Are you signed up to receive our weekly newsletter? It's chock full of all the information you need to make a difference for the environment in Rhode Island. Check out this week's edition below and sign up today.
March 10th, 2014
Dear
Fellow Sierran
Here's what's in this week's edition of CoolCATs Weekly:
1) DG Bill Hearing on Wednesday!
2) #Up4Climate: Senators Storm Social Media
3) Transit Bill Heard
4) Primer for the Prime Time
5) More Evidence in Favor of Divestment
6) Keystone Commentary
1) DG Bill Hearing on Wednesday!
|
On Wednesday in the Senate Environment and Agriculture Committee one of the Chapter's priority bills is going to be heard. The Distributed Generation Growth Program Act would take what is already RI's most important renewable energy law and quadruple its size while improving its ability to promote smaller scale installations. Simply put, this is the most meaningful legislation being considered this year for reducing the State's carbon emissions in the near term. If you can make it please come to the hearing at 3pm. Join the Facebook event and INVITE your friends. If you can't make it, you can still make your voice heard. CLICK HERE TO SEND YOUR LAWMAKERS A MESSAGE IN SUPPORT.
|
2) #Up4Climate: Senators Storm Social Media
|
What are you up to tonight? If you're like Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and a couple dozen of his colleagues in the Senate, you'll be up all night ringing the warning bell on climate change. The Senators are taking to the floor to deliver speeches about climate change, and they're hoping to multiply the effect of their message using social media. You can follow their progress and help spread the good word by using the hashtag #Up4Climate, especially on Twitter for those so inclined.
|
3) Transit Bill Heard
|
As in previous coverage, the media completely ignored the major transit funding provisions of the big transportation bill (S2335) heard last week, preferring instead to focus on the Sakonnet River Bridge tolling issue. In fact, the Transportation Infrastructure Fund Act would provide RIPTA with 3.6 million dollars next year, ramping up to over 19 million per year by the end of act's implementation in five years. As you might expect, transit advocates showed up in full force on Thursday to applaud the bill for this promised support. The majority of the people who spoke were there to speak about saving RIPTA and despite DOT Director Lewis's reservations about not using new funds (a concern we share), no one spoke against the bill. This is an auspicious sign as we look forward to when the budget gets crafted later this Spring.
In related news, transit use is at its highest level in over 50 years according the American Public Transporation Association, which also says that RIPTA is the 7th fastest growing transit system in the country.
|
6) Keystone Commentary
|
The comment period for the State Department's environmental assessment of the Keystone XL Pipeline closed on Friday. Hopefully, you were one of the more than one million people who submitted testimony opposed to the project. Will President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry now listen to the voice of the people? Time will tell. There are other ways to protest the Pipeline than official testimony of course. Here's another great story from the pages of ecoRI covering the vigil held recently in Wakefield.
|
Thank you for signing up for Cool CATs Weekly. You can make your community "Cool" by advocating for renewable power, green buildings and transportation choices. Visit the Cool Cities website for resources and toolkits.
Sincerely,
Abel Collins
The Sierra Club Rhode Island Chapter
42 Rice St.
Providence, RI 02907
|
Brand New!
Check Out Our
RI Primer on
Climate Change
Tell Lawmakers to Expand Distributed Generation
SIGN the Fossil Free RI Petition to Governor Chafee and Treasurer Raimondo
Sign the Corporations Aren't People Petition
Sign the Fossil Free RI Petition to Divest URI, RIC, and CCRI
Tell Lawmakers to Restore the Renewable Energy Tax Credit
Click on the Calendar tab above to learn when and where our next executive, outings, development, communications, conservation, and political committee meetings will be held.
|