Follow-Up: Sierra Club Urges Connecticut to Convert Hartford's Capitol Area System to 100 Percent Renewable Energy Over Asthma Concerns
In Hartford, Hartford County, Connecticut, Sierra Club Connecticut on October 27 spelled out its demand in the city's asthma debate: the state should commit to converting the Capitol Area System, the plant that heats and cools the state government complex, to a fossil-fuel-free, 100 percent renewable solution. The group, joined by local environmental justice leaders, the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America and state elected officials, had held a press conference at the Legislative Office Building on October 26 on Hartford's high asthma rates, as GSM previously reported.
Hartford ranked eighth in the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America's "Asthma Capitals" rankings of 100 U.S. cities, with the nation's fourth-highest asthma prevalence. Sierra Club said pollution from fossil fuel plants and systems, including the Capitol Area System, is a heavy contributor to the city's poor air quality and asthma risk.
The Capitol Area System is a former cogeneration power plant the state purchased in 2022. It currently runs on methane gas, heating and cooling more than a dozen state and private buildings along a two-mile loop, including the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and the Appellate Court. Sierra Club said the system needs extensive repairs to keep operating and urged the state to lead by example with a renewable replacement.
"It is beyond upsetting to see Hartford once again reach the near top of the Asthma Capitals list," said Alycia Jenkins, a Sierra Club Connecticut organizer. "For generations, we have seen first hand here in our city how poor air quality is making our children, elders, and neighbors sicker. Now is the time for Connecticut to correct course and better address the air pollution from power plants and vehicles."
Source: GSM News
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：康涅狄格州立法办公大楼中庭（10月26日记者会举行地）。照片：Kenneth C. Zirkel，CC BY-SA 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Atrium of the Connecticut Legislative Office Building in Hartford, where the October 26 press conference was held. Photo: Kenneth C. Zirkel, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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- 2026-10-27Follow-Up: Sierra Club Urges Connecticut to Convert Hartford's Capitol Area System to 100 Percent Renewable Energy Over Asthma ConcernsThis story
