Issue Position: Environment
Issue Position
I was fortunate to be able to sponsor the Bay Street Bill during the 2009 session which will increase the fines on industrial polluters from $1,000/day to $25,000/day. The Governor signed that legislation into law in July 2009.
As seaside communities, Tiverton and Portsmouth are blessed with an abundance of wind which can be harnessed safely and responsibly for the power that we all need. Portsmouth has just brought on line the first municipal wind turbine in Rhode Island which, while providing clean energy, will also give the town free energy for public buildings. This needs to be the norm in Rhode Island and not the exception.
We need to make sure that our public buildings are energy efficient so that we reduce our heating/cooling costs. I introduced the Green Building Act which became law in 2009. While this was a good first step, Rhode Island needs to become a leader in the construction and conversion of existing buildings into "green" buildings. This will not only help us long term with the cost of energy but will also put more people back to work in the construction industry which has been devastated here.
Rhode Island also needs to hold our neighbors responsible for keeping our environment clean and safe. One of the biggest polluters of Rhode Island continues to be the Brayton Point Power Plant located in Swansea, MA. We must step forward and demand Massachusetts fix this problem. Additionally, the Weaver's Cove LNG terminal threat continues. This proposed environmental hazard could potentially disrupt traffic on the Newport and Mt. Hope Bridges and on our waterways when tankers transit through Narragansett Bay. Setting aside the tremendous disruption to our commerce and way of life, the dredging required to allow the tankers into either the Fall River-based terminal or the offshore berth proposed for Mt. Hope Bay could have disastrous effects on the fisheries in the bay. This could mean more job losses for Rhode Islanders, and have a devastating effect on our fisheries. The RI General Assembly needs to continue to fight for the citizens of the Ocean State and keep these out-of-state polluters from killing our bay.
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