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Democrats discuss governor’s role in climate change


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climate forum
Brown Environmental Studies professor Timmons Roberts.

The four Democrats running for governor – but neither of the two Republicans –  took advantage of an opportunity to express their views on climate change last week at a forum hosted by EcoRI and the Environmental Council of RI.

Clay Pell said he would start a green infrastructure program, Angel Taveras a state composting program and Gina Raimondo wants a revolving loan fund. Todd Giroux called himself the “homegrown, organic candidate.” Taveras cited his record as mayor of Providence. Raimondo said protecting the environment is part of being a Rhode Islander. And Pell was the only one to call attention to Republican intransigence on the issue.

“Absolutely the governor plays an essential role,” said Pell. “And I intend to make this state a real model for our efforts to address climate change.”

Here’s how he said he would do that:

You can watch his full comments here:

Taveras touted his record as mayor, saying he appointed good people to implement several programs with long term objectives.

You can watch his full comments here:

Raimondo also touted previous experience, saying pension reform was about sustainability and that the she would lead the effort to address climate change like she lead the effort to address pensions.

Watch her full remarks here:

Outsider and long shot Todd Giroux said the base of his campaign platform is a revolving fund for green jobs:

His full remarks:

The forum started with addresses by John King, a URI oceanography professor, and Timmons Roberts, an environmental studies professor at Brown. You can watch their portions here:

Or you can watch the entire forum here:

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Two Rhode Island business stories


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Photo courtesy of EcoRI.org. Click on picture for more.
Photo courtesy of EcoRI.org. Click on picture for more.

A story in today’s Providence Journal would seem to confirm that Rhode Island is indeed an unfriendly place to do business. But wait. A story on EcoRI.org today would seem to confirm that, contrary to the popular narrative, Rhode Island is indeed a friendly place to do business.

One story is about a pharmecutical company and the other story about making energy from food waste. Is it possible both narratives are true, and that this is a good thing?

According to the Providence Journal story, it took the drug company 7 months and $100,000 to apply for a license to have an employee administer pain medicine into an internal pump surgically located in the body of a patient with multiple sclerosis. This might not be a terrible thing to regulate, especially given that the company in question gets bought and sold by private equity firms more often than it invents new products. I’m concerned with how each new owner increases the profitability of this product.

I’m also concerned that a medical procedure for an active patient took more than 7 months to approve. Why? (the story doesn’t say). I do hope Rep. McNamara, who seems most concerned with how the business was treated by the state, also asks for a decision to be expedited for the patient’s sake (ie the consumer).

I’m also interested in why it cost so much money. According to the ProJo story, Pentec, spend $1,000 a month on rent when it seems like it only needed a PO Box. Perhaps Pentec had overspent in other areas as well? Or maybe it is factoring in lobbying fees?

In any case, the EcoRI story painted a very different picture of state regulation. In this case, regulation helped bring a New Hampshire company to the Ocean State to make energy and fertilizer from food scraps.

At a Sept. 10 meeting with members of the House Committee on the Environment and Natural Resources and the North Kingstown Town Council, Callendrello credited the state’s fixed-price energy program, known as distributed generation, for making the project doable. In 2012, anaerobic digesters were added to the list of qualifying energy sources for the DG program.

Callendrello also noted that Rhode Island has a better regulatory environment than Florida and Texas, two states where NEO has biomass facilities. “I think, on balance, it’s probably a better permitting atmosphere,” Callendrello said.

On balance, these might both be instances of the system working.

* It’s well worth noting that the ProJo covered the biomass story on September 10.

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EcoRI expands into Bay State, opens EcoMass

ecomassA four-year old, very green, Providence start-up business is expanding into Massachusetts. Our friends and allies over at EcoRI News are opening a second site called ecoMass News.

Massachusetts and Rhode Island share the same border and are linked by a common watershed; our economies overlap; many live in one state and work in the other, so it made sense to expand our coverage to include the Bay State,” ecoRI/ecoMass News Executive Director Frank Carini said. “Now our Massachusetts neighbors can look forward to news and features on topics such as urban farming, biking, the green economy, composting, marine stewardship and environmental justice.”

So fittingly, ecoMass News kicks off its coverage with a story headlined: “Mass. and R.I. Work Together for Mutual Benefit”

Here’s the full press release about the new site:

Since 2009, ecoRI News has been the leading source of environmental news for Rhode Island. Now its fourth year, the nonprofit news organization is expanding its coverage to include Massachusetts, with the launch of ecoMass News (www.ecoMass.org), an initiative dedicated to reporting on Massachusetts environmental and social-justice news.

