rhode island

Trash Incineration Pushed to the Back Burner Again

Once again, Clean Water Action successfully defended Rhode Island’s 20-year ban on municipal trash incineration. Legislation had been moving forward that would have overturned the ban and gone even farther, making trash burners eligible for the same financial incentives as clean, renewable energy sources. Clean Water Action members and renewable energy industry leaders rallied with other environ-mental and community groups to fight back.

The winning campaign to defeat the bill delivered this message, loud and clear: “Rhode Islanders don’t want more polluting power sources, we want real green jobs and clean energy.”

Priorities for 2012 include two measures for which hearings were held in 2011 but which never came to a vote:

• An Act to Provide Leadership Regarding the Responsible Recycling, Reuse and Disposal of Consumer Products — would build on the state’s electronics waste law by allowing the Department of Environmental Management to create producer responsibility programs for other consumer products.
• The Transportation Investment and Debt Reduction Act — would create sustainable funding for roads and bridges, public transit and reduce the amount of borrowing through bonds. The budget passed in 2011 began that process, but neglected to include funding for the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority.