It’s no surprise then that observers credit states with taking the lead in trying to reduce the root causes of global warming. Given the absence of federal leadership, forward motion by clusters of states in the Northeast, the Southwest, and the West Coast could create broader impetus for change, or so the thinking goes among many environmental activists.

Although Rhode Island has been somewhat forward-looking on the issue, the results thus far are mixed.

Last year, the state made into law the Clean Energy Act, which requires that 16 percent of Rhode Island’s electricity to come from clean, renewable sources — like solar and wind — by 2020.

Similarly, in August 2005, Governor Donald L. Carcieri signed executive orders to make new state vehicles and new state buildings more energy-efficient. The move came just after Rhode Island improved to a B-, from a C- in 2004, in a report card issued by environmental groups, and the governor later announced the adoption of the Clean Car Standards, already utilized in a number of other New England states, that are expected to achieve a 30 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from new cars by 2016.

In December 2005, however, Carcieri took the state out of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (www.rggi.org), a collaborative market-based effort, launched in 2001 by states stretching from Maryland to Maine, to reduce carbon dioxide emissions (Massachusetts also pulled out of the RGGI last year). While the Carcieri administration expressed concern about the impact on utility costs, RIPIRG’s Auten calls the state’s pullout “a major opportunity that was lost,” although he says the state could rejoin the agreement before it takes effect.

ADVERTISEMENT

The RGGI commits the region to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 10 percent below 1990 levels by 2020, and by 75 or more in the long term. As Auten notes, though, at a time when it’s vital to set long-term goals, the New England states are not on track to reach even short-term targets. While Rhode Island has taken some positive steps, he says, “Our point is, we’re not doing enough.”

Bringing it back home
In some ways, the state’s efforts mirror what might be the gradual national awakening to the threat of global warming.

In 2001, for example, the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management brought together more than 30 people, representing business, utilities, government, and environmental groups, as the Rhode Island Climate Change Consortium (www.dem.ri.gov/climate), to develop a greenhouse gas action plan for the state. The recognition of the problem, and the willingness of an array of interest groups to play a part, seems encouraging.

In the time since, the consortium has identified 52 ways, encompassing $700 million in savings, in which businesses and citizens can reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and its members have emerged as ambassadors in the fight. “The major immediate solution . . . is for American citizens individually to curb their appetites for oil and for energy use,” says David Cordeiro of Greenwich Advertising in East Greenwich, who has facilitated focus groups as part of the consortium. Sounding a civic call not unlike those made during World War II, Cordeiro notes the consumer lifestyle underlying global warming in saying, “Everyone can do something to help out,” from buying more energy-efficient appliances to utilizing energy-efficient lighting. (A bevy of environmental sites, including www.fightglobalwarming.com, offer other suggestions.)

Such initiatives explain why efforts that would have once been of interest only to environmentalists are steadily becoming more widespread. As the state Climate Change Consortium notes in a newsletter, Providence has committed to using 20 percent clean energy by 2010; Warwick schools are employing bio-diesel fuels; and Cranston began a comprehensive energy efficiency program at Park View Middle School.

Still, it’s hard to tell whether these approaches represent the early phase of a more comprehensive solution or merely nibbling around the edges of the problem.

As signs of progress, Stephen Majkut, chief of the office of air resources at DEM, points to the adoption of California vehicle standards, the governor’s executive orders on the state fleet and state buildings, and state incentives to wean facilities away from fossil fuels. Taking issue with Auten’s claim that the state isn’t on track to meet goals for greenhouse gas reduction, Majkut says, “I still think it’s an open question of whether Rhode Island will meet that target. Things like doing the vehicle standards get us a big chunk of the way there.”

Still, even Majkut, one of DEM’s in-house specialists on global warming, wrestles with whether the short-term changes being implemented are sufficient to curb the long-term threat of climate change.

“That’s a really tough question,” he says. “The goal is just so large.” The target of a 70 percent to 80 percent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions, he notes, “is beyond my working lifetime. These kinds of things [currently being pursued] are just sort of the first steps that will get results.” The ultimate threat is “too far away,” he says, to judge the effectiveness of current efforts.