She describes her vision of transforming Rhode Island into a national leader in sustainability and resilient-related industries in a new document called the Grow Green Jobs Report, which lays out a vision for Rhode Island’s economy that would closely mirror ideas being implemented in her hometown. Last week, Newport officials testified at the House Commission on Economic Impacts of Flooding and Sea Rise about how the City-by-the-Sea is poised to both suffer and benefit from rising oceans.

“The Rhode Island Senate has identified the green sector of the economy as one that offers great opportunity for both job growth and environmental benefits,” the Grow Green Jobs Report says. “As the Ocean State, our economy and people have experienced the impacts of severe storms, rising sea levels and warming temperatures. We have the workforce and educational assets to build upon – to turn these challenging events into opportunities for a stronger economy and a more resilient state.”

Paiva Weed is leading a round table discussion today at 2pm in the Senate Lounge. “Participants will include the Chambers of Commerce, DEM, Office of Energy Resources, DLT, Resource Recovery, Department of Education, Higher Ed, Build RI, and others from the environmental community and green industries,” said Senate spokesman Greg Pare in an email.

The legislation that accompanies the report is expected to be filed today, Pare said. The policy recommendations in the report give an idea of what the legislation will include:

1. Expand Real Jobs RI’s planning and implementation grants to include green industries.
2. The Governor’s Workforce Board should create workforce training programs to support well-paying clean energy jobs, including establishing career pathways and internships to ensure accessibility at all income levels.
3. Incentivize the creation and expansion of STEM/STEAM into all Rhode Island elementary and secondary schools, including certificate and pathways to higher education degree programs to prepare students in green technologies.
4. Encourage our public higher education institutions to partner with green sector businesses to identify areas of job demand and to develop certificate and degree programs in a public report.
5. Encourage our public higher education institutions to further develop degree programs leading to employment in the areas of climate change risk evaluation, sustainability, resiliency and adaptation.
6. Extend the Renewable Energy Standard (RES) that provides for annual increases in the percentage of electricity from renewable sources that National Grid supplies to its customers.
7. Incentivize in-state generation of renewable energy by expanding the Renewable Energy Growth (REG) Program, ensuring that more jobs and the economic benefits of renewable energy stay in Rhode Island.
8. Implement an efficiency program for delivered fuels customers, adding construction jobs and assisting households with oil and propane fuel costs.
9. Expand the RES to include renewable thermal technologies, such as geothermal heating and biofuels, which produce energy for heating, cooling or humidity control.
10. Institute policies that will reduce the price of solar installation and support the anticipated five-fold increase in solar power over the next decade.
11. Implement a streamlined statewide permitting program that removes unnecessary regulatory barriers, resulting in a predictable and less costly process for solar developers.
12. Establish statewide property tax standards for small residential and commercial solar projects.
13. Reinstate a state incentive for the installation of residential renewable energy systems.
14. Rhode Island Commerce Corporation should provide specific job development incentives to companies that process and add value to Rhode Island’s agricultural and seafood products. The increased demand for local farm grown products will create additional production and logistics jobs.
15. The Office of Regulatory Reform should work with state agencies and business representatives to review existing regulations that apply to Rhode Island plant-based industries and agriculture, identifying opportunities to coordinate across agencies and simplifying rules that apply to these businesses.
16. Task Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation (RIRRC) with submitting an economic impact study of Rhode Island’s solid waste industries (recycling, reuse, trash hauling, recycling food waste, composting) to identify the most effective ways to develop jobs related to increased recycling in Rhode Island.
17. Establish a goal to increase recycling to at least 50% of the state’s solid waste stream by 2025 and direct RIRRC to develop strategies to achieve that goal.

“It does not represent the district,” she told me. “We need to represent our state and country in a better light.”

Cool Rumsey lost to Morgan 52 to 47 percent in 2014. A one-term progressive Democrat, Cool Rumsey defeated conservative Republican Frank Maher 55 to 44 percent in 2012.  District 34 is made up of portions of Exeter, Hopkinton, Richmond and West Greenwich.

In the 2014 cycle, Cool Rumsey was endorsed by Clean Water Action, Planned Parenthood of Southern New England, RI Young Democrats, RI Progressive Democrats and the RI Sierra Club, among others.

Morgan made national headlines with an email she sent that said, among other offensive passages, “The Muslim religion and philosophy is to murder, rape, and decapitate anyone who is a non Muslim.” She was writing because she doesn’t think America should accept refugees fleeing war-torn areas of the Middle East.

Fellow Republican rep. Bobby Nardolillo, who held a State House event today on the same issue today, said Morgan should consider apologizing to Muslims.

