EDITOR’S NOTE: With coal and other fossil fuels powering much of the electricity that the environmental left wants to force Americans to use for their electric vehicles and other electrified energy sources, the national and regional supply (vs demand) shortage will become increasingly severe, costly, and dangerous. Rhode Island residents and businesses currently suffer from […]
Originally published in the Sunday Providence Journal, December 4, 2022 *** This fall Rhode Islanders were hit with their own October surprise: a near 50% increase in their monthly electric bills to go along with this year’s record-high gas prices. And it all beings with failed state and federal public policy. Unfortunately, energy costs will keep rising, […]
Maritime and industry groups have long argued that New England lacks pipeline access to refining facilities in other states and has insufficient capacity to transport natural gas, the region’s primary fuel for electricity to meet higher demand during the cold winter months.
Twelve attorneys general have submitted comments to Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan expressing concerns about a new proposed rule they argue will increase energy costs and risk Americans’ safety.
Rhode Island’s model of assessing electric fees based on renewable sources and under the guidelines of a regional initiative taxing carbon emitters has led to one of the highest rates in the U.S., according to a recent study.
Rhode Island based energy expert, Dr. George Briden, on why electricity rates have gone sky-high in RI and if Ashley Kalus’ idea might solve a potential supply crisis in the coming months that could lead to a “dark and freezing” winter for many.
12 myths about the terrible “Inflation Reduction Act,” refuted The Inflation Reduction Act is one of the worst energy policies in American history. But its supporters are trying to hide this using 12 insidious myths. by Alex Epstein Sep 14, 2022 The Inflation Reduction Act is one of the worst energy policies in American history. […]
A plan to provide relief to low-income Rhode Island residents for electricity bills this winter is in the works. A $3.8 million proposal from the Office of Energy Resources, Gov. Dan McKee said, would use funding from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative in an effort to support 39,000 at-risk, low-income families in affording electricity bills from October through March.
A new electric bus fleet will be available to public transit riders in Rhode Island. Fourteen New Flyer Xcelsior CHARGE NG buses will be delivered over the next couple of months and replace diesel-fueled buses that are in use on the R-Line, the route with the highest ridership. The buses are battery-electric powered, Gov. Dan McKee said. The R-Line connects Providence and Pawtucket.
Rhode Island residents seeking employment in offshore wind will benefit from a new training program. Gov. Dan McKee, along with labor and higher education officials and officials from Orsted and Eversource, announced Wednesday a new partnership that brings together higher education, workforce development, and labor organizations that is designed to provide state residents with the education and training necessary to work in the energy sector.
New offshore wind energy production in Rhode Island is getting a jolt. Democratic Gov. Dan McKee signed legislation Wednesday morning that increases the capacity of market-competitive offshore wind procurement by expanding the parameters to between 600 to 1,000 megawatts.
With the steady march toward more renewable energy within our nation, legislators in our Ocean State have once again jumped on the bandwagon, and they’re bringing our state’s energy companies along for the costly ride.
A Rhode Island bill being sponsored by solely democrat representatives will have the state drastically increase renewable energy production and supply, requiring all of RI’s electricity to be offset by renewable energy by 2033.
President Joe Biden said Monday he would decide on a potential gas tax holiday by the end of the week.
Middle class Americans don’t need an economist or political scientist to tell them there’s something wrong with the economy. They realize it every time they put gas in their tanks or have to pay more for groceries. The financial security of many families is now in jeopardy because the Biden Administration cares more about appeasing radical environmentalists rather than securing America’s energy independence.
Gas prices have hit record highs day after day in recent weeks, breaking the $5 mark over the weekend for the first time ever. Those higher prices have put many Americans in a bind as they also deal with the highest inflation in decades.
Most don’t realize that Rhode Island is facing a potential energy crisis: Our state does not have the energy infrastructure needed to meet demand. As a result, we have among the highest average retail prices for energy as compared with other states. In fact, this is a New England-wide problem. As E&E News put it, […]
he cost of gasoline hit a new record high on Monday as many Americans kicked off the summer season traveling over Memorial Day weekend. The average price of a gallon of gasoline climbed to $4.62 a gallon Monday, up about a penny from Sunday and $1.58 higher than last Memorial Day, when the average cost was $3.04.
By Stephen Moore For many years now, there has been a spirited debate about whether climate change is science, religion or even perhaps a secret route to socialism. That question remains unanswered, but we’ve now discovered with certainty that climate change is a political albatross around the neck of the Democratic Party. The Left’s spiritual […]
Ocean State motorists dodged a bullet last December when the TCI Gas Tax was defeated here and in 13 other northeast states. The “Transportation and Climate Initiative (TCI)” would have artificially increased gasoline prices by up to 35 cents per gallon, while steadily reducing available fuel supplies, by ceding a major portion of our state’s […]
It would be cruel for lawmakers to impose this fuel tax, which will especially harm rural and low-income residents, just so the elite can receive a subsidy for their expensive electric vehicles.
