Global Warming Solutions News Releases

The U.S. Senate voted for increased resources for our parks and full funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which has protected beloved places like the Block Island National Wildlife Refuge and other beaches, coastal areas, and public lands across Rhode Island. The Senate also rejected polluter-friendly measures to block the clean-up of global warming (amendment #359) and mercury pollution (amendment #514), but voted to advance the dirty Keystone XL tar sands pipeline (amendment #494). All of these measures, offered as amendments to the Senate budget resolution, were non-binding, as was the underlying budget resolution itself. 

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.

The National Caucus of Environmental Legislators (NCEL) delivered to President Obama a letter signed by 302 state legislators from 40 states, including 8 Rhode Island legislators, urging him to prioritize tackling global warming in his second term. The move was applauded by Environment Rhode Island and other environmental advocates across the country.  

As Hurricane Sandy and its aftermath prompt more Rhode Islanders to call for action to tackle global warming and the rise in extreme weather, Environment Rhode Island Research & Policy Center released a new report that shows that power generation from wind energy projects currently under construction will displace as much global warming pollution as taking 1000 cars off the road per year.