“Massachusetts and Rhode Island share the same border and are linked by a common watershed; our economies overlap; many live in one state and work in the other, so it made sense to expand our coverage to include the Bay State,” ecoRI/ecoMass News executive director Frank Carini said. “Now our Massachusetts neighbors can look forward to news and features on topics such as urban farming, biking, the green economy, composting, marine stewardship and environmental justice.”

Founded by husband-wife team Frank Carini, a veteran journalist who has worked at The Cincinnati Post, half a dozen Boston-area weeklies and The Newport Daily News, and Joanna Detz, a writer and graphic designer, ecoRI News has been
featured in the Columbia Journalism Review and is recognized by other national and regional
media organizations as a trusted source of environmental news. ecoMass News plans to grow its presence in the Bay State by employing the same grassroots efforts ecoRI News used to gain a following in Rhode Island.

“We like to think of our brand as ‘slow journalism,’ and like slow food, it takes time to grow, but ultimately it is a better and more sustainable product,” Carini said.

While the organization, which currently has four full-time employees, plans to keep its headquarters in Providence, it hopes someday to have a bureau in Boston.

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New Providence Bike Plan Looks for Safer Routes

By JOANNA DETZ/ecoRI News

PROVIDENCE — 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.

The omission of amenities such as bike racks in commercial hubs was just one of the topics discussed in the first of two workshops designed to engage the community in a new bike plan for the city.

Providence’s original bike plan was implemented in 2007 and 2008 and included signing and striping bike corridors throughout the city. The final piece of the original plan was completed in fall 2011 with the striping of bike lanes on Broadway.

This new bike plan, spearheaded by the city of Providence and Vanasse Hangen Brustlin Inc. (VHB), an engineering firm headquartered in Waltham, Mass., is being funded with a $33,000 challenge grant from the state Department of Transportation, and will guide the investment of future funding into the city’s bicycle network through a program of recommended short-, medium- and long-term capital improvements.

Most in attendance at a Dec. 13 workshop were avid bikers who cycle daily. When asked about the biggest hurdle to biking in Providence, many in the audience jokingly called out, “hills.” But the unanimous and serious answer was “lack of safe bike routes.”

Since many of the routes that were signed and striped in the city’s original bike plan were highly trafficked roads suitable only for cyclists confident in navigating the perils of urban bicycling, the new plan is working to identify alternate routes on less-traveled roadways. Once identified, these roadways will be designated with signage as shared lanes — bikes and cars.

However, any long-term solutions, such as the addition of dedicated bike lanes, will need to be tied to the city’s $40 million road repaving project set to begin this spring.

Between now and then the city and VHB are looking to cyclists to provide input on best routes to commercial centers and hubs around the city by logging their rides using a smartphone app.

David Everett, the city’s principal planner, said the bike plan is scheduled to be completed by early spring to coincide with the beginning of the city’s repaving project.

“We want to get more people to cycle and bring biking into the mainstream as a viable form of transportation,” Everett said.

ecoRI News is a Providence-based nonprofit journalistic initiative devoted to educating readers about the causes, consequences and solutions to local environmental issues and problems.

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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 models include the Chevy Volt, Ford C-Max, Toyota Prius Hatchback and Ford Fusion.

The state operates only one charging station of six across the sate. Officials hope that offering EVs will promote the installation of many more.

Ron Renaud, executive director of the Department of Administration, set a target of 20 percent fuel-efficient and alternative-fuel vehicles for the state’s fleet, which includes State Police vehicles. He didn’t set a timeline, but said, “We’re going to start directing people toward this new technology.”

State agencies have been buying hybrid and natural gas cars and trucks for several years in order to meet requirements set by the U.S. Department of Energy. Some state vehicles run on compressed natural gas. The state operates two natural-gas fueling stations — in Cranston and at the University of Rhode Island — and intends to add more to its 15 gas stations across the state.

Renaud said federal stimulus money is available to pay a portion of the cost to install new charging stations. This money can also fund some of the price for plug-in electric vehicles.

The State Division of Purchases annually submits a public request aimed at dealerships and other vehicle sales groups to bid on pricing for hundreds of vehicle models. Based on the pricing, state agencies submit requests to buy new vehicles through the Division of Purchases. Agencies pay for the vehicles from their budget or through the state revolving loan fund.

This year, cities and towns can benefit from the purchasing power of the program by procuring their vehicles from the master price list.

Renaud said the state fleet of about 1,200 cars, vans, SUVs and pickups is showing its age, with an average age of 10. Up to 100 new vehicles are bought annually through the program, but fewer vehicles have been purchased in recent years because of the poor economy.

“We’re moving toward a green environment and less of a carbon footprint,” Renaud said.

ecoRI News is a Providence-based nonprofit journalistic initiative devoted to educating readers about the causes, consequences and solutions to local environmental issues and problems.

