Jason and Erin Olkowski never saw themselves as activists and community organizers. But that all changed when Invenergy came to their small Rhode Island town, with its plans to build a massive new natural gas plant next door to family homes and within a pristine conservation area.
Fighting Big Gas How One Community’s Fight Could Shape the Future of New England Restoring Lake Champlain Reasons for Hope after Decades of Degradation Local Food 2.0 Training a New Generation of Farmers in Western Massachusetts Whale Watch Saving North Atlantic Right Whales from Extinction Measuring Community Health A New Research Model Puts the Community… Continue reading Conservation Matters Summer 2017: Year in Review
Today marks the start of the National Governors Association summer meeting in Providence, Rhode Island. Held over four days, the meeting will bring together more than 30 governors from across the country to discuss the most critical issues facing our nation. However, one of the glaring omissions from the conference’s agenda: climate change, specifically state… Continue reading New England Governors, Stand Up for Paris
Since an article appeared in the Providence Journal on July 11 saying that the proposed start-up date of the Invenergy plant has been postponed, I have heard from many CLF supporters asking questions about the delay and what it means. Here are answers to the most frequently asked questions. What exactly was reported in the… Continue reading Invenergy Natural Gas Power Plant Postponement Is Good News
“In 2005, when Hurricane Katrina wreaked havoc on an offshore Shell facility, the company was forced to confront the reality of climate change and the dangers it poses,” said CLF President Bradley Campbell. “But more than a decade later, Shell’s acknowledgement of these risks has not translated into action to prevent them in places where people actually live. With just one severe storm – one major flood – the Providence River and surrounding communities could be inundated with toxic substances, yet Shell has done nothing to safeguard us from this fate. It’s time they be held accountable for this grave inaction.”
Last week, I gave a presentation on the pollutants that plague Lake Champlain. On one slide I focused on the negative impacts of microbeads – miniature plastic balls so tiny that they slip through wastewater treatment systems and wind up in our lakes (and rivers, streams, and ocean). Once in the water, microbeads don’t biodegrade… Continue reading The Threat of Plastic Pollution
Since the Rhode Island Superior Court denied Invenergy’s motion to dismiss CLF’s lawsuit against the company, I have received lots of questions from CLF supporters asking questions about the ruling and what it means. Here are answers to the most frequently asked questions. Does the Judge’s ruling on June 20 mean that CLF won the… Continue reading Q&A on CLF’s Superior Court Win in the Invenergy Case
On June 20, 2017, a Rhode Island Superior Court judge denied Invenergy’s Motion to Dismiss CLF’s lawsuit against the company. CLF’s Superior Court lawsuit asserts that the water contract between Invenergy and the Town of Johnston to supply water to Invenergy’s proposed power plant is illegal. This Superior Court case pertains to Invenergy, but is separate from… Continue reading CLF Victory in Superior Court Case on Invenergy
“When a fossil fuel company tries to take Providence’s water in order to power a plant we overwhelmingly oppose, we have a right to stand up and fight,” said CLF senior attorney Jerry Elmer. “Today, the courts affirmed that right. Rhode Island is poised to be a leader in clean, renewable energy, and we cannot turn back the clocks by doubling down on dirty fuels that are already on their way out.”
Rhode Island just took a historic step this past month with the launching of the state’s first comprehensive food strategy, a plan to grow and sustain markets for locally grown food for the good of communities, the environment, and the economy.
