Legislation that would escalate targets for reducing Rhode Island’s greenhouse gas emissions – and provide tools for enforcement – is getting the backing of environmental organizations but is being opposed by some business groups.
The Act on Climate 2020 bill – House bill 7399 and Senate bill 2165 – builds on the Resilient Rhode Island Act of 2014. The older measure outlined a number of recommendations aimed at reducing emissions and understanding the effects of climate change, but it did not make any of the goals mandatory.
“It was missing,” Amy Moses, vice president and director of the Conservation Law Foundation Rhode Island, said of accountability in the 2014 measure, which became law.
Both the Conservation Law Foundation and Rhode Island Nature Conservancy said the new legislation is a top priority.
Key differences between the 2014 measure and the one introduced at the end of January are the updated emissions targets.
The 2020 bill calls for emissions to drop to 50% below 1990 levels by 2035 and to hit net-zero by 2050. In the 2014 act, the goals had been a 45% lowering of emissions levels from the 1990 mark by 2035, and an 80% drop by 2050.
The new goals keep up with the latest scientific findings on climate change, according to Sue Anderbois, climate and energy program manager at Rhode Island Nature Conservancy.
The numbers fall in line with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s 2018 report on what measures need to be taken to keep global temperatures from warming by 1.5 degrees Celsius, she said.
In January, Massachusetts lawmakers introduced legislation aiming for net-zero emissions by 2050. The bill updates previous goals that mirrored Rhode Island’s.
‘The bill provides for enforcement through our court system.’
Christopher Blazejewski, state representative
According to The Associated Press, the measure, lauded by Mass. Gov. Charlie Baker, is expected to generate some pushback because it could raise gas prices by up to 17 cents per gallon.
Connecticut is considering legislation to cut emissions, as well.
In Rhode Island, the legislation has drawn opposition.
At a recent hearing on the House bill, The Energy Council of Rhode Island, which represents some of the largest energy users in the state, said its members are opposed because it would make emissions targets mandatory only for businesses in Rhode Island.
“We do not take lightly what’s happening in the world [with] climate change,” said Energy Council Executive Director Douglas W. Gablinske. But “it’s being approached as one little state with a real bad economy, as it is now, and not getting together with a bunch of other states to do this.”
A representative from the Northern Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce and the Rhode Island Bankers Association also testified against the bill.
Meanwhile, many environmental activists have no misgivings about the measure, but some have little to say about the bill.
“This is the highest priority of most of the environmental community in Rhode Island,” Anderbois said. “We have confidence this will bring about change because it will make our targets enforceable and mandatory.”
Climate Action Rhode Island did not respond to requests for comment, and Russ Maymon, president of the Renew Energy Initiative, a Cranston nonprofit that promotes alternative energy and energy efficiency, declined to comment.
Rep. Christopher Blazejewski, D-Providence, a co-sponsor of the bill, said the measure is intended to hold the government accountable by making sure residents are aware of greenhouse gas emissions throughout the state.
“The bill provides for enforcement through our court system, allowing citizens to sue the government for a court order requiring the government to take action,” Blazejewski wrote in an email. “It also increases transparency by creating public metrics for monitoring emissions reductions. The bill does not provide for any fines or penalties against private parties.”
Transparency is important, Moses said, noting that the proposal calls for the creation of an online public dashboard that tracks emissions reductions and energy sources used by the state. The data would be updated annually.
“It’s important that people in Rhode Island and elsewhere know what our government is doing to tackle the climate crisis,” she said.
Headed by the R.I. Executive Climate Change Coordinating Council, which is in charge of creating policies, regulations and initiatives to steer the state toward its carbon-emissions goals, the bill addresses the state’s entire economy, Moses said.
Included in the bill is a call for a study to identify how effective the state’s proposed carbon-pricing program is as an incentive for “institutions and industry” to reduce carbon emissions. The program would tax fossil fuels in an attempt to encourage the use of clean or renewable energy.
The same study would also look at directing money collected from a carbon-pricing program back to companies for use as enhanced incentives for energy-efficiency targets.
Such goals could include “projected emissions reductions, economic impact to businesses, any economic benefits to Rhode Island and impacts to the state’s economic competitiveness if the program were implemented.”
Flexibility built into the bill is an important tool, Moses said.
“There have been other comprehensive climate bills [such as] this in years past, and we heard from state agencies and others that they need discretion; they need flexibility to figure out the best way to achieve these goals,” she said.
Freedom to customize policies could lead to some that sweeten the pot for residents as well, she said, citing daily travel as one example.
“They could incentivize purchases of electric vehicles; the transportation sector is the largest sector of our emissions here in Rhode Island, so there could be programs … to improve transit to have fewer people driving,” Moses said. “There are lots of different tools in the toolbox to get at the different sectors of our economy where we are producing these climate-damaging emissions.”
Elizabeth Graham is a PBN staff writer. Contact her at Graham@PBN.com.
