New report identifies the main obstructionists
By Frank Carini / ecoRI News columnist
The first sentence of the 34-page report grabbed my attention. “After stunning successes in 2021 and 2022, climate action has slowed in Rhode Island.” I recognized the part after the comma, but, being the cynical pessimist that I am, I searched for some clarification about the rest.
The Brown University authors of “Who’s Obstructing Climate
Action in the Rhode Island Legislature?” point largely to the 2021 Act on
Climate, calling it a “groundbreaking initiative.” The law mandates the
reduction of greenhouse gas emissions produced in Rhode Island to net zero by
2050.
“One of the most notable reasons for its success was the
collaboration between environmentalists and the labor movement,” according to
the report released last week. “This was a sharp departure
from the divide between environmental groups and labor unions over the proposed
Burrillville gas plant. As past research shows, labor-environment coalitions
signal to legislators that key compromises have been worked out and that a bill
will be broadly popular.”
The act’s language was drafted by lead sponsors Sen. Dawn
Euer, D-Newport, and Rep. Lauren Carson, D-Newport, in consultation with staff
at the Conservation Law Foundation. The AFL-CIO and Climate Action Rhode Island
were also involved.
The 5-year-old law is certainly a major upgrade over the
toothless Resilient Rhode Island Act of 2014 that was so
fraudulently touted by lawmakers. But don’t sleep on Rhode Island’s uncanny
ability to ignore environmental law. It’s the state’s superpower.
The team of faculty and students at the Climate and
Development Lab at Brown University researched the lobbying and
testimony on priority bills from the Environment Council of Rhode Island and
Climate Action Rhode Island over the past several legislative sessions.
The main goal of their work was to answer a few key
questions: Why do so many climate and renewable energy bills die in the General
Assembly? What are the barriers to climate legislation in Rhode Island? Who is
obstructing state climate legislation, and what strategies are they using?
The effort resulted in a timeline and a slice of Rhode Island history on both climate action and inaction by state government over the past two decades.
“We’ve done our best, and certainly welcome any feedback,”
said Timmons
Roberts, director of the Climate and Development Lab (CDL) and a
professor of environment and society.
The CDL has done a series of
these studies on seven other states, including Massachusetts and Connecticut. Some of the papers have been published in
peer-reviewed literature.
The goal, according to Roberts and his team, is to help
Rhode Island, and the other states, understand what has gotten in the way in
the past as a way to have better outcomes in the future when it comes to
effectively addressing the climate crisis.
“These are crucial years for the Act on Climate,” Roberts
said. “Important action is needed by the Legislature to reach the goals they
mandated.”
The time is now to aggressively address this emergency —
locally, statewide, across the region, and around the country. (If you plan on
leaving a yeah-but-China comment, please don’t.)
Total lobbyist compensation by the
top environmental opponents from 2018-2025. (CDL)
The report offers six core findings:
Rhode Island Energy, owned by the Pennsylvania Power
and Light Corp., spent the most on lobbying (in the years it has been active)
and was the most active opponent of environmental groups on climate and energy
bills in the study period, 2004-2025.
Rhode Island Energy pushed back against the facts, telling my colleague Rob Smith that “It is
disappointing that an academic institution would lend its name to work that so
clearly lacks balance and rigor. As new clean energy mandates are debated, we
believe it’s crucial for policymakers and the public to have honest dialogue
about affordability and the impacts of our clean energy transition on
customers, system reliability and safety.”
Do corporations ever get tired of shoveling manure? I know I
find their shoveling exhausting.
In 2024, Pennsylvania Power and Light CEO Vincent
Sorgi’s compensation
package was worth $11,355,743 — 68 times the company’s median employee
pay. The median household income in Rhode Island is $86,372, or 131 times less
than Sorgi’s pay. In 2023, the first full year after Pennsylvania Power and
Light acquired National Grid, Sorgi’s compensation package was worth $11,969,556.
Rhode Island residents, on average, spend about $263 per month on electricity, or $3,156
annually. That is 19% higher than the national average electric bill of $2,653.
So much for those concerns about affordability. I also find
blaming cleaner renewable energy for higher utility costs exhausting.
As for Pennsylvania Power and Light’s concerns about safety,
the company and its subsidiaries, since 2000, have racked up 44 violations, including 19 for environment-related
offenses and 13 for safety-related offenses.
Business coalitions and the Rhode Island Public
Utilities Commission (PUC) are frequent opponents of climate policies.
Rhode Island’s 2025 Climate Action Strategy proposes interventions
that have been introduced in past legislative sessions, and faced resistance.
Rhode Island has key state-level constraints
that have posed barriers to climate action. As an example, the report noted
legislators are paid “extremely low salaries, around $20,000,” with some
additional pay if they are chosen for leadership roles. “They have tiny staff
support, which often leads them to be highly reliant on outside groups for
information and legislative analysis and bill drafting.” It also noted the
General Assembly is “extremely hierarchical, with nearly all the power
concentrated in two individuals: the Speaker of the House and the President of
the Senate.”
Implementation is particularly challenging with
an adversarial federal government and as entrenched special interests
and new groups attack public transit, renewable energy, and electric
vehicles.
Labor-environmental coalitions have advanced
state climate policy.
The report ranks the top organizations that have submitted
written testimony against priority climate bills. It also provides brief
profiles on the “anti-climate testimony of five major actors” — Rhode Island
Energy, the National Federation of Independent Businesses, the Rhode Island
Business Council, the PUC, and the Rhode Island Department of Public Utilities
and Carriers.
The arguments from opposition groups fall into the same
tired silos:
The Free Rider Excuse: framing emissions reduction as
economically self-defeating because “others have no real intention of reducing
theirs, and will take advantage of us.”
Policy Perfectionism: asserting that policies should
be delayed until all possible downsides can be identified and addressed.
Appeal to Well-Being: arguing that a rapid transition
from fossil fuels will condemn consumers and businesses to higher costs, a
position frequently paired with concerns over Rhode Island’s already high
energy prices.
No Sticks, Just Carrots: contending that restrictive
measures will fail and should be abandoned, calling instead for voluntary or
incentive-based programs.
Among all testimony analyzed, business associations — such
as the Northern Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce, which tried,
unsuccessfully, to gut the Act on Climate law — emerged as some of the most
consistent opponents of environmental legislation. In written testimony, they
frequently warned of the economic ripple effects of new mandates, arguing that
proposed policies could slow housing production, drive businesses out of Rhode
Island, and raise costs for residents and businesses.
All valid concerns that should be considered and examined —
although it appears to me building is booming for oversized
vacation/second/third homes, and I suspect these environmentally unfriendly
business associations aren’t worried about the lack of construction of
affordable housing or the clear-cutting of forestland.
Stopping offshore wind projects (again), including one that
is 85% complete, and then forcing lawsuits to be filed (again) and watching the
PUC rubber stamp every Rhode Island Energy request for higher rates won’t lower
utility costs.
There’s also this key point that is continuously ignored:
The cost of not adequately addressing the climate crisis needs to be
prioritized and regarded.
What the protectors of the status quo fail to realize is
that the cost of doing nothing is significantly higher, especially for those
who follow us. Their obstruction is degrading ecosystems and killing off
species.
They don’t seem to understand or care. Their hindrance will
prove costly.