My weekly call-in on John DePetro’s WNRI 1380 AM/95.1 FM show, for April 12, included talk about:
I’ll be on again Monday, April 19, at 12:00 p.m. on WNRI 1380 AM and I-95.1 FM.
The innocently named “2021 Act on Climate”, H5445, has been ominously rocketing through the General Assembly. It passed the full House on March 23 and the full Senate is scheduled to vote on it this afternoon. If it passes, it will have cleared the General Assembly and presumably be sent straight on to Governor Daniel McKee for his action within seven (ten?) days.
Informally dubbed “Rhode Island’s Green New Deal”, H5445 would mandate the reduction to zero by 2050 of greenhouse gases in Rhode Island – a goal that could only be accomplished by eliminating the use of all fossil fuels and transitioning entirely to renewable energy sources, wind and solar; i.e., from reliable, reasonably priced energy sources to intermittent, exorbitantly expensive ones. More about it here, including why the effective date of substantial implementation would be 2026, not thirty long years from now.
But perhaps we are missing something. Have proponents of the bill answered the critically important question about cost of implementation?
My weekly call-in on John DePetro’s WNRI 1380 AM/95.1 FM show, for March 29, included talk about:
I’ll be on again Monday, April 5, at 12:00 p.m. on WNRI 1380 AM and I-95.1 FM.
Take action now! Add your voice to the many thousands who have asked Governor Dan McKee to live up to his promises as an advocate for the small business community, to take decisive action to relieve businesses of excessive green mandates and to ensure our state’s long-term viability by VETOING Rhode Island’s Green New Deal.
If we are going to revive our economy, we have to revive our sense of responsibility and become more engaged in what’s happening around us.
The Rhody Reporter is flabbergasted at the scope of a wildly progressive bill just passed by the RI legislature. It would cede all legislative and executive prerogative on RI carbon emissions to an unelected state commission. Mark Zaccaria explains en route to asking everyone to call the governor and beg for a veto!
My weekly call-in on John DePetro’s WNRI 1380 AM/95.1 FM show, for March 22, included talk about:
I’ll be on again Monday, March 29, at 12:00 p.m. on WNRI 1380 AM and I-95.1 FM.
The Transportation & Climate Initiative (TCI) is just another big-government attempt to manipulate the people.
A full on assault against the average Rhode Island family is rocketing through the General Assembly. The Ocean State is quickly moving to put our own version of the Green New Deal into law. We need you to take action immediately to voice your opposition to it, before it is too late. Click here now to say NO to this far-left radical scheme from the land of make-believe.
This, along with the TCI Gas Tax, will paralyze our state. As we struggle to recover from the pandemic, it should be inconceivable that state lawmakers would choose NOW to consider an additional 30-40 cents per gallon gas tax increase or impose a radical, prohibitively expensive energy scheme.
Yet, the price of gasoline could soon rise (even more than it already has) if a new stealth carbon-tax scheme – the TCI Gas Tax – is implemented … a move that would necessarily increase costs on families and business, driving more people out of our state. The House of Representatives will vote on House Bill 5445 this Tuesday. This version of the state’s green new deal has already passed the RI Senate.
Even if you have contacted lawmakers already, we need you to take action again to oppose RI’s Green New Deal: Click here to contact lawmakers to say NO to the TCI Gas Tax and H5445, Rhode Island’s Green New Deal!
The simple form, once completed, will automatically send an email to the Governor and to legislative leaders telling them to reject the regional gasoline cap-and-trade scheme and RI’s Green New Deal.
Tell them today that you stand against these radical energy schemes. Thank you for taking action, and remember that your voice counts.
On Tuesday, the Rhode Island House will be voting on H5445A. It would mandate the reduction to zero of greenhouse gases in Rhode Island. While the deadline in the bill is 2050, the real deadline is five years from now, at which point, the lawsuits can start. From the bill:
The Rhode Island attorney general, any Rhode Island resident and any Rhode Island corporation, company, organization, nonprofit or other Rhode Island legal entity or organization registered with the Rhode Island secretary of state may bring a civil action to enforce this chapter.
Click here, courtesy UpriseRI, for the case in favor of the bill.
Nowhere in that article or anywhere has there been offered any science or evidence that this most drastic of measures would have any impact whatsoever on global warming nor has there been remotely adequate disclosure about the ludicrous cost of bringing it about (converting every house and building in the state to electric-only heating and AC) or the impact on our power supply of changing the grid over from a reliable, constant fuel source to an unreliable, intermittent one (routine rolling blackouts) while simultaneously adding enormous demand to it or the impact (sky-rocket) on residents’ and businesses’ electric bills of being compelled to purchase power only from renewable energy sources.
In the presumably deliberate absence of this information, accordingly, combined with our observation of the experience of other states who converted even a small portion of their grid to renewables, we can assume the worst on all of those fronts.
If you, like so many of us, do not think this is a good idea, feel free to share your concerns with your state representative before Tuesday.