By FRANK CARINI
Photo by Steve Ahlquist |
Instead, they simply explained why energy from the proposed fossil-fuel power plant wasn’t needed. They also called out the developer’s deception.
Unfortunately, this kind of reason is the rare exception rather
than the rule on Smith Hill.
The 2019 session of the General Assembly once again proved way too many Rhode Island lawmakers have a blatant disregard for the voiceless and the vulnerable.
They are ignorant about climate change. They don’t give a damn about the future, even if they have children and grandchildren.
Paltry campaign donations can make them look the other way as air quality is threatened, forestland clear-cut, and taxpayers scammed.
The 2019 session of the General Assembly once again proved way too many Rhode Island lawmakers have a blatant disregard for the voiceless and the vulnerable.
They are ignorant about climate change. They don’t give a damn about the future, even if they have children and grandchildren.
Paltry campaign donations can make them look the other way as air quality is threatened, forestland clear-cut, and taxpayers scammed.
Nature is crying for mercy, but far too many of our lawmakers only
hear the ka-ching of campaign dollars.
The fiscal 2020 state budget had $1 million set aside for
a Cranston
chiropractor who practices pseudo-medicine. Since 2004, Rhode Island
lawmakers have steered at least $1.88 million, often laundered through the
state Department of Education, in taxpayer money to a University of Vermont
graduate with a degree in zoology who provides an “innovative treatment for
brain-based disorders” — presumably in humans.
This year, the House speaker, a lawyer whose “leadership” is openly defined by how it benefits him and his friends, decided the chiropractor, whose business office is also on Park Avenue in Cranston, deserved a huge taxpayer-funded raise. The zoology major has donated $2,000 to the leading House hack since 2011.
While the General Assembly and governor’s office made sure the
million dollars were included in the new budget — it was yanked only after some
excellent reporting by WPRI, Uprise RI, and other media outlets exposed the
ongoing scam — the vast majority of elected officials did nada during the past
six months to address issues related to climate change, environmental
protections, and public health.
Once again, they kicked the leaking oil barrel down the road. This annual exercise of avoidance is their collective gift to future generations.
Once again, they kicked the leaking oil barrel down the road. This annual exercise of avoidance is their collective gift to future generations.
As climate-change pressures mount, big-idea initiatives such as
carbon pricing and binding greenhouse-gas reductions were again too hot to
handle. Climate change is too big for Little Rhody to tackle. Think Big is for
the state university, not the Statehouse.
The state’s elected officials couldn’t even muster the political
fortitude to pass a non-binding resolution that supported the non-binding Green
New Deal, which, contrary to the perpetual noise machine, won’t make hamburgers
illegal, ground airplanes, and make chariots the primary means of
transportation.
What the Green New Deal does is
advocate for the replacement of lead water pipes, the remediation of hazardous
waste sites, and a reduction in air and water pollution from fossil fuels. The
document calls for building energy-efficient homes, better access to renewable
energy, and more reliable options for affordable public transportation. It
supports greater racial and economic equity.
It’s a guiding principle Rhode Island lawmakers are afraid to
support.
Collectively, the state’s 113 General Assembly members did nothing
this session to incentivize or better direct ground-mounted solar development
away from woodlands and other open space to already-disturbed areas.
It will be at least another year in which trees are bulldozed for utility-scale solar projects as underused asphalt cracks, vacant buildings deteriorate, and industrial rooftops collect increasing amounts of rain.
It will be at least another year in which trees are bulldozed for utility-scale solar projects as underused asphalt cracks, vacant buildings deteriorate, and industrial rooftops collect increasing amounts of rain.
It’s been two years since the governor has given the issue of
renewable-energy development much thought. That’s when she announced her goal of 1,000 megawatts
of “clean” energy by 2020. For her and her administration, siting particulars
aren’t something to fret about.
Her pulled-from-the-ether goal is some 600 megawatts short, which may help explain why Rhode Island has embraced solar sprawl and the construction of neighborhood wind turbines under the cover of darkness.
Her pulled-from-the-ether goal is some 600 megawatts short, which may help explain why Rhode Island has embraced solar sprawl and the construction of neighborhood wind turbines under the cover of darkness.
As a final insulting kick, 98 General Assembly members voted in
favor of a last-minute bill to increase the
amount of organohalogen flame retardants
in bedding, upholstered furniture, and children’s products from 100 parts per
million to 1,000. Three lawmakers voted against the bill, and 12 were absent
when the vote was taken. No one besides industry lobbyists is clamoring for
more chemicals in kids’ toys.
According to the National Academies of Sciences,
Engineering & Medicine, there is mounting evidence that many
flame retardants are associated with adverse human health effects.
A coalition of organizations and individuals recently petitioned
the Consumer Product Safety Commission to initiate regulatory action to ban the
use of organohalogen flame retardants in four product categories: infant,
toddler, or children’s products; upholstered furniture; mattresses; and plastic
electronic casings. The petitioners argued that the entire chemical class is
toxic and poses a risk to consumers.
In 2017, a 15-year Providence firefighter — she retired in 2016
because of occupational cancer — testified at a Senate committee hearing that
flame retardants may slow fires but the smoldering of fabric and furniture
releases a harmful concentration of toxins.
According to the lone state senator who voted against increasing
the amount of toxins in consumer products, a number of his colleagues who voted
in favor told him afterward they thought it was a bad bill.
That’s the kind of “leadership” Rhode Islanders have come to
expect. It’s pathetic.
Frank Carini is the ecoRI News editor.