PROVIDENCE — Like many others, Michael Kadish moved back to Rhode Island during the pandemic.

Kadish, a veteran political and environmental policy professional, had just exited a climate technology start-up and bought a home in Barrington. He had lived in the Ocean State as a child, before his family moved away.

After moving back, Kadish began volunteering for Climate Action Rhode Island (CARI) in his spare time. He met Rachel Roseneck, a political communications professional who had spent most of her career in the New York political scene.

Despite the state’s admirable climate progress in recent years, both Kadish and Roseneck realized there was something missing from the political and environmental landscape. It crystallized in recent years as CARI began to protest the lack of legislative action in the General Assembly on the environment, hosting mock funerals to highlight lawmakers’ negligence on climate.

“We met with a lot of amazing people from almost every environmental group in the state,” Kaddish told ecoRI News during an online interview with Roseneck, “from Save The Bay to the Audubon Society, to Clean Water Action, orgs that were doing really good work. We tried to ask what’s missing? How can we create something that’s additive?”

From those conversations and listening sessions, Kadish and Roseneck started the Ocean State Climate Alliance (OSCA). The nonprofit, founded earlier this year with Kadish and Roseneck as executive director and communications director respectively, is focused on organizing the business community around climate issues, two interest groups traditionally viewed as at odds with each other.

Already the group has obtained the backing of the Greater Newport Chamber of Commerce and the Rhode Island AFL-CIO, with a stable of advisors that include environmental policymakers and business leaders.

The organization is also backing its first piece of legislation, the Solar Cost Reduction Act (H7726/S2801), which seeks to streamline permitting requirements for local developers across all 39 cities and towns in Rhode Island.

Roseneck said the bill emerged from conversations with solar installers, and it made her and Kadish realize there were simple but effective changes to be made for environmental policy and businesses.

“There are pretty simple, easy, pragmatic things we can do,” Roseneck said. “We’re a small state, but I think people are ahead of the curve when it comes to solar adoption, and electric vehicles, and making homes energy efficient. There’s no reason to be behind the curve when it comes to something as similar to solar permitting.”

Solar permitting and installation are more expensive and time-consuming than it should be, according to both Kadish and Roseneck. Residential projects have to be reviewed and approved manually town by town, extending timelines for projects and adding additional costs, between $6,000 and $7,000 per installation.

The legislation backed by OSCA would require municipalities to use a free online platform for state solar permits and create a centralized database of local solar ordinances. It would also allow virtual, remote inspections, with a final in-person inspection to conclude any solar project. States such as New Jersey, California, Maryland, and Florida have already passed similar legislation.

Advocates say the legislation would reduce the costs of solar to be more aligned with costs in other countries. But critics, such as Rhode Island Energy, contend that multiple in-person inspections are required to ensure any new solar installation is safe and reliable.

It’s the kind of zero-cost legislation, said Kadish, that policymakers needed to pass right now. Rhode Island’s state government is running a deficit, and a hostile federal government that is in the process of rolling back almost all of the Biden-era climate programs that made states cash flush are barriers to building muscular climate policy.

“It’s like a win, win, win,” Kadish said. “It’s good for the companies. It’s good for people who want to save on energy by getting solar, because it gets their solar online quicker, which means we’re saving money earlier, and it also reduces the soft cost for the company, so the company can reduce the price.“

“What can we focus on that is achievable and practical and move the needle to create momentum?” Roseneck asked. “Maybe in a few years we’re in a place where we can get more aggressive and ambitious on climate again, after we have some wins and some momentum at our back.”

Climate technology — offshore wind, solar developers, battery storage, and other industries — is a big, unsung part of Rhode Island’s economy, according to Kadish, but the industries need someone to organize and speak on behalf of their needs. OSCA is already supporting this year’s plug-in solar legislation, and in the future hopes to focus on building decarbonization, battery storage, and other technologies.

On Smith Hill, these companies rarely have an organized voice. The bigger solar developers, such as Green Development LLC or Revity Energy, usually have a lobbyist or some kind of representative mingling with policymakers and testifying on legislation that could impact the industry.

But smaller companies are far less likely to be in the conversation.

Kadish said the main push for OSCA is to include more climate technology into state politics and policy conversations. Renewable tech developers like battery and solar rarely have a seat at the table when it comes to policy.