Rhode Island Greenhouse Gas Action Plan

The Rhode Island Greenhouse Gas Process (RI GHG) represents a unique effort on the state level to reduce the greenhouse gases that cause climate change. RI GHG successfully formulated a Greenhouse Gas Action Plan for the state of Rhode Island in 2002, and has continued meeting to implement the plan.

The Plan includes a set of 49 consensus options for reducing the State's GHG emissons. Sample actions include requiring that a percentage of electricity sold in Rhode Island come from renewable sources, and integrating land-use zoning and transit planning efforts to reduce vehicle miles traveled. Since September 2002, the Stakeholders have been developing the highest-priority programs for implementation.

The Rhode Island process builds on a recent agreement among all the New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers to reduce greenhouse gases in the region to 1990 levels by 2010, 10% below those levels in 2020, and by as much as 75% over the longer-term.

Over 60 individuals participated actively in the Working Groups. In March of 2005, the U.S. EPA recognized the Rhode Island Greenhouse Gas Stakeholders for their 'exceptional contributions to global environmental protection' in bestowing upon them its coveted 2005 Climate Protection Award.