Latest News

Outdated heating systems, such as this old radiator, and old housing stock aren’t energy efficient. (istock)

Outdated heating systems, such as this old radiator, and old housing stock aren’t energy efficient. (istock)

For many renters, rising utility rates and drafty apartments are at the top of their list of concerns; in 2019, the United Way of Rhode Island received 56,000 calls for utility assistance.

The growing industry exploits the labor of Black, Brown, and poor communities worldwide, according to a local professor. (istock)

The growing industry exploits the labor of Black, Brown, and poor communities worldwide, according to a local professor. (istock)

Renewable energy is often touted as the best way to cut carbon emissions and simultaneously save money. And at the top of the list of renewables is solar. But there is a dark side to solar.

The controversial settlement between the Coastal Resources Management Council and a Block Island marina that expanded the facility’s footprint by 1.5 acres has shined a bright light on a board that has long lacked experience and knowledge about coastal matters. (Frank Carini/ecoRI News)

The controversial settlement between the Coastal Resources Management Council and a Block Island marina that expanded the facility’s footprint by 1.5 acres has shined a bright light on a board that has long lacked experience and knowledge about coastal matters. (Frank Carini/ecoRI News)

Core forests provide refuge for some of the state’s most-vulnerable species, such as black-crowned night herons. (Joanna Detz/ecoRI News)

Core forests provide refuge for some of the state’s most-vulnerable species, such as black-crowned night herons. (Joanna Detz/ecoRI News)

The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management leases land for farming. These agricultural lease agreements are used as a management tool to provide wildlife habitat and to create hunting opportunities. (DEM)

The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management leases land for farming. These agricultural lease agreements are used as a management tool to provide wildlife habitat and to create hunting opportunities. (DEM)

Climate Crisis

Featured
New Study Presents Affordable, Job-Growing Plan to Combat Climate Crisis

A recent Princeton University study presents a practical and affordable plan for the United States to reach net-zero greenhouse-gas emissions by 2050. It also shows how such a move would create more jobs.
Public Response Key to Expanding Regional Effort to Curb Transportation Sector Climate Emissions

The regional collaboration known as the Transportation & Climate Initiative will be operating, at least initially, with a smaller cast than expected.
November Global Temperatures Warmest Ever Recorded

The latest global temperature data shows that November 2020 was the warmest November ever recorded.

Energy

Featured
Portsmouth LNG Operation: A Neighborhood Nuisance

PORTSMOUTH, R.I. — Two years after the liquefied natural gas conversion apparatus was called into temporary emergency duty to assist a major gas outage, the wintertime operation endures. Its existence is a point of contention in the semi-rural eastern portion of Portsmouth and Middletown.
Expensive Renewable-Energy Report Completed But There Are No Plans to Advance Its Recommendations

The recently released report commissioned by Gov. Gina Raimondo to get Rhode Island to 100 percent renewable electricity by 2030 cost ratepayers $355,000, but the state has no immediate plans to advance its recommendations, which include efforts that would address systemic racism and historic inequities.

Senate Energy Infrastructure Commission Leaves Out Environmental Groups
Senate Energy Infrastructure Commission Leaves Out Environmental Groups

The Rhode Island Senate commission studying electric and natural-gas infrastructure has 19 members but not one from an environmental group, despite the fact that transmission and distribution of natural gas through pipelines and related infrastructure pose considerable environmental and public-health risks.

Land Use

Featured
Off-Road Vehicles Leave Marks on Protected Cranston Farm

CRANSTON, R.I. — A group of off-road vehicles recently tore a trail through Knight Farm off Burlingame Road.
50 Acres of Fall River Woodlands, Wetlands Forever Protected

More than 50 acres of woods and wetlands that border the massive Southeastern Massachusetts BioReserve will be permanently protected from development through a partnership between the city of Fall River and the Buzzards Bay Coalition.
DEM Acquires Former Echo Lake Campground in Burrillville

The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management has purchased the former Echo Lake Campground in Burrillville.

Wildlife & Nature

Featured
R.I.’s Green Canopy Provides Priceless Protection

Rhode Island’s forests remove about 14 tons of pollutants from the air annually. This service is estimated to be worth $30 million.
Four Dolphins Found Dead Along Rhode Island Coast

When a dead dolphin was discovered at Cormorant Cove on Block Island on Jan. 17, a volunteer with the Mystic Aquarium animal rescue team responded to collect data about the animal. A week later a second dead dolphin was discovered on Block Island near the North Light. Two others were found dead off Ocean Drive in Newport in December.
In Search of Rhode Island’s Semi-Aquatic Mammals

Traveling via kayak, John Crockett will search for evidence of muskrats, beavers, and river otters to document their distribution throughout the state.

Pollution

Featured
Pollution Problems Persist at 3 Rhode Island Locations

A lack of urgency and a deference to business interests by Rhode Island officials have allowed three high-profile pollution problems to fester. All of the ongoing environmental degradation has been happening for more than a decade.
Proposed Asphalt Plant Upsets Seekonk Neighborhood

SEEKONK, Mass. — Neighbors who live nearby, as well as concerned residents from as far as Swansea and Barrington, R.I., have come out against a proposal to build an asphalt plant on Industrial Court.
Contaminated 6-10 Piles Nearly Gone But Source of Polluted Material Unclear

PROVIDENCE — The contaminated piles of fill are nearly gone from a staging area for the 6-10 interchange highway project, but where they came from remains unclear. The Rhode Island Department of Transportation won’t offer details about the sources of the contaminated material.

Waste Management

Featured
Providence Prepared to Reduce Bag Ban Exemptions

The Providence bag ban marks its first anniversary in October and the city office that oversees the law wants an exemption used by retailers to end.
Director of Rhode Island's Recycling Facility Considers the Space a Coronavirus Hot Spot

The recycling center at the Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation is considered, at least to the person who runs the quasi-public agency, a COVID-19 hot spot, with 10 employees testing positive for the virus during the past two months.

Transportation

Featured
Northeast High-Speed Rail Project Races Forward

A group of transit professionals, activists, elected officials, and organizations want the North Atlantic region to ride the rails into the future.
R.I.'s Compact Size Could Drive Transportation Reboot

The country’s smallest and second-most densely populated state provides more avenues to move people about without having to depend on cars. Transit advocates say it’s time Rhode Island takes advantage.

Government

Marine

Social Justice

Public Health

Aquaculture & Fisheries

Environmentalism

Local Economy

Food and Farming

Opinion

Featured
Vote No on Rhode Island Question 4, RIDOT’s Transportation Bond

This bond question is all about highways and does nothing for Rhode Island’s bus system or bicycle network. It also will help finance an aggressive highway expansion wish list that includes the widening of routes 95, 195, and 295.

Fossil-Fuel Industry is Scared of Rhode Island’s Climate Lawsuit. It Should Be.

But while President Biden and the new Congress will seek to reduce emissions and transition us to a clean energy economy, it will fall to the courts, and lawsuits like one brought by Rhode Island, to decide a crucial matter of justice: Who should pay for the escalating costs that climate-change damages like sea-level rise and flooding create for our communities?

Green Tips

Featured
10 Ways to Tap Into Rhode Island’s Thrift Scene

The amount of textile waste produced by the United States annually, including clothing and bedding, has skyrocketed since the 1980s. In 2015, 10.5 million tons of textiles went to landfills.

Cool Ideas for Reducing Urban Heat-Island Effect

The impact that rising temperatures and excessive heat are having on urban development, and strategies to mitigate urban heat-island effects are explored in a new report published by the Urban Land Institute.

 

ENVIRONMENTAL EVENTS