Climate Funding Drops for State Projects Under EC4
October 10, 2024
PROVIDENCE — State agencies are getting less money for their climate projects this year.
That’s the takeaway from the latest $1.6 million spending plan from the Executive Climate Change Coordinating Council (EC4), the team of state agencies that is in charge of climate policy. The budget cut is a steep decline from last year, when state policymakers included $3 million for the council to distribute among its member agencies.
“That was something the General Assembly had provided as seed money for the EC4,” said Terry Gray, council chair and director of the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management at the EC4’s quarterly meeting on Tuesday. “This year the budget is half that amount.”
Under the plan approved by EC4 members, $1.66 million will be spread across 15 different programs proposed by state agencies and the University of Rhode Island. The council was originally budgeted $1.5 million under state law, taken from state proceeds received as part of its membership in the multistate compact, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. Another $160,000 was rolled over from the previous fiscal year.
Gray said the EC4 received a total of 19 complete proposals from its member agencies, totaling more than $2.3 million, far more than the council is allowed to spend.
Money for the EC4 has not always been an easy get in Rhode Island’s political atmosphere, which traditionally shies away from environmental spending. The decision by policymakers to draw council funds from RGGI proceeds, and not the general fund, was on its own a controversial move to some environmental groups.
Under RGGI, Rhode Island’s biggest greenhouse gas emitters, namely power plants, are charged for the carbon they emit. States that are part of the RGGI compact are allowed to use the proceeds from its auctions on energy efficiency, renewable energy, climate change adaptation, and other similar projects.
Under state law, the EC4 is allowed to use up to $1.5 million annually from RGGI proceeds to fund its own activities. For context, Rhode Island in 2022 received $12.9 million in RGGI proceeds, the most recent year the compact produced a spending report on its member states.
That $3 million in seed money Gray mentioned? When lawmakers passed the funding law in 2023, the next RGGI auction was three months away, leaving the EC4 with a funding gap for the rest of the summer and much of the fall.
Compared to last year, proposals from the EC4 member agencies are much more modest in scope:
$435,000 to four separate offices in DEM: $150,000 to to hire a consultant and support environmental organizations to help municipalities create environmentally sound and sustainable designs for climate resiliency projects; $125,000 for the purchase of an 18-foot trailer and zero-emission electric lawn equipment for use in state parks and management areas; $100,000 to DEM’s director’s office to hire a consultant to improve DEM’s energy tracking for renewable energy installations and electric vehicle chargers; and another $60,000 for the urban forestry program to partner with URI’s landscape architecture program on a pilot program to help three municipalities or nonprofits with design work.
$175,000 to the Rhode Island Department of Education for a new program within the state School Building Authority to create renewable energy projects at school buildings. The program will leverage funding from the Inflation Reduction Act and sign a procurement agreement with renewable energy developers.
$170,000 for the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training (DLT) to continue its small grant program that focuses on environmental education, professional development, and career exploration. It’s a continuation of DLT’s EC4 funding from last year, when it funded a STEAM-focused robotics program and an apprenticeship readiness program called Building Green Futures.
$150,000 for URI to digitize the decades of available data on Rhode Island’s beaches into a public and interactive web portal.
$145,000 for the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority to grow its ridership by reducing the cost of transit passes bought by employers, social service providers, and building owners on behalf of employees, tenants or clients; and $75,000 for its marketing team to increase public outreach campaigns and for RIPTA’s upcoming Drive Less RI app.
$100,000 to RIDOH to provide air conditioning units for vulnerable residents.
$100,000 for the Division of Statewide Planning to continue the already-existing Municipal Resilience Technical Assistance Program.
$100,000 for the Rhode Island Department of Transportation to investigate strategies for its carbon-reduction plan and decarbonization framework, both initiatives for the agency to meet the requirements of the Act on Climate law.
$100,000 to the Public Utilities Commission to continue to fund its climate policy analyst position.
$80,000 to the EC4’s own advisory board, to improve public outreach to the public on climate change, climate adaptation, and resiliency and a focus on local engagement.
$30,000 for the state Office of Energy Resources to pay for a third-party vendor to monitor the electricity produced by local solar panel systems, monitor battery storage, and inspect systems on a yearly basis.
“I think overall, we came up with a balanced plan that really covers both mitigation and adaptation across the board,” Gray said.
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Glad to see EC4 funding continue in 2025. While funding is less than what we need for sure, continuing this program allocation will benefits RI and the natural world we all need to sustain life. Kudos to DEM for moving forward with innovative projects.