Rhode Island
For cleaner, more affordable travel in RI
Mal Skowron is transportation coverage coordinator for Inexperienced Vitality Shoppers Alliance, a Windfall-based nonprofit.
Our reliance on gas-powered automobiles for practically all journeys causes congestion, worsens air high quality, and accelerates local weather change. The excellent news? It doesn’t need to be like this.
Final 12 months, the Act on Local weather was signed into state legislation and established binding targets to cut back emissions 45% by 2030. Assembly the mandate requires rethinking transportation, the most important supply of climate-warming air pollution. Whereas Rhode Island plans to chop carbon, let’s take the chance to perform one thing larger: repair the failures of the prevailing gasoline-based system.
Rhode Islanders deserve transportation that isn’t simply cleaner, however more healthy, extra equitable and extra reasonably priced, too.
First, it ought to be simpler to journey with out a automotive. In our small state, there’s underutilized potential for strong transit service and strolling/biking paths. Think about that 36% of all journeys are lower than a mile and 77% of Rhode Islanders stay inside a 10-minute stroll of a bus cease.
If the fee, comfort and security of non-car transportation modes are made aggressive with vehicles, the state can cut back emissions whereas giving Rhode Islanders extra freedom to decide on the mode that most closely fits them. For instance, take into consideration how a lot cash a two-car family would possibly save if transit was ok to exchange only one automobile.
Rhode Island has glorious transit and bicycle plans which have stalled as a consequence of lack of funding. Bond measures launched by Rep. Teresa Tanzi, if handed on the November poll, would make investments $100 million and $25 million, respectively, in statewide transit and bicycle paths. Everybody, together with those that drive, will see less-crowded roads and cleaner air with these investments.
Second, even when we journey fewer miles by automotive, automobiles will stay a significant supply of air pollution in the event that they proceed to burn gasoline. To scale back emissions in keeping with state legislation, Rhode Island should exchange 100,000 vehicles with electrical automobiles by 2030. Electrical automobiles don’t simply reduce down on tailpipe emissions, they’re additionally cheaper to gas (electrical energy costs are equal to $2 per gallon of fuel) and cheaper to take care of.
A wave of electrical automobiles is coming. Main automakers similar to GM, Volkswagen and Honda plan to cease promoting gas-powered vehicles within the subsequent 20 years, whereas others, similar to Ford, are investing billions to shift manufacturing to electrical automobiles. There’s an actual threat that Rhode Island is caught flat-footed on this transition by failing to organize our infrastructure.
If the pattern continues, Rhode Islanders who need to escape fluctuating fuel costs by driving an electrical automobile could have a tougher time than wherever else in New England. Connecticut and Massachusetts are poised to cross laws that might advance the change to electrical automobiles.
Rhode Island ought to make it a precedence to maintain up and cross the Electrical Transportation Act launched by Rep. Terri Cortvriend and Sen. Alana DiMario. The laws would enhance entry to electrical automobiles of all sorts — vehicles, buses and vehicles — by planning charging infrastructure by way of the subsequent decade and tying gas financial system laws to California, the nation’s largest electric-vehicle market. By 2030, anybody shopping for a brand new automotive ought to have the ability to select electrical with out worrying about which dealerships supply the automobiles and the place to cost.
It’s going to take a constant effort over the subsequent 30 years to transition away from the gasoline-based system that has our wallets and roadways in a chokehold. For those who doubt that the trouble is value it, take a look at your final fuel station receipt. Is the value you’re paying value what you’re getting?
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Rhode Island
RI man arrested for DUI after crashing into utility pole in South Kingstown
![RI man arrested for DUI after crashing into utility pole in South Kingstown RI man arrested for DUI after crashing into utility pole in South Kingstown](https://media.nbcboston.com/2024/07/south-kingstown-police.png?resize=1200%2C675&quality=85&strip=all)
A Rhode Island man was allegedly driving impaired when he crashed his car into a utility pole in South Kingstown on Friday afternoon.
South Kingstown police say John E. Disano, 53, of Narragansett, was involved in a single-car crash around 4 p.m. in the area of 1097 Middlebridge Road.
Police allege that Disano struck a utility pole, causing it to snap and fall across both lanes of the road, which had to be closed for several hours as crews worked to fix downed wires.
During the investigation, police say Disano exhibited signs of impairment and was unable to pass a series of standardized field sobriety tests.
He was subsequently arrested for suspicious of driving under the influence of liquor and/or drugs. He later refused to submit to a breath and/or chemical test, according to police.
Officers seized a notable quantity of suspected narcotics, which will be tested, police said. Additional charges are possible.
“Driving under the influence of any substance is a serious offense that endangers everyone on the road,” South Kingstown Police Chief Matthew Moynihan said in a statement. “This incident serves as a reminder of the importance of making responsible choices and we are fortunate that the consequences were not more dire.”
Disano was held overnight at the South Kingstown Police Department and will be arraigned at the station. It wasn’t clear if he had obtained an attorney.
