McKee’s Budget Includes Rollbacks for State’s Renewable Energy Programs PROVIDENCE — Five years after lawmakers passed the state’s first firm climate mandates, the historic Act on Climate law is in danger of getting rolled back by the same governor who signed it. Rhode Island’s environmental groups have already spent much of this year’s General Assembly […]
Sen. Whitehouse One of Few US Representatives at Climate Conference PROVIDENCE — It’s not every day a Rhode Island politician can claim to be the only representative of the US federal government. For the opening weekend of this year’s 30th U.N. Conference of the Parties (COP) — the largest and most important venue for world […]
Compiled by Bonnie Phillips/ecoRI News McKee, Region’s Governors Seek Environmental Impact Assessment Reforms PROVIDENCE — Is it time to reform how the federal government assesses the environmental impact of energy projects? Gov. Dan McKee apparently thinks so. The National Governors Association recently released a letter sent to Congress outlining a package of desired permitting reforms […]
Stage Agency Gives Country Club 30 Days to Submit Restoration Plan for Illegal Seawall PROVIDENCE — Coastal regulators have started the shot clock for the Quidnessett Country Club’s illegally constructed seawall. The Coastal Resources Management Council, by unanimous vote on June 10, rejected a petition from the club to refer the seawall case to the […]
NOAA ALLOCATES $1.5M GRANT TO REMOVE BARGE FROM PROVIDENCE RIVER PROVIDENCE — The sunken barge polluting the Providence River since 2017 will soon be gone. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has awarded a $1.5 million grant to the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management to remove the 114-foot, crane-topped barge from the river, […]
R.I. Officials Praise Revolution Wind Farm’s Progress PROVIDENCE — Just one month after the project started putting “steel in water,” Revolution Wind announced on June 14 it completed manufacturing the advanced foundation components for use in its eponymous wind farm. Federal and state officials descended on the project’s base in the Port of Providence, praising […]
BILL WOULD INJECT $16 MILLION INTO GREEN ECONOMY BOND PROVIDENCE — State lawmakers and environmental groups are teaming up to plug a funding gap and save Rhode Island’s land conservation programs. A bill introduced by Rep. Megan Cotter, D-Exeter, would inject $16 million into this year’s Green Economy Bond to fund four separate programs to […]
HOUSE COMMISSION TO STUDY FEASIBILITY OF SOLAR ARRAYS ON HIGHWAY MEDIANS PROVIDENCE — Rhode Island could be sitting on hundreds of acres of unused land for new solar installations, and thousands of drivers whiz past these spots every day. A new study commission is meeting this fall to investigate the idea of building ground-mounted solar […]
R.I. Sees Highest Number of Beach Closures in Nearly 20 Years PROVIDENCE — Rhode Island has seen the highest number of beach closures in nearly two decades this year. According to data from the state Department of Health’s beach monitoring program, freshwater and saltwater beaches around the state have been closed for a combined 284 […]