State Senators approve several climate bills Tuesday setting and supporting greenhouse gas emission reduction targets.
House Bill 99, the Delaware Climate Change Solutions Act, passed on a party-line vote with 2 absent - and heads to Gov. Carney a year after it stalled in the House.
GOP senators State Sens. Dave Lawson and Eric Buckson expressed concerns over unnecessary government expansion, and claim the bill could economically harm Delawareans, but bill co-sponsor State Sen. Stephanie Hansen says Delaware needs to be a responsible leader.
“I think the biggest questions were from those that really don’t believe that climate change is actually happening and don’t believe that anything that we do, even if it is happening, is going to make a difference," Hansen says. "They simply don’t believe the science.”
Others suggest that the effects of climate change are more expensive, and Hansen says climate change is happening now.
“We are being responsible as many of our neighbors already are," Hansen says. "We’re a bit behind the times at this point. So I think that we owe it to our kids, our grandkids, our future generations to act, we know what the problem is, we know what we need to do, now we have goals and we have a framework to get there.”
There other climate-related bills are also headed to the Governor after Senate approval Tuesday.
HB10 establishes targets for the Department of Education to purchase electric school buses annually, and HB 12 creates an Electric Vehicle Rebate Program to incentivize the purchase of electric vehicles. All-electric vehicles are eligible for up to $2500, and hybrids up to $1000.
And a Senate bill banning styrofoam was reconsidered and passed with House amendments. Food establishments will no longer be able to use polystyrene foam containers, single-service plastic coffee stirrers, cocktail picks, or sandwich picks, starting July 1, 2025.
