Exactly a year ago, as families prepared for a brutal winter night, National Grid cut gas service to more than 7,000 customers on Aquidneck Island. With another New England winter upon us, it’s also worth noting that Rhode Island could avoid these types of emergencies entirely by switching from fossil fuels like gas to clean alternatives powered by solar and wind.
“The reality of the climate crisis demands that we end our reliance on dirty fossil fuels,” said CLF Senior Attorney Jerry Elmer. “This commitment to 100% renewable electricity is a major step towards reaching that goal. The Governor must now make good on her promise to support a law that goes beyond mere talk and makes Rhode Island’s climate goals mandatory, including slashing emissions beyond the electric sector.”
In 2015, energy giant Invenergy announced its plan to pave over a pristine forest in Burrillville, Rhode Island, to build a 1,000-megawatt fracked gas and diesel oil power plant. For the next four years, CLF and the town of Burrillville fought to keep the polluting behemoth from being built.
“The Senate President’s bill is a solid compromise and it will keep Rhode Island’s lands and waters free from this toxic litter,” said Amy Moses, Rhode Island director of the Conservation Law Foundation.
We can’t allow manufacturers to get away with the false narrative that it’s up to you and me to recycle our way out of the plastic pollution crisis. It’s time to call them out as the real culprits and put the burden on their shoulders, not ours.
Winter snow and ice bring out Big Gas’s fearmongers. Why is the region’s electric grid operator among them?
Installing solar panels helped Melissa and her husband slash their energy bills – and also reduced their family’s carbon footprint.
Ever winter, as the cold rolls in and New Englanders turn up their heat, the gas industry starts calling for more pipelines. But if we want to avoid a climate catastrophe, we need to end fossil fuel use—including the use of fracked gas—by 2050 at the very latest.
CLF is no stranger to tough fights and seemingly impossible odds. In our 50-plus-year history, we’ve taken on – and taken down – Goliaths, from Big Coal to Big Gas. Here’s what we have learned from the biggest battles of the past decade – and what we must, and will, do before we reach 2030.
“Today’s decision is a clear victory for our oceans and for the Atlantic’s only marine national monument,” said Peter Shelley, Senior Counsel at CLF. “This decision upholds protections for one of the most fragile and scientifically important areas in the North Atlantic from destructive activities like oil drilling and industrial fishing. Safeguarding the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts ensures that we are leaving a proud legacy for the people of New England.”
