Energy and the Environment

Climate change will have a big impact on our small state. We have to do all we can to protect Rhode Island’s precious resources.

Governor Gina Raimondo is making sure that every Rhode Island family can enjoy our bay, beaches, forests and wetlands for generations to come.

In her first term, the Governor set an ambitious goal: Make Rhode Island’s energy system ten times cleaner by 2020. With less than two years to go, we’re well on our way to meeting our goal.

Rhode Island is the only state in America with an offshore wind farm and this year Gina announced a new offshore wind project to provide enough energy to power over 200,000 Rhode Island homes and create more than 800 good jobs at every level. Green energy jobs have already increased by 66 percent under Gina’s leadership.

Our state is ranked third in the nation for energy-efficiency programs and policies under Gina. Since 2014, the number of solar companies in Rhode Island has increased from six to 48 and homeowners and businesses across our state are benefiting from incentives to install solar.

Gina has been an environmental leader in our country and region. She endorsed a more aggressive reduction in emissions through the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a strong, regional approach to combat the climate crisis. When President Trump withdrew our nation from the Paris Climate Agreement, Gina entered Rhode Island into the United States Climate Alliance and committed to uphold greenhouse gas reduction goals despite D.C.’s action. And when the Trump administration threatened to open up Rhode Island’s coastline to offshore oil exploration and drilling, Gina went directly to Washington to protect the Ocean State.