Rep. Tina Spears and Sen. Victoria Gu score "A" grades, Sen. Elaine Morgan gets an "F"
By Rob Smith / ecoRI News staff
Rhode Island has slowed its actions against
climate change in the past two years, and environmental groups have found
themselves playing defense.
Tina and Victoria fought hard for the environment
That’s the takeaway from a new report by the Environment Council of
Rhode Island (ECRI), a coalition of some 60 organizations dedicated to
environmental advocacy. The group released its biennial Green Report Card on Aug. 27, less than two weeks
before the state primary elections.
It’s a big difference from just four years ago, when the
report card for the legislative sessions of 2021-2022 called them “the best two
years of environmental policymaking” in state history.
“We need to act quickly and decisively to slash emissions
from buildings and transportation and get on track to meet our climate
commitments,” said Jordan Miller, ECRI’s executive director. “We must ensure
that all our communities benefit from a just transition to a net-zero future.
The next steps we take are vital if we want to secure a healthy and sustainable
future for all Rhode Islanders.”
Elaine Morgan didn't
Environmental organizations have had a tough few years in
the General Assembly. Of the 68 priority bills ECRI identified in 2025, only
21% passed the Legislature. The group fared a little better this year, with a
third of its 78 endorsed bills securing passage out of legislative chambers.
None of the group’s eight top priority bills from the past
two years passed into law. Those priorities included a package to fund the
Rhode Island Public Transit Agency, new offshore wind procurement, a bottle
bill and extended producer responsibility omnibus bill, and building
benchmarking legislation.
That doesn’t mean the General Assembly has been completely
hostile to the group’s priorities; ECRI noted in its Green Report Card that the
past two years saw some significant wins in standards for labor and workforce
development, new protections against PFAs and rodenticides, and a stronger
Green Bond for voters in November.
“The dedicated members of the Environment Council of Rhode Island are valuable partners as we continue working to better protect Rhode Island’s environment and natural resources. While we have not yet reviewed the report that was released today, the General Assembly will continue to work on the legislative issues it raises through our public committee review process,” Senate President Valerie Lawson and Speaker of the House Christopher Blazejewski noted in a joint statement to ecoRI News. “We look forward to continuing to work with ECRI to make meaningful progress on these issues for our state.”
The group also wrote in its report the past two years of
climate policymaking have been “disappointing” and squarely laid the blame on
actions by Gov. Dan McKee and state agencies.
“While Governor McKee has spoken out against some of the
Trump administration’s attacks on clean energy, including efforts to derail the
Revolution Wind project, he has failed to follow up his statements with strong
climate action here in Rhode Island,” ECRI wrote.
ECRI pointed to the governor’s attempts to roll back the
2033 deadline for the Renewable Energy Standard, which requires all electricity
sold to Rhode Islanders to come from renewable sources, and his cuts to energy
efficiency and renewable energy programs, all of which would have pushed the
net-zero mandates of the Act on Climate far out of reach.
Those cuts, proposed in McKee’s state budget proposal back
in January, meant environmental groups spent a lot more lobbying time playing
defense this year. Efforts paid off in June, when lawmakers mostly rejected
McKee’s proposals for the budget. Lawmakers also added additional funding for
land conservation back to this year’s (now $55 million) Green Bond.
But McKee also gave out his only veto this year on one of ECRI’s major priorities: the
Building Performance Standards Act. The law would have required large building
owners to begin tracking their energy usage and their building emissions.
McKee vetoed the bill, citing increased costs for
businesses, and said that it conflicted with language written into the state
budget that put a tracking requirement on state buildings.
ECRI also took umbrage with the actions of the Executive
Climate Change Coordinating Council (EC4), the entity made up of 13 separate
state agencies and divisions dedicated to formulating and executing climate
actions at the state level.
Last year, the EC4 submitted its 2025 Climate Action
Strategy. The document was a requirement of the Act on Climate law,
to put state officials’ plans to paper on how they would achieve the law’s
net-zero targets.
But the final report was a disappointment for environmental
groups in ECRI, with the group saying the strategy “merely lists a number of
potential climate policy options the state could choose to implement.”
“In the document, the EC4 fails to recommend or commit to
any specific policy or courses of action,” according to ECRI.
The group also graded and ranked individual lawmakers on
environmental issues, keeping track of their bill sponsorships and floor votes.
In the Senate, lawmakers notched 13 As, 8 Bs, 7 Cs, 3 Ds, and 6 Fs. In the
House, representatives got 25 As, 11 Bs, 11 Cs, 16 Ds, and 12 Fs.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Area Senators Bridget Valverde and Sue Sosnowski scored A+ as did House members Teresa Tanzi, Meg Cotter and Carol McEntee. Senators Alana DiMario and Victoria Gu scored "A," as did Rep. Tina Spears. Westerly DINO Reps Sam Azzinaro and Brian Patrick Kennedy both scored D. Sen. Elaine Morgan for the 3rd worst score of "F." - Will Collette