Rhode Island
Rhode Island Department of State hosts poll worker recruitment event for veterans | ABC6
![Rhode Island Department of State hosts poll worker recruitment event for veterans | ABC6 Rhode Island Department of State hosts poll worker recruitment event for veterans | ABC6](https://www.abc6.com/content/uploads/2024/07/x/k/453013041-814356397509169-7468887762723355875-n.jpg)
CRANSTON, R.I. (WLNE) — The Rhode Island Department of State hosted a poll worker recruitment event for veterans and their families on Saturday.
The event was in partnership with Vet the Vote, which works to get more military veterans and families involved with working during elections.
Attendees heard from state officials on how Rhode Island runs its elections and were given information on where they could work as paid poll workers this election cycle.
“Our country’s veterans and military families understand the importance of service, and their commitment to our democracy and our nation’s values align perfectly with the responsibilities of poll workers,” Secretary of State Gregg Amore said.
Rhode Island
Cost of living in RI, Biden’s ballots, golf courses worth the drive: Top stories this week
Taking a tour of the historic Pomham Rocks Lighthouse
Dennis Tardiff, captain and chairman of Friends of Pomham Rocks Lighthouse, leads a tour of the historic Pomham Rocks Lighthouse
Here are some of The Providence Journal’s most-read stories for the week of July 21, supported by your subscriptions.
• It doesn’t get more Rhode Island than a tour of a lighthouse, except maybe if you brought along a Del’s. While some of the state’s lighthouses have been accessible for years, the Pomham Rocks Lighthouse – after years of renovations – is now open to view. The Journal’s Antonia Noori Farza recently toured the site and talked with the volunteers who made it happen.
• We finally got a break from the heat and humidity this week even if it meant a couple of gray days – apologies if you were on vacation – were in the mix. If you’ve grown tired of summer temperatures and are dreaming about sweater weather and pumpkin spice the Old Farmer’s Almanac says you might get some relief this fall.
• For the latest sports news, including The Providence Journal’s coverage of the Little League championships in softball and baseball as well as the latest in high school sports go to providencejournal.com/sports.
Here are the week’s top reads on providencejournal.com:
How expensive is it to live in Rhode Island?
How expensive is it to live in Rhode Island?
According to a new Forbes.com report, it’s really expensive and it’s housing costs – both mortgages and rent – driving up the cost of living in the state.
Forbes looked at several data sources to see how every state ranked in various measures ranging from cost of living to income taxes. Still, in Rhode Island, a lack of housing supply proved to be costly as rent and the cost to buy a house keep going up.
The good news? It is not as expensive as one of our neighbors.
Cost of living: Forbes pegs RI as one of the most expensive states to live in. Here’s what is driving that ranking.
Rhode Islanders who have a Rhode Island Energy account for electricity or natural gas will notice a slew of changes starting Aug. 19, the most noticeable of which will be that their bill will look different.
In addition to a different looking bill, RI Energy will have a redesigned website, a new bill-processing system and a single phone number to reach the company’s new 300-person customer service center in Cumberland.
Customers will also be able to send a text to alert the company about an electrical outage.
Here’s why these changes are happening.
Electricity: Big changes are coming for RI Energy account holders. Here’s what to know.
This headline is going to make some people laugh, but they don’t live here. They’re not like us.
If you’re from out of state and happen upon this, these golf courses are not out of the way. They’re actually all very convenient to get to compared to what you’re used to.
But if you’re from Rhode Island, the idea of playing one of these spots might give you a second thought. Only in the Ocean State is a spot that is not directly off the highway or takes more than 40 total minutes of driving considered “out of the way.” It’s a stereotype, but it’s a stereotype for a reason.
So who made the list? The Journa’s Eric Rueb has played all these courses at one point or another — including two recently — and can tell you, without a doubt these are the five courses that are worth the drive.
Golf: Ready for a road trip? Here are five out-of-the-way golf courses in RI you need to play
If you want to build a granny flat, a carriage house or an accessory dwelling unit here, what are the rules?
After a new state law passed legalizing what’s known as ADUs statewide, there are fewer rules than than city leaders would like.
“It put us in a bit of a tricky situation, as it didn’t give us any time to revise local ordinances,” Providence Deputy Planning Director Bob Azar said. “We will have to evaluate new applications based on what’s in state law.”
Providence is trying to craft an ordinance that still complies with the state law and will put some strictures and limits on accessory dwelling units. Here’s the plan.
Housing: With granny flats now legal, Providence looks to pass restrictions. Here’s what the city wants.
The biggest news of the week was President Joe Biden’s decision to drop out of the race for president.
The decision does raise the question for Rhode Islanders: Who will replace him on the ballot?
Biden quickly endorsed Harris as the Democratic nominee.
LeeAnn Byrne, chief of staff to Secretary of State Gregg Amore, said ballots have not yet been created in Rhode Island.
“September 12th is the deadline for each national party to certify to the RI Department of State Elections Division the names of individuals nominated as the party’s candidates for president and vice president,” Byrne said. “Federal law requires us to send ballots to military and overseas voters 45 days before the election, so those ballots are finalized well in advance of Election Day. Once those ballots are printed and sent to military and overseas voters, we would be unable to change the ballot.”
Election 2024: What happens to ballots in Rhode Island now that Biden has dropped out of the race?
To read the full stories, go to providencejournal.com. Find out how to subscribe here.
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