R.I. Senators Say 'Get Off Oil'

By KARA KAUFMAN/ecoRI News contributor

PROVIDENCE — Both Rhode Island senators have issued strong rationales for eliminating the nation’s dependence on fossil fuels. 

Sen. Jack Reed linked fossil fuels to two problems: oil spills and political instability. At a recent Brown University forum titled "Get Off Oil," he challenged the government to use oil subsidies in more productive ways and increase the fees for offshore drilling “from a trivial amount to a less-trivial amount.”

The speeches took place as part of a Nov. 4 forum sponsored by Environment Rhode Island in partnership with Brown University's student environmental organization EmPower.

Policies that provide incentives for renewable energy instead of oil will go a long way, Reed said, despite the fact that “we’re not getting a lot of cooperation (for such policies) from the oil and gas companies.”

Reed reminded the audience of the dangers of fossil fuel by recalling the Deepwater Horizon spill in 2010 that killed 11 oil workers. The 1996 North Cape spill off South Kingstown, the worst ever in Rhode Island, dumped 828,000 gallons of home heating oil and caused long-term environmental and economic challenges. Nevertheless, Reed said, the government still heavily subsidizes the oil industry.

A broad coalition of professors and experts joined Reed and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., to discuss the need to eliminate fossil fuels from the national energy policy.

Reed, a former Army Ranger and member of the Armed Services Committee, said the military recognizes the need to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. If we don’t, he said, “we will be in a strategic straightjacket.”

Whitehouse called for investment in renewable energy for the health of Rhode Islanders and the health of our oceans and coral reefs. The current politics in Washington, he said, have “turned the Capitol building into one of the few places on earth where climate change in still denied.”

Due to the lack of respect for climate science, the federal government subsidizes the oil industry despite its $100 billion in profits, he said.

Pollution from burning oil, coal and natural gas sweeps into Rhode Island on wind currents from the Midwest, causing health problems for residents, according to Whitehouse. Out-of-state pollution is so severe, he said, that Rhode Island could turn off all energy-using devices and cars and still not be in compliance with clean air standards.

The burning of oil, coal and other fossil fuels also makes the oceans more acidic, killing fish, invertebrates and coral reefs. “Let me put it this way,” Whitehouse said, “you are not in a good environment if you are soluble in it.” 

Whitehouse said the government should increase its investment in renewable energy companies such as Newport Biodiesel and T.H. Malloy & Sons, and companies that use algae to create fuel.

Brown University professor Stephen Porder outlined the need to invest in “collective life insurance,” given the fact that the chance of our planet warming by more than 11 degrees by the turn of the century is much greater than the odds that lead us to buy life or car insurance.

T.H. Malloy & Sons and Newport Biodiesel, as well as community organizations People’s Power & Light, Ocean State Clean Cities and Project Get Ready, also discussed alternatives to oil, including electric vehicles, increased public transportation and “green power programs."

The panelists maintained that oil is not the only answer. Americans have the technologies and grassroots support for renewable energy and stronger, locally dependent communities. Biodiesel, electric plug-in vehicles and community empowerment programs are all part of the fabric of the solutions for Rhode Island to get off oil, improve our health and create a sustainable future, they said.