McKee shows "troubling pattern" of attacking programs to combat the effects of climate change
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[From a Climate Action Rhode Island press release]
The legislation passed the House by a vote of 48-15 and the
Senate by a vote of 33-5. It would require large buildings over 25,000 square
feet to report their energy use through automated data-collection software
provided by the state in conjunction with Rhode
Island Energy.
For years, CARI, legislative leaders, environmental
advocates, labor organizations, and business stakeholders have worked to
advance policies that will reduce carbon emissions while creating good-paying
jobs and lowering energy costs. The Building Benchmarking Act represented a
major step in that effort.
CARI is especially grateful to Senator Meghan Kallman (Democrat, District 15, Pawtucket, Providence) and Representative Rebecca Kislak (Democrat, District 4, Providence), who worked tirelessly over multiple legislative sessions to advance this legislation. Their leadership, persistence, and unwavering commitment to addressing climate change helped move this important policy across the finish line in the General Assembly.
In a newsletter to constituents, Representative Kislak
expressed disappointment in the Governor’s veto:
“Last night, I learned that the Governor has vetoed
legislation, for which I was the lead House sponsor, that would have required
large buildings in Rhode Island to report their energy use to the state. This
is deeply disappointing. We need to continue moving forward to protect our
climate, and this bill, negotiated over many years before finally passing both
the House and Senate, is the next step forward in understanding our energy use
in large buildings so that we can make a plan for more sustainable energy use
in our buildings.
“This legislation was developed 5 years ago, following a
community meeting in which constituents asked me to “decarbonize buildings.”
Together with experts and advocates at the Green Energy Consumers Alliance,
the Acadia Center,
the Environmental Coalition
of Rhode Island, Climate Action Rhode Island, and so many more, Senator
Kallman and I worked over many years to introduce a comprehensive plan for
building decarbonization, which we eventually broke down into two bills –
building benchmarking and building decarbonization. We were able to pass the
first bill, benchmarking, to measure energy use. In doing this Rhode Island
would build on the success of Providence in their benchmarking program, and we
would have a more complete, state-wide view of large building energy use.
“We will keep working to get our large buildings on a path
to a more sustainable energy future. This veto is short-sighted and
disappointing.”
The Climate Action Rhode Island press release continues:
You cannot improve what you do not measure. By requiring
large buildings to report their energy use, Rhode Island would finally have the
information needed to identify opportunities to reduce emissions, lower
operating costs, and prepare for future building performance standards. The
legislation places no requirements on homeowners or small businesses.
This legislation traces its roots to a comprehensive
building decarbonization proposal championed by the late Senate President Dominick
Ruggerio. That comprehensive legislation passed the Senate but failed to
advance in the House.
In subsequent years, it was divided into two measures, with
benchmarking becoming the logical first step toward modernizing Rhode Island’s
largest buildings and meeting the goals of the 2021 Act on Climate. The
second phase, establishing Building Performance Standards, will
build upon the data collected through benchmarking to reduce emissions from the
state’s largest buildings over the coming decades.
Unfortunately, this veto continues a troubling pattern.
Earlier this year, Governor McKee proposed
rolling back Rhode Island’s Renewable Energy Standard,
one of the state’s signature clean energy laws. CARI opposed that proposal
because clean energy is not the cause of rising electric bills. In fact,
renewable energy is essential to reducing Rhode Island’s dependence on volatile
fossil fuel markets while providing long-term price stability and helping meet
our growing energy demands.
CARI also cannot ignore the timing of this decision. Earlier
this month, our organization endorsed Governor McKee’s opponent, Helena
Foulkes, in the Democratic primary. While we cannot know the Governor’s
motivation for issuing this veto, it is difficult not to question whether
politics played a role.
Climate change is not waiting, and Rhode Islanders should
not have to either. We urge the General Assembly to reconvene and override this
veto. If that is not possible, legislative leaders should commit to passing the
Building Benchmarking Act as one of the first bills when the General Assembly
returns in January. CARI stands ready to work with lawmakers to enact this
long-overdue legislation finally.
Rhode Islanders deserve leadership that puts sound climate
policy ahead of politics and continues moving our state toward a cleaner,
healthier, and more affordable energy future.
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