Here are other stories RI Future has reported on the Syrian refugee crisis:

• Cicilline to Obama: Accept 100,000 Syrian refugees
• Diossa to Obama: Central Falls will take in Syrian refugees
• Dorcas International explains Rhode Island refugee process
• Humanists of RI support sheltering Syrian refugees in RI
• State senators to hold rally to support Syrian refugees

For one, both the United States and Rhode Island prisons are full to overflowing (I know—I teach community college classes in the RI Adult Correctional Institution). As a nation, we also know that we have a problem with mass incarceration. In fact, it is one of the few bipartisan issues that currently has any traction. Filling more prison beds with nonviolent activists does not help.

Designating people felons disenfranchises them—in some ways formally and directly, and in other ways informally and indirectly. Convicted felons can vote in Rhode Island, but that is not the case everywhere, and there are almost universal employment and housing consequences for those with felony convictions. If every Rhode Islander who participated in blocking highways during the Black Lives Matter protests was convicted of felonies, a substantial portion of the activists in our state would not only be locked away for some time, but permanently relegated to second-class citizenship. To suggest that the bill has another purpose is to engage in delusion.

The threat of felony convictions would, of course, discourage activism, which is a grave mistake. Activists—indeed, civil disobedience—is responsible for some of the greatest social transformations in history, including the suffrage and civil rights movements, to name just two. Activism and civil disobedience have an important place in American democracy.

Third, ambulances are routinely deterred from highways for reasons unrelated to protest. Several months ago President Obama visited Providence, and the highway was shut for several miles during his stay, necessitating a full detour around the city for many of us to get home. There was no outcry about closing highways for such an occasion.

Fourth and finally, because of the bill’s language and the great degree of police discretion it implies, the legislation could scoop up the homeless, further criminalizing poverty. The bill targets anyone that “stands, sits, kneels, or otherwise loiters on any federal or state highway” and that “could reasonably be construed as interfering with the lawful movement of traffic”—meaning, of course, that those who live on the streets would be prosecutable for simply being there.

The First Amendment protects our right to free speech. To turn over the decision of determining when a protest has become “interference” effectively passes off that right to free speech to the discretion of the officers patrolling the event. The bill is on the table in Rhode Island, but it has tremendous implications for freedom of speech elsewhere, and could powerfully affect the climate of activism in the entire country.

Senator Raptakis, for example, thinks that highway blockades are “not the best way to protest.”

Hearing this, I am reminded of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous remarks from the Birmingham Jail about the “moderate, who is more devoted to ‘order’ than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: ‘I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action’; who,” King concludes, “paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man’s freedom.”

Let’s let this bill die.

“Business leaders have spoken of the difficulty finding workers with the skills needed to fill job vacancies,” the press release says, “and the Senate has made improving the education and workforce development systems to address the skills gap a priority.”

Senate President Teresa Paiva Weed and Rhode Island College President Nancy Carriulo will open the forum with remarks. “The forum will include a panel discussion among business leaders, including John Muggeridge, vice president of public affairs for Fidelity Investments, Michal Ryan, vice president of government affairs for National Grid, and William McCourt, executive director of the Rhode Island Manufacturers Association,” says the press release.

There will also be two keynote addresses from “nationally renowned leaders in higher education” Joshua Wyner, of the Aspen Institute, and Cheryl Orr Dixon, former senior vice president and chief of staff for Complete College America.

Wyner, according to a bio provided by the State House, has worked on the “Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence, which strives to reward and shine a spotlight on community colleges that deliver exceptional student results and stimulate replication of successful campus practices, and the New College Leadership Project, which works to strengthen efforts to recruit and professionally develop college presidents who are driven by – and capable of – substantially improving student success.”

Dixon’s bio says she “has more than 25 years of experience in public policy, advocacy and leading initiatives to improve college preparation, access and success.” She has a singular mission, according to her bio: “to work with states to significantly increase the number of Americans with college degrees and to close attainment gaps for underrepresented populations.”

The Summit is open to the public, in room 110 of Alger Hall at RIC, 5:00-7:30pm, Wednesday, March 11.

If not, that’s exactly what the corporate interests – like big pharma and Wall Street – who wrote this trade deal were hoping. The TPP would be the largest such multinational pact ever and it’s been crafted entirely in secret. “It’s a trojan horse in the global race to the bottom,” said Robert Reich, “giving big corporations and Wall Street banks a way to eliminate laws that get in the way of their profits.”

Thankfully, the progressives in the US Senate are finally starting to vocally oppose it – even though it puts them at odds with President Obama, who supports it. Elizabeth Warren had this op/ed in the Washington Post this week, and 8 senators spoke on the floor yesterday to oppose such “free trade” deals.

“I start with a state that has been on the losing end of these trade deals,” said Rhode Island’s Senator Sheldon Whitehouse. “Rhode Island, not a big state, has lost more than 50,000 good paying manufacturing jobs since 1990.”

