Rhode Island is in a unique position to become a leader in curbing greenhouse gas emissions and establishing itself as a role model for other states looking to make a similar impact as part of its participation in the Act on Climate agreement. But that opportunity only exists if certain key deadlines and benchmarks are met – and meeting these goals will not be easy.
According to the EcoRI.com news website, “Rhode Island’s first major test under the Act on Climate is coming up this year. The law, passed in 2021, requires the state to meet a series of bigger and bigger emission reduction goals every 10 years before reaching net zero by 2050. Failing to do so opens the state to legal challenges from the general public.”
Coupled with this is recent news that Rhode Island has no meaningful plan in place to meet its obligations. In addition, any successes over the last few years were short-lived, thanks to key data points likely being skewed heavily by the COVID-19 pandemic when the public drove far less than normal. According to a recent article on EcoRI.com, “Rhode Island has lacked a comprehensive, actionable plan to tackle transportation emissions since its New England neighbors backed out of joining the Transportation and Climate Initiative.”
One of the biggest hurdles – and opportunities – to meeting that goal is shifting drivers away from internal combustion engine cars and trucks and into electrified or hybrid vehicles.
The construction of fast-charging stations along Interstate 95 is a big step in the right direction, and tax credits incentivizing the purchase of a no-emissions vehicle should also help encourage consumers to make the jump.
At the same time, recent news about increasingly onerous titling requirements for vehicles purchased out of state may represent a pivotal moment for Rhode Island’s leaders to encourage drivers to buy discounted electric and hybrid vehicles with purchase prices offset further by rebates from federal agencies and automotive manufacturers. This is all encouraging, but how do you ensure the cars and trucks left behind don’t go back into the national motor pool?
It’s simple: encourage the environmentally responsible recycling of older, internal combustion engine vehicles. Organizations such as
SHiFT in Middletown have deployed new platforms to offer a streamlined way to process end-of-life cars and trucks. The company’s novel donation portal makes it easy for people to receive a tax break for their older motor vehicles and provides state regulators with a solution for meeting emission reduction targets – a win-win for the state and the environment.
By recycling older, end-of-life vehicles in partnership with certified dismantling facilities that provide an affidavit of retirement, thereby guaranteeing the engine will be fully retired and recycled and the whole vehicle not be resold, Rhode Island can close the exposure loop that currently exists in many states – and drive ever closer to its ambitious goals under the Act on Climate plan.
Joseph Hearn is CEO and president of Middletown-based Advanced Remarketing Services Inc., an automobile remarketing and recycling company. SHiFT is a division of ARS.
