Woonsocket Radio News Room

Rhode Island General Assembly

Office of the House Minority Caucus

Leader Chippendale calls for a more measured approach:

Let’s Revisit the Act on Climate

It was built on an idealistic rather than a realistic foundation

State House, Providence – In response to growing concerns in regard to achieving the extraordinary mandates placed on Rhode Islanders listed within the 2021 Act on Climate, House Minority Leader Michael Chippendale submitted legislation to amend unreasonable deadlines and include cost metric considerations in the Act, to in an effort to help protect Rhode Island ratepayers.

The state’s own benchmarks demonstrate that this plan is flawed:

The group EcoRI reports - "We have no clear plan to reach the 2030 climate mandates" – and they simply state that "we are not on track."

Electricity costs over the past 12 years have risen 46% for residents and 24% for local businesses.

Electric Vehicle sales have stalled and have peaked at 1% across the nation. GM, Ford and Tesla are cancelling plans for new production facilities across North America.

Wind projects across our region are being cancelled due to the ever-rising high cost of the power they are slated to provide – not to mention the negative impacts already observed in early installations with Rhode Island’s wildlife and the ocean's ecology.

“It is not good conservation policy to harm our environment with impractical and costly mandates,” said Leader Chippendale. “We need to rewrite the Act Climate or we WILL bankrupt Rhode Islanders by forcing them to electrify every aspect of their lives - at one of the most expensive economic times to do so.”

“The ambitious targets set by the 2021 Climate Act are turning out to be not only unreachable but also excessively costly for our state's ratepayers. The minor adjustments proposed in this bill still honor these objectives, but introduce practical measures to shield Rhode Islanders from the devastating financial impacts we’re already seeing. Across the nation, states are acknowledging that with advancements in renewable energy technologies, shifting to these energy sources will become more cost-effective. They emphasize the importance of a gradual transition to prevent overwhelming their residents with expenses. Rhode Island needs to prioritize these practical considerations over the Act's present impractical ambitions.”