Whitehouse was joined by sens Warren and Ed Markey of Massachusetts, Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Jeff Merkley of Oregon.

“I don’t like the process very much either,” said Whitehouse on the senate floor yesterday. “It is secret, we are kept out of it and who’s is in it is some really big corporations and they are up to I think no good in a lot of these deals.”

So does Pascoag resident Chris Currie, a member of the RI Progressive Democrats who has been sounding the alarm about the TPP locally since before many in the beltway even knew it existed.

“As we have seen in the recent mid-term elections, multinational corporations have been collectively spending billions … to rig and/or otherwise determine the outcomes [of] elections, and they have succeeded in that regard in many ways,” he said in a recent email. “But they are well on the way toward achieving such objectives in the future without having to spend anywhere near that much money by financing the implementation of the so-called Trans Pacific Partnership (“treaty” and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) “treaty” which have the full support of President Obama, Mitch McConnell, John Boehner, and most our Republicans in Congress.   Once either of those two “treaties” are implemented, multinational corporations won’t have to worry about bribing our politicians anymore, because if our federal, state, or municipal government enact ANY KIND of legislation that impedes the “expected profitability” of multinational corporations.”

Currie has been sending warning emails about the TPP for years. Here’s an excerpt from one sent in August of 2013: “Promoting (and attempting to “fast track”) the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) and Trans Atlantic Free Trade Area (TAFTA) Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) treaties which will surrender our nation’s sovereignty to a cartel (world government?) of greedy multi-national corporations (that have no god but money) by empowering them to effectively nullify US federal, state, and local laws which “interfere with the profitability” of their corporations. It would be like surrendering our national sovereignty to greedy bastard (and deadly) corporations like Monsanto!”

“In addition to the Buffett Rule the President’s budget also contains some pieces from Senator Whitehouse’s Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act,” said Whitehouse spokesman Seth Larson. Whitehouse is long the sponsor of the Buffett Rule bill in the Senate, and this year he inherited the Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act from retired Senator Carl Levin of Michigan, as previously reported on RI Future.

The Senate Budget Committee, of which Whitehouse is a member, will deliberate the president’s budget bill tomorrow at 10 am.

In a statement, Whitehouse said he supports Obama’s $4 billion budget plan – and noted it not only borrows some of his tax proposals, but also that it invests in infrastructure critical for Rhode Island.

“The President’s budget would take significant steps toward a fairer tax system while also making major investments in our nation’s transportation infrastructure,” Whitehouse said in the statement. “This is particularly important in Rhode Island, where we have some of the oldest roads and bridges in America and where new construction projects could provide badly needed jobs.  I’m also glad to see that the proposed budget would implement several policies I’ve been fighting for in the Senate, including the Buffett Rule for tax fairness and an Automatic IRA program to help millions of Americans save for retirement.  From tax credits for working families to paid sick leave, the President’s budget includes many bold proposals to help middle-class families succeed.  I look forward to debating the details of these and other provisions in the Budget Committee in the weeks ahead.”

Senator Jack Reed said: “The President’s budget blueprint contains quite a bit of good news for Rhode Island that could bolster our economic prospects.  No budget is perfect, but the President has proposed some smart investments in education, infrastructure, innovation, and workforce development that could lead to accelerated job creation, higher wages, and greater economic prosperity for all.  It’s a budget geared toward helping the middle-class by closing tax loopholes for special interests and the wealthiest Americans.”

The budget bill would end sequestration, and Reed, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said: “The President’s budget reverses sequestration, both in terms of defense and domestic priorities, in a fair and balanced way that will better protect the American people and strengthen our economy,” said Reed.  “We face a number of threats around the globe.  A failure to address sequestration and adequately fund national priorities could hinder the military’s ability to carry outs its missions around the globe and weaken our economy.”

Said Congressman David Cicilline in a statement: “Today, President Obama released his proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2016 that outlines his funding priorities for the year ahead. This proposal builds on the economic progress we have made by properly focusing on the middle class and supports initiatives that create jobs, educate young people, increase access to affordable childcare, and keeps communities safe. As we continue to reduce our national deficit, the President’s plan will help balance the budget by cutting inefficient spending and ending special interest giveaways for the very wealthy. This proposal is a strong starting point for Congress to work together to produce a smart and sensible budget that reflects the priorities of working Americans, and I look forward to working with my colleagues to reach a final agreement that ensures all Americans share in our country’s growing recovery.”

That’s the language of an amendment Rhode Island Senator Sheldon Whitehouse squeezed into a bill on the Keystone Pipeline, which was overwhelmingly approved – and even co-sponsored by Oklahoma Sen. James Inhofe. No small feet, considering Inhofe, an infamous climate change denier, once wrote a book called, “The Greatest Hoax: How the Global Warming Conspiracy Threatens Your Future.”

