Gov. Dan McKee endorsed a spending plan allocating $2.6 million to support the implementation of Rhode Island’s Act on Climate on Sept. 29, according to a press release. The plan, crafted by the state’s Executive Climate Change Coordinating Council, known as EC4, will fund a wide array of green projects statewide.
The council, consisting of 13 member agencies, received its first substantial round of funding from the General Assembly this year, EcoRI News reported. Established by the Resilient Rhode Island Act of 2014, EC4 is charged with planning the state’s route to substantive emissions reductions — 45% below 1990 levels by 2030 and 80% below 1990 levels by 2040 — and tracking its progress.
EC4’s plan allocates funding to projects ranging from urban tree cover to climate vulnerability assessments. The bulk of the plan’s funding, coming in at $1.1 million, has been designated for the implementation of electric vehicle and e-bike incentive programs. The Office of Energy Resources will use the funding to continue its DRIVE EV program and Erika Niedowski Memorial E-Bike Rebate Program.
“There is no ‘one size fits all’ solution for climate change in R.I.,” wrote Elizabeth Stone ’96, environmental policy analyst for the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, in an email to The Herald. “Hence, our investments must be multifaceted.”
Low-emission transportation is “crucial in Rhode Island’'s climate change fight,” Office of Energy Resources Communications Coordinator Natalie Bishop wrote in an email to The Herald. According to Bishop, zero-emission vehicles like the E-Bikes incentivized in these programs can have a significant impact on greenhouse gas emissions.
The Department of Environmental Management also received a total of $220,000 from the spending plan. The funding will be used for two projects: the buildout of urban tree canopies and implementing the work of the R.I. Chief Resilience Officer.
According to Stone, Rhode Island has not had a Chief Resilience Officer since November 2022, when the position was a part of the R.I. Infrastructure Bank. The position was moved to the Department of Environmental Management in May through an executive order, and final interviews are currently being conducted for the position, Stone wrote.
The new CRO will allocate $100,000 of the plan’s budget to implement the projects they develop, Stone wrote, allowing them to work “alongside cities and towns to implement resilience programs and projects.”
Some investments also will go into outreach: $200,000 will fund the Department of Commerce with the intent of promoting dialogues with the business community as they navigate incentive programs and aim to lower greenhouse gas emissions, according to the budget.
The Department of Labor and Training will also receive $150,000 to create a grant program centered around environmental education, apprenticeships and professional development.
Continuing Rhode Island’s shift towards career options focused on the environment, oceans and renewable energy could be “transformative,” said John Willumsen, chief economic and policy analyst for the Department of Labor and Training.
For Willumsen, investing in “green and blue economies” — the latter phrase is defined by the World Bank as economic activity focused on the “sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth” — “is a chance to seize all the federal money that’s available … as well as Governor McKee’s vision to eliminate non-renewable energy sources.”
Other funds in the budget will go to the Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission for work on dockets related to the Act on Climate, the Department of Health for investigating the relationship between flooding risk and contamination, OER to help municipalities participate in state energy programs and the Division of Statewide Planning for climate vulnerability assessments. Other unmarked funds will fund grant applications for federal climate programs and work to encompass “climate change considerations into public building investments.”
For the Department of Labor and Training and other departments receiving funding from the plan, the next step is ensuring the success of their projects, Willumsen said. “It’s a limited resource universe. You don’t want to misfire on your investments,” he said. “You want to find the places where you are actually going to help people get a job or find a better career.”
Stone explained that the EC4 crafted the plan in collaboration with a broad array of departments, making sure to “directly connect with each agency.” Statewide change will require a statewide effort, she noted.
The EC4 “looks forward to providing additional funds in future months as more funding (becomes) available to spend,” she wrote.
Maya Kelly is a Metro senior staff writer who covers health and environment. When she's not at The Herald, you can find her hanging from an aerial silk, bullet journaling, or stress-baking.
