Environmental groups are expressing disappointment after Gov. Ned Lamont announced that electric vehicle mandates are off the table for good.

Drivers complained about the added cost of EVs, but environmental advocates say climate change could be even more expensive.

Towns like Oxford were devastated this summer after a foot of rain fell in one afternoon. The total cost is still being tallied, but four years ago, Tropical Storm Isaias left behind $21 billion in damage.

Leigh Shemitz, president of the environmental group SoundWaters in Stamford, sees the growing risk first-hand.

“Boccuzzi Park, where our Harbor Center is, Stamford is doing a huge resilience project right now to transform the parking lot that was no longer viable because it was right at the water,” she said. “We are getting more runoff. We are seeing changes.”

Because of the flood risk, SoundWaters spent an extra $1 million to raise the new Harbor Center’s elevation.

“We doubled it,” Shemitz said. “It cost a lot.”

Gas-powered vehicles are the biggest driver of climate change, according to the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory. In spite of the state’s efforts, the report said emissions “have not decreased significantly from 1990 levels.”

But on Tuesday, Lamont told reporters that he will no longer pursue a controversial electric vehicle sales mandate. The incoming Trump administration opposes them.

“We were following, you know, the federal standards,” Lamont said. “And I think the federal standards are no more.”

Lamont originally called for all new cars to be electric or hybrid by 2035, in line with California’s strict emissions standards. But lawmakers pressed pause after drivers protested about the cost of EVs and shortage of chargers.

“I would be worried about having an electric car because, if you're driving cross-country, you don't know where to stop and charge it,” driver Nancy Crossley said in Dec. 2023.

Now, Lamont said he will not pursue EV mandates again. Republicans called it a win for consumers who can't afford more expensive EVs.

“We already saw that – a shift away from electric vehicles,” said state Rep. Vin Candelora (R-North Branford), the top Republican in the Connecticut House. “I would rather see us, sort of, take more of a cautious approach.”

The Trump administration is expected to roll back the Biden-era rule requiring that 56% of new cars be electric or hybrid by 2032. Trump's nominee to head the Environmental Protection Agency, former New York Rep. Lee Zeldin, is a vocal critic of EV mandates.

But the news may not be all grim for electric vehicles. The face of Tesla is playing a key part of the Trump administration.

“Obviously, Elon Musk, founder of Tesla, is a strong believer that EVs are a big part of our energy future,” Lamont said. “So there will be a discussion whether – I doubt it’s mandates, but I think there may still be some incentives.”

But environmental groups worry that incentives aren’t enough to keep climate change at bay in time.

“There are impacts,” said Shemitz. “A parking lot that used to work now floods. A building site that used to be viable now needs to be raised.”

This isn't the first time Lamont has been forced to back down from a controversial climate change proposal. In 2021, Connecticut lawmakers rejected the Transportation and Climate Initiative, a carbon cap agreement with other states, after Republicans called it a "gas tax."