Rhode Island Feeds

Walking or biking to school are two simple acts that can have a profound impact on our children, communities and planet.

That’s why, as elementary and middle school students head back to class across Rhode Island, the Coalition for Transportation Choices is ramping up its efforts to get the word out about International Walk To School Day on Oct. 6.

Walk To School Day events help create safer routes for walking and bicycling, and emphasize the importance of issues such as increasing physical activity among children, pedestrian safety, traffic congestion, concern for the environment, and building connections between families, schools and the broader community.<<Opinion

We are grateful he fizzled out before arriving in RI.

"Last Night" An evening with the RI Philharmonic Orchastra at
Independence Park, Thames Street, Bristol
Sunday September 5
5:30 pm Avenue A
7:00 pm The RI Philharmonic Orchastra
The concert is free and is presented by Taco, The White Family Foundation and the Town of Bristol

Thankfully it looks like we will not be getting as much wind as originally forecasted. Earl
downgraded to Category 1. How much rain? I guess we'll find out in the morning.
For up to date info go to:
http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/quicklook/data/EARL.html

ecoRInews: Lots of closures/cancellations being reported. If you're traveling (even a few blocks) best to check your route. #Earl

This is a three minute video with David Pogue.
http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/?nl=technology&emc=ctb1

ecoRInews: According to @projo, Middletown & Narragansett have opened shelters: Gaudet MS and Narragansett HS, respectively. #Earl #RI #EarlRI

ecoRInews: Here's a constantly updating list of closures to help you navigate the day: http://www.ribroadcasters.com/News_and_Events/Closings_Delays/

ecoRInews: Also, it's going to be an Earl-heavy news day. Tweet damage photos, flooding, road blockages, etc. @ecoRInews and say safe!

ecoRInews: Providence streetcar "circulator" public meetings to take place later this month http://bit.ly/cXP2wL (9/21-9/23) go and be heard!

A few links as we head into Labor Day weekend.

Another Gulf oil rig was rocked by an explosion (NY Times).

Risks increase as oil rigs drill deeper and deeper (NY Times).

Banks are becoming concerned about financing projects with adverse environmental effects (NY Times).

This greener champagne bottle deserves a toast (NY Times).

By ecoRI staff

PROVIDENCE — The Rhode Island Public Transit Authority is partnering with the city to examine the feasibility, cost and benefits of improving transit within the city’s central core, connecting the College Hill, downtown and upper south Providence neighborhoods.

The study will examine options for connecting the significant educational, medical, employment and cultural destinations in this corridor with the central bus hub in Kennedy Plaza and rail services at the Providence MBTA/Amtrak station.

Members of the public are encouraged to attend one of three upcoming community open houses to help plan how transit might improve mobility and strengthen the downtown, upper south Providence and College Hill areas.

College Hill Open House
• Tuesday, Sept. 21, from 5-7 p.m.
• Brown RISD Hillel Center, 80 Brown St.
• Informal drop-in open house, with brief formal presentation at 6 p.m.

Upper South Providence Open House
• Wednesday, Sept. 22, from 5-7 p.m.
• Edmund Flynn Elementary School, 220 Blackstone St.
• Informal drop-in open house, with brief formal presentation at 6 p.m.

Downtown Open House
• Thursday, Sept. 23, from 12:30-2 p.m.
• The Commerce Center, 30 Exchange Terrace.
• Informal drop-in open house, with brief formal presentation at 1 p.m.

By ecoRI staff

The Rhode Island Energy Efficiency and Resource Management Council — a stakeholder group charged with helping consumers save money through efficiency investments — recently released the results of an 18-month study designed to identify opportunities for National Grid to invest in cost-saving energy-efficiency resources. The study shows that the state could capture hundreds of millions of dollars in savings, and the results are being used to help set targets for future expansion of energy efficiency programs.

“The Opportunity for Energy Efficiency that is Cheaper than Supply in Rhode Island” was based on about 450 residential phone surveys and on-site visits to commercial and industrial facilities in the state. The study was designed to determine the potential for energy and cost savings from electric efficiency measures in Rhode Island over a 10-year period. It also supports the goals of the Rhode Island Comprehensive Energy Conservation, Efficiency and Affordability Act of 2006, which requires National Grid to procure all energy efficiency that is cheaper than traditional supply options.

