ecoRI News
North Providence Is Energized By Solar Project
NORTH PROVIDENCE — Local solar energy got a boost Tuesday night from the Town Council. At the urging of Mayor Charles Lombardi, the council voted unanimously to move ahead with a plan to consider dropping property taxes for the development of a solar array at the town’s old landfill. Lombardi has implored the council for [...]
Renewable Energy, Climate Change Drive R.I. Policy
Renewable energy isn’t just wind turbines and solar panels. There also is loads of politics, planning, economics and science involved with any green power project. The state Office of Energy Resources (OER), under the guidance of director Marion Gold and Office of Administration director Richard Licht, intends to harmonize these sometime discordant forces. The Renewable [...]
New Providence Bike Plan Looks for Safer Routes
Those who had cycled to the Bike Providence Public Workshop at Exchange Terrace downtown arrived to find there was no bike rack. Instead, they made do by hitching their rides to lampposts and parking signs.
Electric Vehicles to be Plugged Into State’s Fleet
By Tim Faulkner/ecoRI News For the first time, Rhode Island is including electric vehicles in its annual purchase of state cars and trucks. As another first, cities and towns can also buy EVs and other fuel-efficient vehicles through the program. The new vehicles include the all-electric Ford Focus, Nissan Leaf and Honda Fit. Plug-in gas-electric [...]
Bottled Water Purchases Dehydrate R.I.’s Budget
Bottled water is big business in the United States. How big? Well, according to a report by the Beverage Marketing Corporation, U.S. consumers chugged 8.6 billion gallons of bottled water in 2008, representing nearly 29 percent of the liquid beverage market and exceeding sales of all other beverages except carbonated soft drinks. You might expect ecoRI News [...]
Could R.I. Be the Next Social Enterprise Hub?
Business leaders, legislators, academics, researchers, students and social entrepreneurs from across the country gathered March 16 and 17 for a two-day conference at Brown University to advance social enterprise as a new paradigm for economic development. In a speech Saturday, Rep. David Cicilline, D-R.I., said he was drafting the first proposed national legislation to directly [...]
To Burn or to Bury: Is that the Question?
It seems the seagull problem at the Central Landfill in Johnston has been rectified, at least temporarily, but the Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation (RIRRC) continues to address the problem of odors emanating from the landfill and, given the fact that organic matter continues to be buried there, will probably be dealing with this issue [...]
Two Groups Address West Side ‘Food Desert’
Providence’s West Side is what food policy wonks call a food desert. That doesn’t mean there’s no food available in the area; it means there’s a lack of access to fresh foods such as fruits and vegetables. The neighborhood has its share of convenience stores and smaller markets for meats and such, but, until recently, [...]
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