Terry Backer

Terry Backer was elected to the Connecticut House of Representatives in 1993 as the Representative from the 121st Assembly District in Stratford, Connecticut. He is currently serving his eighth term having been re-elected in 2008 to another two year term. Backer has served in numerous positions, including; Vice Chairman of the Appropriations Committee, Chairman of the Energy and Technology Committee, Assistant Majority Leader and Assistant Majority Whip

Backer has also held the position in the Connecticut General Assembly of House Chairman of the Appropriation subcommittee on Conservation and Development. He has chaired the subcommittee from 1993 to 2008 and again for the 2009/2010 term. The subcommittee is tasked with crafting the budget for several state agencies which includes; the Department of Environmental Protection, the state Labor Department, the Department of Economic Development and Housing and the Culture and the Tourism Board and the Department of Agriculture, as well as other state agencies.

During his tenure as Chairman of the Energy and Technology Committee (2002–2003), Backer, oversaw and wrote the clean up legislation to the State of Connecticut's 1998 Electric Deregulation and Restructuring law. He added improvements to the environmental and renewable energy components to the law. Backer expanded the Renewable Portfolio Standards, created Project 100; a renewable energy program design to implement renewable generation in the state and passed the Energy Efficiency Standards of Commercial Appliances bill.

Representative Backer's Committee assignments for the 2009-2010 legislative session are; the Appropriations Committee, the Environment Committee and the Energy and Technology Committee. Backer has focused his activities in the Environment Committee on water quality improvements and reduction of pollution from storm water. His activities in the Energy and Technology Committee have focused on renewable energy and energy security with a special interest in Peak oil concerns. House Speaker for the 2009/2010 legislative session, Chris Donovan (D-Meriden) appointed Representative Backer to chair a newly created sub-committee on Clean Energy and Energy Efficiency.

In February 2005, Backer wrote an article for State Legislatures Magazine, a publication of the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), titled "Freedom From Fossil" Fuel in the article he criticized the federal government and passed administrations for their failure to prepare the nation's infrastructure for a contraction of the conventional fossil fuel supply and the resulting impact on the nation. In the article he proposed that the states take the lead rather than relying on Congress or the administration. In July 2007, Backer founded the Connecticut General Assembly's, Peak oil and Natural Gas Caucus. The Caucus was formed to investigate the status of world petroleum based fuel supply, the impact of escalating cost on the society and the economy, as well as, post carbon fuel implications for the current government planning process.

In November 2008, Representative Backer released a report, of which he was the principal author, to the Connecticut General Assembly and the Governor titled "Peak Oil Production and the Implications on the State of Connecticut". The report was an outgrowth of the work of the Peak Oil Caucus Backer formed earlier in the year. The report was the first of its kind to state legislatures.

During the 2008 legislative session Representative Backer authored the Energy Scarcity and Security Act which was passed into law. The act begins a scenario planning process and establishes two functions. A report and study on energy concerns and the formation of a task force. The Energy Scarcity and Security task force was formed to make recommendation regarding the findings of a report that will investigate the impact of rising energy cost and both major and short term supply disruptions on the state's ability to provide services and the impact on the state's economy and cost to citizens. Representative Backer was appointed by the speaker of the house as co-chair of the task force along with Senator Bob Duff of Norwalk, CT who was appointed by the President Pro Temp of the Senate.

In September 2008, Representative Terry Backer was awarded the "Congressman Roscoe Bartlett Speaking Truth to Power" award from the Association for the Study of Peak Oil USA (ASPO-USA). The award was given at Sacramento, California during the ASPO-USA annual meeting. Representative Backer was awarded the honor for his work on two landmark reports to the Connecticut legislature and the state's Governor regrading diminishing flows of oil due to resource depletion and geopolitical problems facing global oil production. The reports focused on global conditions and addressed impending cost and availability, as well as, potential shortages to the state.