicare, Medicaid, and SNAP nutrition benefits.
Hartford, CT – Today, members of the Connecticut Congressional Delegation announced nearly $7 million in federal Brownfields Grants from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for Connecticut communities.
Washington, D.C. - Members of Connecticut’s Congressional delegation are working to secure immediate and long-term aid to help farmers recoup losses after severe weather events.
Washington, D.C. – Today, Members of Connecticut’s Congressional delegation announced that Connecticut will receive $77,834,656 from the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) ahead of the winter season. This is the first allocation of LIHEAP dollars this season.