Whitehouse chalked it up as a victory. “This resolution marks a historic shift for many of my Republican colleagues,” he said in a statement. “While a number of Republicans have long acknowledged that climate change is real, including Senator Graham who spoke once again today, many others either denied the science or refused to discuss it.”

But the beltway media suggests the idea may have backfired.

“Senate Republicans head-faked Democrats on climate change Wednesday, agreeing in a floor vote that the planet’s climate was changing, but blocking language that would have blamed human activity,” wrote Politico.

Inhofe countered that there exists “Biblical evidence” of climate change and blocked a vote on whether or not humans are contributing.

“It was a nifty, if insincere, bit of politics,” . “There’s no question that a vote against a flat statement that climate change is real could have been problematic for candidates down the road — especially for those various Republican senators quietly preparing for the big election in 2016. With Inhofe’s re-framing the question, the Democrats, trying to engineer a gotcha moment, ended up empty-handed on the vote, with neither the satisfaction of nailing down opposition to scientific consensus and without a point of leverage for future discussions of addressing the warming planet.”

Whitehouse was pleased to have at least gained some consensus. “I was glad to see almost every Republican, including Senator Inhofe, acknowledge the reality of climate change today,” he said, “and I hope this means we can move on to discussing not just whether climate change is real, but what we should do about it.”

At least 119 individuals were detained by the CIA in years after the attacks, and, according to the Senate report, at least 26 were wrongly detained and had no associations with terrorism.

One innocent man, Gul Rahman, spent a month in solitary confinement because he had the same name as a suspected terrorist. Two CIA informants spent “approximately 24 hours shackled in the standing sleep deprivation position” before it was confirmed they were mistakenly being detained. These examples are surely some of the more benign experiences of prisoners in CIA detention facilities.

In the foreword to the report, Senator Feinstein wrote:

“It is worth remembering the pervasive fear in late 2001 and how immediate the threat felt. Just a week after the September 11 attacks, powdered anthrax was sent to various news organizations and to two U.S. Senators. The American public was shocked by news of new terrorist plots and elevations of the color-coded threat level of the Homeland Security Advisory System. We expected further attacks against the nation.

I have attempted throughout to remember the impact on the nation and to the CIA workforce from the attacks of September 11, 2001. I can understand the CIA’s impulse to consider the use of every possible tool to gather intelligence and remove terrorists from the battlefield, and CIA was encouraged by political leaders and the public to do whatever it could to prevent another attack. The Intelligence Committee as well often pushes intelligence agencies to act quickly in response to threats and world events.

Nevertheless, such pressure, fear, and expectation of further terrorist plots do not justify, temper, or excuse improper actions taken by individuals or organizations in the name of national security.

The major lesson of this report is that regardless of the pressures and the need to act, the Intelligence Community’s actions must always reflect who we are as a nation, and adhere to our laws and standards.

It is precisely at these times of national crisis that our government must be guided by the lessons of our history and subject decisions to internal and external review. Instead, CIA personnel, aided by two outside contractors, decided to initiate a program of indefinite secret detention and the use of brutal interrogation techniques in violation of U.S. law, treaty obligations, and our values.”

After many years, and despite CIA interference, the report has been made public. We should know what is done in our name.

You can read the full report here.

Known as the guns and ammo tax, the legislation would put an additional 10 percent tax on the sale of all guns and ammunition in Rhode Island. It’s expected to raise $2 million, which would go to local police departments based on the amount of gun violence in each city and town. Local police departments would disperse the money to area nonprofits that organize against gun violence.

The Senate Finance Committee hearing is at 3pm today.

The Senate version is sponsored by Gayle Goldin and the House version by Maria Cimini. It was co-authored by Providence mayoral candidate Brett Smiley, who has pledged to make Providence the safest city of it’s size in the nation.

“It helps our police departments, it helps our nonprofits, and it helps every citizen of our state who sees the detrimental cost of gun violence each day,” said Smiley in a press release today.

Here’s Steve Alhquist’s Feb. 6 post of Smiley and Goldin announcing the legislation.

WASHINGTON — God will not save us, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) declared in a Senate floor speech on climate change Wednesday that sounded more like a sermon than a political appeal.

It’s great not only because because it’s pretty undeniable logic – “If we believe in an all-powerful God, then we must then believe that God gave us this earth, and we must in turn believe that God gave us its laws of gravity, of chemistry, of physics,” he said – but also because it turns the entire debate around:

“Hope for a nanny God, who will with a miracle grant us amnesty from our folly — that’s not aligned with either history or the text of the Bible. How arrogant — how very far from humility — would be the self-satisfied, smug assurance that God, a tidy-up-after-us God will come and clean up our mess?”

You can watch the whole speech below, but make sure you read and/or watch MSNBC’s Chris Hayes tie Sheldon’s speech in with the GOP effort to block Obama’s appointment to head the EPA.