Environment & Energy
“As a former environmental scientist and environmental attorney for over three decades, care
and respect for our natural world is very important to me. We can and must do more to preserve,
protect and enhance our environment.” - Senator Stephanie Hansen, Chair of the Senate Environment
and Energy Committee.
Native Species
Delaware has seen a dramatic decline in the number of our native plant and animal species, representing much of the bottom half our ecosystem. This alarming trend is a result of habitat loss, habitat fragmentation, climate change, and invasive species. In 2017, Senator Hansen sponsored legislation which created the Statewide Ecological Extinction Task Force to study and make recommendations to stop and reverse this decline. In order to implement the recommendations, she later sponsored legislation to create the Delaware Native Species Commission which exists today to implement the many recommendations of the task force. One recommendation was a ban on the sale of invasive plant species (Senate Bill 22), which Senator Hansen championed and which was signed into law in March 2021.
Plastics
Reduction in our use of plastics and their proper disposal is very important. Already, the breakdown products of plastics are found in every corner of the world and within our own bodies. This is a multi-dimensional issue with room for action on many fronts. Senator Hansen has sponsored legislation to ban single-use plastic bags, ban mass balloon releases, and increase the fines and penalties for littering and dumping.
Renewable Energy
Climate change and renewable energy are inextricably linked. Being the lowest-lying State in the country, we feel the effects of climate change in many ways including increased flooding and drainage problems, hotter and longer summers, more extreme weather events, and the decline of our native species which support our food chain. Since January of 2021 when Sen. Hansen became the Chair of the Environment and Energy Committee in the Senate, she has led a number of large Energy & Climate forums with 200+ participants in order to discuss and develop legislation that will move Delaware toward higher renewable energy goals. Her legislative initiatives have increased Delaware’s Renewable Energy Portfolio standard, encouraged more electric vehicle charging stations, set the stage for the development of more widespread community solar projects, and encouraged the review of offshore wind analysis.
Environmental Education.
As the Chair of the Senate Environment and Energy Committee, Sen. Hansen brought together representatives from the Department of Education; the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control; the Marine Education, Research and Rehabilitation Institute; the Daughters of the American Revolution, and a local artist for a statewide environmental education project to study and name Delaware’s official state sea turtle. Over 13,498 students and their teachers in schools throughout the state participated in essay and art contests on the four threatened or endangered sea turtles with a connection to Delaware, eventually choosing the Loggerhead to become the Delaware State Sea Turtle through Senate Bill 303 under her sponsorship.
There is so much work to be done in addressing climate change. I was proud to be the prime sponsor of Senate Bill 7 (S) and Senate Bill 170 in the 152nd General Assembly. Senate Bill 7 expands and strengthens the ability of the State Energy Office to serve as the lead agency on a variety of climate and energy issues, while Senate Bill 170 directs DNREC to prepare recommendations for offshore wind energy procurement.
It was an honor to stand beside my legislative colleagues and advocates as we celebrated the progress we have made and reaffirm our dedication to do more to protect the safety and welfare of our neighbors.
I am hopeful the General Assembly will continue making strides to replace Delaware’s reliance on fossil fuels with sustainable and renewable energy sources, for a cleaner and healthier future.
- State Sen. Stephanie Hansen
