Environment
Environmental issues and climate change
PVD Ordinance Committee passes two measures limiting fossil fuel expansion
Both pieces of legislation need to pass the full City Council to take effect. The ordinance preventing further expansion of LPG in the Port will have no immediate effect on Sea 3 LLC, since they and their current application will be grandfathered in.
From Burrillville to Killingly: No more fossil fuel power plants!
“As in Rhode Island, in Connecticut we found that delaying them, defeated them. Early local opposition was key in both states,” said Killingly resident Earl McWilliams, a member No More Dirty Power in Killingly.
Money from the state's successful air pollution lawsuit used to plant trees in the Port
The settlement money for the Port area is being put towards planting approximately 170 trees. The Washington Park neighborhood surrounding the Port of Providence is in desperate need of trees. In addition to the lowest number of trees in any neighborhood in Providence, the area also, and not coincidentally, has the highest incident of asthma in the state.
PVD Ordinance Committee to weigh bills curbing major fossil fuel expansion in the Port
The Zoning ordinance change and the resolution would not be a declaration against all fossil fuels by the Providence City Council, but it would be a big start. Certain chemicals, petroleum, ethanol products, and LNG (Liquified Natural Gas, aka methane, a powerful greenhouse gas) would all still permitted under the zoning ordinance. A more expanse ordinance and resolution would be welcomed by climate activists.
Lamar Advertising wants electronic billboards - The neighborhood wants their trees back
Lamar Advertising illegally bulldozed over 100 trees in the Washington Park Neighborhood of Providence, a place plagued by asthma and the lowest tree census in the city. Now they want the City Council to grant them a windfall in the form of bright, light polluting digitized billboards in the same neighborhood.
The Zombie Apocalypse vs the Climate Apocalypse outside Chase Bank
“When Chase Bank finances new oil and fracked gas pipelines and new offshore oil infrastructure, they are destroying our hopes for a livable future,” says Abby Huber, vice president of CARI.
Sisters of Mercy at Bay View Academy demanding action on climate change
"We are in Climate Emergency Code Red," said Sister Mary Pendergast. "It's time to act. We have no more time to fool around."
PVD Zoning Board of Review rejects variance application of polluting asphalt company in the Port
"...there is no power-wash or solvent to remove that from our lungs," said Dr Andrew Saal rom the Providence Community Health Center.
Advocates launch campaign to end lead in Rhode Island's water forever
"Lead poisoning is a serious children's health and environmental justice issue," said Devra Levy, a Community Organizer at the Childhood Lead Action Project. "It's an injustice that affects hundreds of Rhode Island children every year and is entirely preventable. Our community coalition has spent years learning about lead in water, doing our research into what other cities across the country are doing and what we can do here in Rhode Island. We know that the solution is full, free lead service line replacement."
The General Assembly did better on the environment than last session, but was it enough?
The Speaker makes the ultimate decisions on whether or not legislation moves out of committee and to the floor for a full vote. That decision may look like the responsibility of the various committee chairs, who oversee the public discussion of the legislation, but in fact no committee chair who wants to keep their seat will ever oppose the Speaker, and even if a committee chair were to oppose the Speaker, it is unlikely that a majority of committee members would risk voting for the bill.