Rhode Islanders Could Be 'Freezing in the Dark' Without Abrupt Policy Shifts
President Trump's decision to withdraw from UN climate agreements will force states to reconsider their energy policies.
Rhode Island could serve as a critical test bed for how states react to President Trump's decision to pull the United States out of long-standing United Nations climate change agreements. But that largely depends on the actions of a special state senate commission set up to "monitor" climate policy.
The announcement from the Trump White House last week coincides with the efforts of free market activists in the Ocean State to cancel out net-zero initiatives. By withdrawing from the 1992 U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) established in 1988, Trump is forcing pro-climate hysteria states to take a hard look at energy policy.
Trump's executive actions were part of a broader move to withdraw the U.S. from 66 "international organizations, conventions and treaties that are contrary to the interests of the United States," according to a White House statement. Rhode Island's five-member senate commission will report its findings to the full General Assembly on May 1, 2026.
Make Energy Affordable Again
Mike Stenhouse, the CEO of the Rhode Island Center for Peace and Prosperity, would like to see the committee take the opportunity to reverse course from climate policies that will raise the cost of living for the state. During his latest "In the Dugout" podcast, Stenhouse interviewed Sen. Samuel D. Zurier, a Providence Democrat, who chairs the commission. (The interview is available here.)
Stenhouse has called on commission members to maintain an "open mind towards less costly and more reliable sources of electricity." Zurier told Stenhouse the commission's primary responsibility is to evaluate the implementation plans for the climate legislation to ensure certain "benchmarks" are met before the plan is fully implemented in 2050. He also said during the podcast that the commission could possibly recommend a change in strategy if those benchmarks are not within reach. Zurier then proceeded to express strong support for existing wind power projects. The state senator called attention to the Block Wind Farm, which he said has saved Block Island residents 2/3 of their energy costs. Zurier also said Trump's shutdown of the Revolution Wind Farm had ultimately cost Rhode Island residents money.
Restoration News reached out to Zurier to ask when and how often he expected the climate commission to hold hearings and if the committee would allow public testimony in person or in writing. Restoration News also asked if the commission should alter its mission to modify climate mandates rather than simply measuring their enforcement. In an email message, Zurier told Restoration News the commission will hold its first hearing on January 28 with a presentation by the Executive Climate Change Coordinating Council (also called the EC4 Advisory Board.) The commission will then hold hearings where experts and stakeholders will testify. There will also be a portal to accept public comments in writing. Zurier also expects to accept public comments in person. He anticipates having more specific information about future dates by the time of the January 28 meeting.
Rhode Island's Act on Climate legislation, passed in 2021, sets the goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. But as Stenhouse points out in a recent commentary, "the landscape has dramatically shifted" since the Act was implemented. He cites the changes in federal policy, the uncertain future of offshore wind, and acceleration of artificial intelligence to make the case that net zero strategies can't succeed. The Rhode Island Center for Peace and Prosperity released a comprehensive study titled "Freezing in the Dark" that warns about the potential fallout from climate policies.
If the state of Rhode Island remains on its current path, the report projects that electricity prices will rise to unaffordable rates—"more than doubling in the coming decades." That part about freezing in the dark is no joke either since the report also anticipates "dangerous blackouts and/or brownouts" that could put state residents "at serious risk of not being able to access electricity during the coldest winter nights or hottest summer days."
The other bit of sobering news concerns environmental damage from electrical vehicles, wind farms, and solar farms. The report points to heavy damage from "the mining and refining of toxic elements necessary for components, the poisonous breakdowns and disposal of such components, the wildlife and sea-life animals killed, habitat
destruction, and the visual pollution of once pristine vistas."
The Climate Has Shifted
The report recommends that Rhode Island delay net zero energy milestones by at least 20 years, repeal EV mandates and withdraw from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a multistate "cap and trade" agreement. Zurier and other state senators sitting on the special commission are ideally positioned to follow through on these proposals. The other critical player worth mentioning here is the Executive Climate Change Coordinating Council EC4 Advisory Board created in 2014, which has 13 full members, appointed by the governor and members of the General Assembly. Unfortunately, the board remains fully committed to pursuing existing green mandates. That leaves the field wide open to elected officials to take decisive action so their constituents do not "freeze in the dark." As part of its charge, the senate commission is examining EC4's implementation plan for Act on Climate. But the opportunity here may be to seize on an entire new energy strategy.
New England Free Market Coalition Charts a New Path
The Rhode Island Center is joining with other free market think tanks, along with Americans for Prosperity Foundation, to release a new report this week titled "Alternatives to New England's Energy Suicide." The free-market coalition estimates the region would save hundreds of billions of dollars in energy costs while avoiding deadly power blackouts. This can be done, the upcoming report explains, by replacing state-mandated renewable energy projects with nuclear and natural gas power.
The state of Rhode Island could set the trend nationwide if its special senate commission embraces reality and junks net-zero schemes. The smallest state in the union could have a compelling story to tell when the commission delivers its report in just a few months.
(POWERING AMERICA: Trump Reloads an 'America First' Energy Agenda While Reasserting Sound Science)
