Updates

Victory for Newport's harbor and beaches.

Newport’s harbor and beaches are on the road to recovery after years of illegal pollution from Middletown and Newport. In 2007 our staff joined local citizens to file a Clean Water Act citizens’ suit against the towns to stop their pollution. In 2010 and 2011, we won strong settlements requiring the towns to clean up their act.

News Release | Environment Rhode Island

Sens. Reed and Whitehouse Join Bipartisan Leaders in Congress to Jumpstart Offshore Wind

Rhode Island’s U.S. Senators Reed and Whitehouse joined U.S. Senators Tom Carper (D-Del) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) and U.S. Representatives Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.) and Frank LoBiondo (R-N.J.) today to introduce bills in the U.S. Senate and House to incentivize offshore wind development. The bills would provide an Investment Tax Credit (ITC) for offshore wind power worth up to 30 percent of the cost of the project for the first 3,000 megawatts of offshore wind projects in the United States.

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News Release | Environment Rhode Island

Bill introduced to ban plastic bags in Rhode Island

A bill to ban plastic checkout bags statewide was introduced in the Rhode Island House of Representatives. The bill prohibits the distribution of disposable plastic shopping bags at the point of sale by Rhode Island retailers, effective January 2014 for large retailers and January 2015 for small businesses.

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News Release | Environment Rhode Island

Rhode Island Joins Northeast States' Plan for Deeper Cuts in Power Plant Pollution

Rhode Island officials joined the announcement of improvements to a regional cap on carbon emissions, following a year-long review of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), the nation’s first cap on carbon from power plants, which took effect in 2009.

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News Release | Environment Rhode Island

On Sandy 100-day anniversary, stakeholders call on Gov. Chafee for global warming action

One hundred days after Superstorm Sandy, clean energy businesses and organizations in Rhode Island submitted a letter to Governor Chafee urging improvements to the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), the Northeast region’s region’s landmark program to reduce global warming emissions from power plants. The letter called for a strengthened emissions cap, strict clean energy standards, and loophole prevention.

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Headline

Global warming: Carbon limits needed here

The National Climate Assessment recently released a new draft predicting Rhode Island, Massachusetts and surrounding states will experience more severe heat waves, coastal and river flooding due to sea level rise and extreme precipitation events, and threats to the agricultural sector. This report, along with recent events like Hurricane Sandy, should provide a wake-up call for Congress and the Rhode Island General Assembly that immediate strong action on global warming is needed.

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