McKee Signs Aggressive Climate Law - Filippi Says It Increases Costs for RI Businesses & Residents
Saturday, April 10, 2021
On Saturday, Rhode Island Governor Dan McKee signed the 2021 Act on Climate -- legislation that updates the state's climate-emission reduction goals.
“The bill will position the state to boldly address climate change and prepare for a global economy that will be shifting to adapt to clean technology,” said McKee’s office.
Rhode Island House Leader Blake Filippi, however, criticized the signing of law by McKee.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST“Signing the Climate Act into law will empower unaccountable bureaucrats to impose significant costs on our small businesses, municipalities and especially, those Rhode Islanders who least can least afford to pay more for transportation, housing and utilities. We could have and should have done better for the people of the Ocean State,” said Filippi.
Supporters Tout Legislation
“With four hundred miles of coastline, urban and rural coastal communities, fishing and agricultural industries, the Ocean State is on the frontlines of the climate crisis,” said McKee. “The Act on Climate represents a commitment that not only addresses a moral imperative, but also presents a platform to enhance our economy, public health, environmental equity, and natural environment. I look forward to working with the General Assembly, the congressional delegation, local communities, small business, labor, advocates, and other stakeholders to ensure those efforts create affordable and sustainable pathways toward a net-zero climate emission future.”
Under the 2021 Act on Climate, the state will develop a plan to incrementally reduce climate emissions to net-zero by 2050. The plan, according to McKee, will be updated every 5 years and "will address areas such as environmental injustices, public health inequities and a fair employment transition as fossil-fuel jobs are replaced by green energy jobs. Rhode Island joins other states, including Massachusetts, New York, and Maine, in enacting significant climate legislation in the past few years aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and transitioning to a low carbon economy."
Legislators said the bill was a critical step against climate change.
“I am immensely proud to celebrate the enactment of this landmark environmental legislation, and grateful to my colleagues in the General Assembly, the vast majority of whom enthusiastically supported it. Here in the Ocean State, and particularly in my home city of Warwick, we suffer the effects of rising seas and increasingly intense storm surges that regularly damage homes, businesses and infrastructure. Rhode Island must join the global effort to address the climate crisis, and will directly benefit in many ways, not the least of which will be job creation in green industries. The Act on Climate puts Rhode Island on a path to a sustainable and prosperous future,” said House Speaker Joseph Shekarchi (D-Dist. 23, Warwick).
“The Act on Climate is a plan to move with the urgency we need to stop pollution and use the clean technology and power sources that become more available and affordable every year. Its goals are totally achievable, and have the benefit of shifting energy dollars away from fossil fuels produced elsewhere to clean energy that can be produced here in Rhode Island. Just as Samuel Slater harnessed the power of the Blackstone River to launch the American Industrial Revolution, Rhode Island can once again use renewable power to lead the way as we address the urgent climate change crisis,” said Senate President Dominick Ruggerio (D-Dist. 4, North Providence, Providence).
And one of the authors of the bill outlined why she believes the bill is critical.
“The Act on Climate represents a strong commitment to the long-term health of our planet, as well as economic opportunity for our state. With this act, we are jumping to the leading edge of those states and nations that are changing the landscape of power generation. The Ocean State, which is already home to the nation’s first commercial offshore wind farm, is well-positioned for explosive growth in the green economy, and this commitment will fuel the creation of green jobs and clean industry, and help drive down the costs of environmentally sound technology. It’s exciting to make a commitment that will have such positive and profound environmental and economic effects for our state,” said Senate Environment and Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Dawn Euer (D-Dist. 13, Newport, Jamestown), the bill’s Senate sponsor.
Related Articles
- Horowitz: United Nations Sounds Alarm on the Climate
- Nature Conservancy Names RI Food Czar AnderBois as Climate & Energy Program Manager
- Horowitz: Americans Want More Action on Climate Change
- Truckers to Raimondo: Listen to RI Businesses on “Problematic” Transportation Climate Initiative
- RI Center for Freedom Urges Opposition to Proposed Transportation Climate Initiative
- Horowitz: The World’s Youth Send Strong Message on the Climate
- Horowitz: California Out-Maneuvers Trump Administration on Climate
- VIDEO: Kerry Praises Ocasio-Cortez for Her Work on Climate Change
- Horowitz: A Positive Climate Milestone - Renewables Pass Coal
- Climate Change May Cost Hundreds of Companies Almost a Trillion Dollars
- Sanders Introduces Climate Emergency Resolution
- Rickman’s Big View - Climate Change Crisis in RI
- The 2020 Election & Climate Change: Guest MINDSETTER™ Sasse
- Aquidneck Island Climate Caucus to Host Virtual Conversation with Whitehouse on Sunday
- Kerry Appointment Sends a Strong Signal on the Climate - Rob Horowitz
- Biden Climate Push Powered by More Receptive American Public - Rob Horowitz
- RI House Passes Act on Climate Following Heated Debate—Bill Now Goes to Senate
- RI Business Leaders Support Compromise Proposed by McKee for Climate Change Legislation
- $11 Billion in Health Benefits by 2032, Says New Harvard Study on Transportation Climate Initiative
- RI DEM Awards $4.3 Million to Help RI Communities Confront Effects of Climate Change
- Rob Horowitz: COVID-19 and Climate Change
- Stycos’ $5 Million Climate Change Bond Approved By Cranston City Council
- Climate Bill Passes House and Senate — Heads to McKee for Signature
