Help Pass Climate Legislation in Rhode Island

Four important energy and climate bills currently sit before the Rhode Island Senate and House environment committees. We need your help to get them out of committee. Scroll down for call/email script and more information on the bills!

Call your legislators and the committee chairs today to encourage them to pass the following bills out of committee:

  • Energy Efficient Appliance Standards (H.5667/S.552)
  • The Economic and Climate Resilience Act (H.5869/S.662)
  • The Global Warming Solutions Act (H.5444/S.658)
  • Common Sense Solar Siting (H.5789/S.661)

Call Senator Susan Sosnowski, Chair of Senate Environment and Agriculture, at (401) 783-7704, or email at sen-sownoswki@rilegislature.gov.

Call Representative David Bennett, Chair of House Environment and Natural Resources, at (401) 480-4647 or email at rep-bennett@rilegislature.gov.

And while you're at it, you can look up your own elected officials on the Secretary of State's website, find their contact information on the Senate website and House website, and give them a call too!

 

Call Script

Hi, this is ___[your name]____ from _____[your town]_____. I'm a supporter of Green Energy Consumers Alliance, and I'm concerned about climate change. I want to support four key climate bills that would increase our energy efficiency, balance renewable energy development with land conservation, set mandatory carbon emissions targets, and provide a funding stream for future clean energy investment.

Please help pass the following bills:

[For a Senator]: S.552, S.662, S.658, and S.662

[For a Representative]: H.5667, H.5869, H.5444, and H.5789

Climate action is important to me because _______. These bills will move the needle in Rhode Island on climate action. Please urge your colleagues on the Environment Committee to vote these bills to the floor.

Thank you.

 

Energy Efficient Appliance Standards (H.5667/S.552)

Appliance efficiency standards are the simplest, most powerful way to reduce emissions while saving money for energy consumers. This policy would raise the minimum level of water, gas, and electricity efficiency allowed in 16 products—like faucets, monitors, and fans—on the shelves in Rhode Island. The legislation pays for itself: energy consumers would save $21 million per year on their utility bills by 2025. And it’s really good for the environment, saving 23,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide and 633 million gallons of water per year by 2025 due to the increased efficiency.

Find out why appliance standards are so cool by checking out our blog. You can also read more on our legislative one pager here.

The Economic and Climate Resilience Act (H.5689/S.662)

How do we shift Rhode Island away from fossil fuels? We make clean energy the easy option. The Economic and Climate Resilience Act would put a fee on fossil fuel pollution and reinvest the revenue in clean energy, all while protecting vulnerable energy consumers from any increase in energy costs. This carbon fee and rebate could raise over $30 million for clean energy in its first year.

Read more about carbon pricing policy for Rhode Island on the Energize RI Coalition website.

Global Warming Solutions Act (H.5444/S.658)

We know we have to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions fast to keep climate change in check, but, unlike our neighbors, Rhode Island is not required to cut down on carbon emissions. Instead, we have nonmandatory targets that we’re not on track to meeting. The Global Warming Solutions Act would set mandatory, enforceable targets so that we can keep our government accountable to climate action.

Read more about the Global Warming Solutions Act here.

Common Sense Solar Siting (H.5789/S.661)

How will we meet our climate goals? By investing in renewable energy like solar and wind. But renewable energy should not have to come at the expense of our natural spaces. H. 57879/S.661 would set additional protections on our forests and open spaces, require municipalities to develop solar ordinances, and incentivize renewable energy development on brownfields, gravel pits, and other developed land. This policy was the result of partnership with office of energy resources, renewable energy developers, conservation groups, and others. We urgently need legislation to guide solar development in this state. Read more about it here.