Americans love clean water. Every year, millions of us flock to our waterways to swim, surf, or go tubing, kayaking or fishing. That’s why the federal Clean Water Act set a goal of making all our waterways safe for swimming. Yet our research finds that all too often our beaches are still plagued with pollution, and millions of swimmers get sick every year. To dramatically reduce this pollution, we must boldy invest in improving our water infrastructure.
Solar power is helping move the United States toward a future of 100% renewable energy, while reducing global warming pollution, cleaning up the air in our communities, and empowering homeowners and business owners to generate their own electricity. And increasingly, solar power can do all that at a lower cost than electricity produced from fossil fuels. Utilities increasingly fear that the falling prices and rising availability of clean solar power will threaten their business model, which ties profits to the amount of capital investment they make in the grid, and sometimes to the amount of electricity sold. Consequently, in states across the country, utilities are using their money and clout to push policymakers to undercut solar power and make it harder for homeowners and small business owners to produce their own clean energy.
The companies, lobbyists and front groups undermining local clean energy
America has the power to build an energy system in which our energy comes from clean, renewable sources like the wind and sun.
Electric vehicles (EVs) are ready to deliver a future of clean transportation. However, in order to facilitate mass adoption, Rhode Island needs more public charging infrastructure. Local, state and federal policies can make EV charging accessible and easy.
Today, one in five Americans lives within just three miles of a Superfund toxic waste site. Contaminants of concern at these sites include arsenic, lead, mercury, benzene, dioxin, and other hazardous chemicals that may increase the risk of cancer, reproductive problems, birth defects, and other serious illnesses. Cleanup can take a decade or more, and decreased funding over the last 20 years has led to slower cleanups. To make matters worse, climate change is increasing the frequency and severity of storms such as hurricanes that threaten to impact toxic waste sites, which could spread the chemicals at these sites into surrounding communities. During the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season, 810 Superfund toxic waste sites were in the path of a hurricane or tropical storm.
We, the undersigned state leaders, are writing to ask that you join us as a partner in combating the plastic pollution crisis.
Global warming is the existential challenge of our time, threatening lives, livelihoods and the future of the planet. To avoid the worst impacts and preserve a livable planet for future generations, we need to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Carbon pricing is a proven and effective way to help us meet that goal.
To prevent air and water pollution and avoid the worst impacts of global warming, America must move toward meeting our energy needs with 100% renewable energy. Getting there will require that we get the most out of every bit of energy we use – and that we stop burning fossil fuels in our homes and commercial buildings.
The United States currently relies heavily on fossil fuels to heat our homes, fuel our cars, power our machines and produce electricity, harming our health and our climate. America’s abundant renewable energy resources, coupled with energy efficiency measures and technological advances that have made renewable energy cheaper and better than ever, open the possibility of transitioning our entire economy to run on 100 percent renewable energy.