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Save the Bay: “Grave Concerns” Over Polluting Waterfront Junkyard


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EcoRI reported while we were gone that Save The Bay has delivered a letter to the Department of Environmental Management (DEM) and the Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC) about “persistent violations of the federal Clean Water Act by Rhode Island Recycled Metals.”

“The scrap metals recycling industry is growing rapidly along the Providence waterfront — and with it a serious and ongoing threat to the Providence River,” [Save The Bay director Jonathon] Stone wrote in the letter. A lack of enforcement and regulation “sets bad precedent and sends a message to other businesses on the water that’s [sic] it’s OK to illegally discharge in Rhode Island.”

Some of you will remember the earlier promises of a green industrial future for Providence’s hospital adjacent waterfront… wind turbines, short-sea shipping, frolicking puppies (OK, not the puppies). Those promises were used by lobbyists to torpedo zoning changes that would have allowed for non-industrial uses to be mixed in with the few existing businesses. With higher density uses no longer in consideration, what we’ve seen instead is the proliferation of waterfront junkyards, to date the only new businesses to relocate to that section of the waterfront and a far cry from the green-washed promises of the polluting special interests.

Of particular concern for residents is the continued lack of action from the city and state.

“In the 18 months since the first violation was reported nothing has been done to fix the problems, [Stone] said. “I think one of the interesting questions is why DEM and CRMC haven’t enforced their own permits? I don’t have an answer to that”…

Save The Bay is calling for construction of a drainage system, a concrete pad for heavy equipment, and a fully enclosed plastic cover to control dust and keep rain off the scrap piles. The environmental group also expressed concern about the lack of public information about a temporary dredging permit for dismantling the aforementioned submarine that has “mushroomed” into other uses. [my emphasis]

Recall that the Mayor Taveras championed his role in bringing in these industrial uses, calling one earlier this year “a very welcome addition to Providence’s working waterfront” (note – working waterfront is the lobbyist preferred term for the polluting special interests). But with this news and with the exposed “Mt. Taveras” scrap pile at Sims Metal Management growing every day, one has to wonder why these environmental questions and the health of local residents weren’t first and foremost among the city’s concerns.

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Leading Environmentalist Sheila Dormody picked as Providence’s first Sustainability Director

EcoRI reports that Providence Mayor Angel Taveras has hired the longtime director of Clean Water Action, Sheila Dormody, to be the city’s first Sustainability Director.  This hire is another impressive progressive hire by Taveras since taking office in January including: former blog godfather and SEIU/JwJ organizer Matt Jerzyk, trial attorney and Obama finance co-chair Jeff Padwa and AS220ist David Ortiz.

“I am thrilled that Sheila is joining our team and bringing with her a wealth of experience. I look forward to working with Sheila to make Providence one of the greenest cities in the nation,” said Mayor Taveras.

“Providence is well-positioned to be a great, green city,” said Dormody. “Providence has an abundance of committed leaders willing to help make the city the best it can be. I am looking forward to bringing people together to lower energy costs, reduce the city’s carbon footprint and identify environmentally conscious, cost-saving opportunities. I can’t wait to get started.”

Dormody has been involved in advocacy, grassroots organizing, and training activists for the environmental community since 1989. She is the outgoing New England co-director of Clean Water Action, an organization in which she has worked for since 2000.

She has served as the chair of the Providence Environmental Sustainability Task Force and co-chaired Mayor Taveras’ Environmental Transition Committee. Dormody won a U.S. EPA Merit Award in 2008 for her work to prevent mercury pollution.

Dormody has also led key collaborations to promote policies to that strengthen the economy, protect the environment and promote public health including the Coalition for Transportation Choices and the Coalition for Water Security.

She lives in Providence with her husband.

The Sustainability Director position is funded by a federal Energy Efficiency Conservation Block Grant (EEGBC).
As the city’s Sustainability Director, Dormody will oversee efforts to the reduce the city’s energy expenditures, manage Providence’s “Greenprint” initiative to align the city’s workforce with the green economy, develop a comprehensive sustainability action plan, implement a citywide composting program and increase recycling in the city.

The position was championed by City Council Majority Leader Seth Yurdin and established by the City Council in 2008, but has never been filled.

“I am pleased to see the Sustainability position finally being filled – especially by someone with a resume and background like Sheila Dormody,” said Councilman Yurdin. “This position will save the city money by implementing common sense, cost-saving measures that other cities have done. In addition, this position will move the city’s economy forward by creating green jobs and identifying renewable energy initiatives.”

Dormody’s colleagues at Clean Water Action are enthusiastic for the city’s leadership on environmental issues.

“We look forward to collaborating with the City of Providence on this exciting next chapter of revitalization, innovation and sustainability,” said Cindy Luppi, New England co-director of Clean Water Action. “We have every confidence that Providence will lead the nation in tapping into 21st century green potential.”