By in
Rhode Island’s Future
See this video directly on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xk3oPHjn9Ss
Local environmental groups and activists have responded to
comments made by RI House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello (D District 15 Cranston) made about
his support for Invenergy‘s new planned
methane gas and oil fueled power plant at the 2016 Rhode Island Small Business Economic Summit.
In the video, Mattiello
says:
“I’ve been an advocate working with the Office of Energy
Resources. I
think we have to expand our traditional energy sources and we’re doing so
somewhat in Burrillville. I fully encourage that because we have to provide
traditional energy as cheaply and efficiently as possible for our ratepayers.
"However, the world is changing and we have to look at renewables and we have to
encourage the growth of renewables. Some people want just the carbon based some
people want just the renewables.
"I think we have to take a practical viewpoint and I encourage both and we’ll grow them both just as fast as we can and let the economy and the marketplace play a little bit of a role. As far as I’m concerned we’re going to encourage the expansion of all forms of energy so that our citizens and our businesses have the cheapest energy available to them so that we can grow and thrive as a community and that our citizens can heat their homes and power their homes as efficiently and cheaply as possible.”
“An ‘all-of-the-above’ approach may provide a good soundbite for
Speaker Mattiello,” said Conservation Law Foundation press secretary Josh Block, “but it is an illogical and
irresponsible solution when it comes to our energy grid. Renewable energy is
the only path to ensuring breathable air, drinkable water and stable energy
prices for decades to come, and suggesting we continue building payphones when
cell phones are getting cheaper and more prevalent each day defies basic
economic and common sense.”
Professor Peter Nightingale of Fossil Free RI says that “Speaker Mattiello does not
get it: going green will stimulate Rhode Island’s economy more than his
supposedly cheap fossil fuel energy. He calls himself practical, even as
he ignores common sense economics and the laws of nature. Unfortunately, he
fits in perfectly with the rest of our leadership as they sell present and
future generations down “Clear River” for short-term gain. Is
dark and out-of-state money interfering
with their sense of decency and grasp of reality?”
Greg Gerritt, head of research for ProsperityForRI.com speaking only for himself, berated the
Speaker’s understanding of economics, saying, “The more I listen to
Representative Mattiello the more it becomes obvious that he has absolutely no
understanding of how the economy works and where it is going, has no
understanding of the relationship between healthy ecosystems and the Rhode
Island economy, and no conception that economies are built from the bottom up
not the top down.”
Steve Ahlquist is an award-winning journalist,
writer, artist and founding member of the Humanists of Rhode Island, a
non-profit group dedicated to reason, compassion, optimism, courage and action.
The views expressed are his own and not necessarily those of any organization
of which he is a member. atomicsteve@gmail.com
and Twitter: @SteveAhlquist