Report | Environment Rhode Island

Wasting Our Waterways 2012

Industrial facilities continue to dump millions of pounds of toxic chemicals into America’s rivers, streams, lakes and ocean waters each year – threatening both the environment and human health. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), pollution from industrial facilities is responsible for threatening or fouling water quality in more than 14,000 miles of rivers and more than 220,000 acres of lakes, ponds and estuaries nationwide. However, Rhode Island's waterways are ranked second cleanest in the nation by total volume of discharged toxics.

News Release | Environment Rhode Island

Rhode Island's waterways among least toxic in U.S.; Clean Water Act loopholes could threaten progress

Rhode Island's waterways are ranked second cleanest in the nation by total volume of discharged toxics, according to a new report released today by Environment Rhode Island Research & Policy Center and co-authored by the Frontier Group. Although the report, entitled "Wasting Our Waterways", paints a grim picture for the nation overall — according to the study, 226 million pounds of toxic chemicals were discharged into 1,400 waterways across the country in 2010 — Rhode Island figures well, ranking second best only to Arizona with less than 1000 total pounds of toxic releases.

News Release | Environment Rhode Island

Ordinance introduced in Warren, R.I. would ban plastic checkout bags in town

The Warren Town Council conducted a first reading of an ordinance to ban disposable plastic checkout bags in the town. The legislation could make Warren the first municipality in Rhode Island – and among the first in New England – to reduce litter and marine debris by enacting a bag ban.

News Release | Environment Rhode Island

Provisions in U.S. Senate bill will fund preservation

The U.S. Senate passed a comprehensive transportation and infrastructure bill, including an amendment (1822) to set aside $700 million to conservation through the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), and to establish a National Endowment for the Oceans (NEO) which will dedicate resources to conserving and restoring oceans and coastal areas. The NEO provisions were proposed by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island.

News Release | Environment Rhode Island

Environment Rhode Island Announces Legislative Priorities for 2012

Environment Rhode Island’s main priorities include reducing air pollution and spurring our economy through supporting a plan to reduce Rhode Island’s dependence on petroleum, keeping our waterways clean by banning single use plastic checkout bags, and supporting a suite of environmental policies to preserve open spaces and protect Narragansett Bay.

Headline

Bag It

"Plastic grocery bags are so ubiquitous in Rhode Island, and in most of the world, that it may seem strange to imagine life without them. But Channing Jones, field associate for the advocacy group Environment Rhode Island, is on a mission. He wants Rhode Islanders not only to imagine such a life, but also to live it."

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