June 9th, 2014
Dear
Fellow Sierran
Here's what's in this week's edition of CoolCATs Weekly:
1) This the Week!
2) Divest Yourself
3) Barrington Affirms Ban
4) RIPTA in the Budget!
5) Portsmouth Plans to Repair Turbine
2) Divest Yourself
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With the legislative session in high gear, we haven't been talking about divestment as much, but that doesn't mean the movement has stopped. The big news recently was that Stanford will be divesting its 18 billion dollar endowment from coal. Who knows what big institution will be next. In the meantime though, you can pledge to divest yourself (even if you don't have any investments, especially if you don't have any investments, in fact!). You can MAKE THE PLEDGE HERE.
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3) Barrington Affirms Ban
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A year ago the Town of Barrington passed its plastic bag ban for a trial period of one year. The big question was whether they would make it permanent or decide to go back on the idea. Well, we got the answer last week, and it was the right one. Read ecoRI's great coverage of last week's Town Council vote to keep the ban.
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4) RIPTA in the Budget
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The biggest news emanating from the Statehouse last week wasn't actually about our environmental legislation. It was the unveiling of the House's Budget Plan. In this regard the news was mixed. The Governor's green bond proposals were cut significantly and the green infrastructure portions entirely, which is disappointing. On the other hand, for the first time in many years RIPTA will be receiving new revenues, which has been a long standing environmental priority. For more information on the budget, you can read and listen to this story from RIPR.
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5) Portsmouth Plans to Repair Turbine
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One final nugget of good news from last week comes to us from Portsmouth, where the Town Council decided to repair its broken turbine. It's good to see the Council stand by this smart investment in Portsmouth's future. More on the story here.
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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
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