Vote "yes" on Question 6

The power of environmental protection and green projects has now been widely recognized as an invaluable economic driving force. It has been decades in coming, but the perceived gap between the needs of business and those concerned with natural resources has been closed, in large part by better understanding how these two areas complement each other.

The state’s tourism economy aptly illustrates this point. Tourism supports nearly 40,000 jobs and generates over $3.32 billion annually for the state. Rhode Island certainly has historical communities and seaside mansions that support tourism, but other powerful drivers of the tourism economy are Narragansett Bay, ocean beaches, beautiful parks, scenic vistas, and farmland framed by stone walls. Maintaining these assets takes sustained investment.

The Green Economy bond, Question 6 on this November’s ballot, ensures that this sustained investment will happen. That’s why we are convinced that it is a wise and rock-solid commitment to Rhode Island’s economic health. It is also a commitment to environmental health. The bond will provide $35 million to continue investing in many successful, ongoing environmental initiatives. The state’s investment will also be matched by federal, state and community funding and foundation grants that will increase its value.

The Green Economy bond will help to protect Rhode Island’s open spaces and farmland, create world-class parks and bikeways, prevent stormwater pollution of water resources, and continue to clean up polluted properties to enable safe and prosperous redevelopment. And as that funding finds its way to carefully and thoroughly vetted projects, there are partners who will add to the investment and deliver even more bang for the buck.

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The Green Economy bond will support environmental projects that Rhode Islanders have rallied to support in the past – such as protecting Narragansett Bay and open spaces, upgrading parks in all our cities and towns, providing enhanced recreational opportunities, and turning polluted former industrial sites into locations that are ripe for future business growth.

The bond investments will play squarely into the state’s economic goals. They will help to strengthen the quality-of-place amenities that research shows attract innovative and tech-savvy businesses, while also supporting thriving local food and arts communities, and enhancing public transportation through the creation of pedestrian and bike-friendly transit routes.

Rhode Island has a tradition of environmental stewardship unmatched in the United States. Since the first open space and recreation bond was resoundingly passed in 1985, the state’s citizens have passed every subsequent bond with over a two-thirds majority. From inner city to rural countryside voters, this is unshakeable support that would make any individual politician envious.

The investment made by the Green Economy bond in Rhode Island’s future is both wise and proven successful across the board. It will provide jobs, attract new business and industry and their employees, and it will make the state an even better place to work and live because of its abundant – and protected – natural resources. This November please vote “yes” on Question 6, the Green Economy bond. •

Scott Wolf is executive director of Grow Smart Rhode Island. Lisa Konicki is president of the Ocean Community Chamber of Commerce.

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