Rhode Island State House. Photo: Tupungato via Shutterstock
December 16, 2022 (PROVIDENCE, RI) – Rhode Island’s climate change council has approved an update to the state’s greenhouse gas emissions plan, which will guide efforts to meet the climate mandates laid out in the Act on Climate law. Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) released the following statement in response.
“Rhode Island clearly has a lot of work to do when it comes to meeting the demands of the climate crisis,” said Darrèll Brown, Vice President of CLF Rhode Island. “The plan that the council approved today is a good first step, and it recommends some much-needed policies like electrifying transit fleets and expanding incentives for clean, efficient heat pumps. But this experience showed us how much time it takes to create an inclusive climate plan – we need to get to work now on the plan’s next iteration which is due in 2025.”
The Act on Climate law, passed in 2021, will put the state on track to slashing its climate-damaging emissions to net zero by 2050 and help Rhode Islanders benefit from the transition to a clean energy economy. The state’s climate council is tasked with implementing the law and creating policies and milestones to reach the law’s mandatory targets by their deadlines.
CLF experts are available for further comment.
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