Environmental, labor leaders lay out plans for advancing R.I. green economy

PROVIDENCE – Tackling ambitious climate change goals and an economy still being dragged down by the aftermath of a pandemic might seem overly ambitious.

But economic and environmental progress can – and must – work together and the current moment offers a critical juncture to make that happen, according to local activists who spoke during a virtual panel event on Friday.

The discussion organized by Climate Jobs Rhode Island comes on the heels of a new report commissioned by the coalition and authored by The Research Institute at Cornell University. The February 2022 report offers specific recommendations for how Rhode Island can advance economic and environmental goals, building on the work begun since the coalition launched in January 2021.

“This is a clear and concise plan…that’s not just about making our economy more environmentally sensitive but making sure our economy is more centered in justice,” said Patrick Crowley, co-chair of Climate Jobs RI and secretary and treasurer of the Rhode Island AFL-CIO. 

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Transportation, renewable energy projects, public buildings and infrastructure are among the areas where Rhode Island can maximize environmental and economic benefits, according the outlined recommendations. Taken together, the policies and projects could create more than 17,000 direct jobs per year, with some of the largest job-creators coming from offshore wind development, affordable housing projects and expanded public transit. 

Of course, these ideas also have a price tag – more than $150 billion in total spanning multiple years of spending – but federal funding and regional partnerships offer opportunities to cover much of those costs, including a $110 billion for a regional high-speed rail network, the report stated.

While many of the policies recommended might sound like pie-in-the-sky ideas – transitioning all state K-12 schools to net-zero emissions by 2030, or building 35,000 new affordable housing units by 2035 – several such suggestions are already under consideration by state lawmakers, according to Crowley.

While there’s no bill yet mandating public schools hit net-zero emissions in the next decade, a $300 million school construction bond proposed by R.I. Treasurer Seth Magaziner offers incentives for schools that include energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. Meanwhile, legislation mandating the state energy providers purchase enough renewable energy to offset 100% of its electricity use by 2030 already has the backing of Senate President Dominick J. Ruggerio, bill sponsor, and Gov. Daniel J. McKee.

Crucial to the transition away from a fossil fuel-filled economy are protections for the workers. Panelists echoed the report’s emphasis on a “just transition” that requires fair wages, apprenticeship programs and other conditions attached to the projects and jobs these environmental goals will create.

Leveling the playing field for women, people of color and others who have long faced socioeconomic inequity is especially important in the aftermath of the pandemic, which widened existing gaps into chasms. People of color and those in low-income communities are also disproportionately impacted by the effects of climate change. 

“If we don’t reduce emissions, we’ll continue to exacerbate these inequalities,” said Avalon Hoek Spaans, research and policy development extension associate with Cornell’s Labor Leading on Climate Initiative.

Not only is an equity focus the right thing to do, it’s the state’s own requirement. Part of the Act on Climate law passed in 2021, which aims to hit zero net carbon emissions by 2050, includes language calling for “an equitable transition to climate compliance” and establishing a process to help those most vulnerable to climate change, said Sheila Dormody, chairwoman of the R.I. Executive Climate Change Coordinating Council Advisory Board and director of the climate and cities programs for the Rhode Island chapter of The Nature Conservancy.

State leaders’ commitment to combating climate change – combined with its already lowest-in-the-nation per capita energy use, makes The Ocean State well-positioned to take the helm as national leader in the green economy, the report stated.

But first, advocates must commit to disrupting the “false narrative” that economic and environmental development can’t go hand-in-hand, said Dormody.

“We don’t actually have any time for that,” she said. “Bringing the power of our movements together is where the magic is going to happen.”

Nancy Lavin is a PBN staff writer. You may reach her at Lavin@PBN.com.