As the new home of RIPIRG's environmental work, Environment Rhode Island can be contacted regarding this news release.
PROVIDENCE—Governor
Carcieri announced August 3, 2005 that Rhode Island will adopt global warming
pollution standards for new cars, trucks and SUV’s sold in the state.
The announcement comes as Governor Carcieri is preparing to assume
leadership of the New England Governors Conference, a key regional body
that has spurred state action on global warming throughout New England
since 2001.
“Governor
Carcieri deserves our applause for announcing this program,” said Matt
Auten, Advocate with the Rhode Island Public Interest Research Group
(RIPIRG). “Updating the Clean Cars Standard will reduce air pollution,
protect public health, help to preserve our shorelines and benefit the
economy. This is really a win-win for Rhode Islanders and we were glad
to see the Governor seize this opportunity” Auten continued.
Last
year Governor Carcieri finalized rules that brought the California
Clean Cars Standard to Rhode Island to reduce air pollution and put
more clean cars, like hybrids, on the road. Since then California has
updated their standards to include the harmful pollutants that cause
global warming. The Governors of New York, Connecticut and
Massachusetts have already committed to following California’s lead and
some states have already released draft regulations for public comment.
“By
joining our regional allies and California in updating the Clean Cars
Standard to include global warming pollution, Rhode Island can expect
emissions reductions of about 30 percent from new cars and trucks over
the next decade,” Auten continued.
Cars
and trucks are the largest source of global warming pollution in Rhode
Island and are also the fastest growing sector of emissions. Between
1990 and 2003 the number of vehicle-miles traveled (VMT) in Rhode
Island increased from 7.4 billion miles to 8.4 billion miles annually
(about 23 million miles a day), a 14 percent increase.
According
to RIPIRG, the new program (which are sometimes called the “Pavley
Standards” after the bill’s original sponsor in California Rep. Fran
Pavley) will be the largest proactive step that Rhode Island has taken
to reduce global warming emissions to date, eliminating about 121,000
metric tons of carbon equivalent (MTCE) a year by 2020.
This
summer RIPIRG built support for today’s announcement by talking to over
20,000 Rhode Islanders in face-to-face conversations on doorsteps and
on busy street corners about cars and global warming and distributing
over 5,000 pieces of education literature. RIPIRG also delivered over
2,300 petition signatures to the Governor in support of his
announcement.
“The
people of Rhode Island are concerned about global warming and they
overwhelmingly support our state taking action to reduce global warming
emissions,” said RIPIRG Canvass Director Matthew Lord. “We’ve spoken to
the people and today the people are getting what they want,” Lord said.
Updating
the Clean Cars Standard is projected to benefit the Rhode Island
economy, because the new standards are expected to create modest
fuel-savings, meaning consumers will more money to spend in the local
economy instead of at the gas pump.
Scientists
project that average temperatures in Rhode Island could increase 2-10
degrees over the next century if no action is taken to reduce global
warming emissions. In Rhode Island global warming could lead to hotter
and more intense summer smog seasons, more intense storms and
hurricanes, increased coastal flooding and beach erosion and ecological
changes in Narragansett Bay.
In
2001, the New England Governor’s agreed to a set of regional emission
reduction goals to combat global warming. Since 2001, the regional
agreement has propelled New England states, including Rhode Island, to
the forefront of the fight against global warming.
The
actions of Governor Carcieri and the New England Governors on global
warming are particularly significant given the reluctance of the U.S.
Congress or the Bush Administration to craft policies that will reduce
global warming emissions nationally.
Governor
Carcieri will be the Chairman of the next Conference of the New England
Governor’s that is scheduled to meet on August 28th-29th in
Newfoundland, Canada as part of ongoing meetings between the Conference
of New England Governor’s and their counterparts in Eastern Canada.