The results show that significant cost-effective energy-efficiency opportunities exist in Rhode Island. The study found that 29 percent of Rhode Island’s electrical energy needs — or 2,140,000 megawatt-hours — can be met over 10 years through cost-effective energy-efficiency measures, such as compact fluorescent light bulbs, outdoor lighting controls and high-efficiency air conditioners and clothes dryers.

To download the report, click here.

ecoRInews: Breaking Gulf Coast News: USCG reports another oil rig explosion off the coast of LA. All workers are accounted for, with one injured.

Watch CLF Staff Attorney Shanna Cleveland discuss the recent Supreme Judicial Court victory for Cape Wind on NECN’s “Broadside” TV program with Chet Curtis (standing in for Jim Braude), which aired last night. Shanna played a key role as CLF’s lead attorney on this case, and thoughtfully navigated complicated issues  such as the long-term contracts between Cape Wind and National Grid.

Scott MacKay, WRNI radio commentator, speaks out on the 75M loan guarantee to the Curt Schilling video game company and defends Bristol's Carbon Ocean Yachts and smaller business of RI. http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wrni/news.newsmain/article/7057/0/1694087/Politics/The.company.that.didn%27t.get.the.deal

I know it has been a hot summer, but when I saw several people taking a dip in the Charles River one sultry evening this August I couldn’t believe my eyes. What were they thinking?

I know the river has been significantly cleaned up in the last few years, but it stinks to high heavens on certain days, which leads me to believe that some foul stuff is afloat in there. Rumor has it that before the clean-up efforts, boaters were advised to head straight to the hospital for tetanus shots after a fall in the river. This incident got me thinking about the state of the Charles River today-how clean it is, what contaminants remain, and how close we are to the Charles becoming a river that city dwellers can safely (and pleasantly) swim in.

Pollution of the Charles originated with the first English settler to Boston in 1625, and continued via the introduction of untreated raw sewage, waste water from city streets and factories that emptied contaminants directly into the river. The creation of dams and filling in of marshlands in Boston compounded the pollution and limited drainage. The river eventually became noxious, slicked with oil and flowing with toxins. Efforts to clean the river began in 1965 with the creation of the Charles River Watershed Association and in 1995 the EPA declared the goal of a “fishable, swimmable” river by 2005.

There has been considerable progress, but the EPA has not accomplished its goal of a completely fishable and swimmable river. The EPA measures bacterial counts at ten points along the 80-mile long river. The report card shows that in 1995, the Charles received a “D” rating, meaning that the river was safe for some boating but no swimming. In 2005, the river received a B+ rating, meaning that it is safe for all boating and some swimming. A major hurdle in the way of the EPA’s goal of a swimmable and fishable river is combined sewage overflow (“CSO”), which occurs when the pipe carrying untreated sewage from its source to the treatment facility cannot hold all of the water during periods of heavy rain. The overflow dumps untreated sewage directly into the river. Hopefully this will change, as we begin to see the results of a 2006 settlement between the EPA and the Massachusetts Water Resource Authority (MWRA) where the MWRA agreed to control CSO output into the Charles.

This blog was written by Maura Nugent, grant coordinator for Lights Out, Green In.

http://www.abc6hurricane.com/2009/07/22/hurricane-carol-bristol/?nggpage=2Amazing link to a series of photographs by Joseph Pimental in 1954 of Bristol after Hurricane Carol. Kindness of Fred Campagna
Photo above: Lower State Street at Thames (click on photo once to enlarge) Click on blue link above for more photos.

Article from The Guardian reveals growing concern by UK government officials.

When you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop digging.  Unfortunately, Vermont’s transportation agency keeps digging.  Vermont continues to push forward the unnecessary Circ Highway project – a new multi-million dollar ring road around Burlington, Vermont.   A federal court decision halted this project in 2004.  The mismanagement continues.  As a result, Vermonters suffer more traffic and more pollution. 

CLF has again shown cleaner, safer and lower cost transportation solutions are available.  With crumbling bridges and roads, budget-breaking deficits and increasing pollution, it is time to stop the madness.  Let’s not continue to push 1950s-era highway projects in the 21st century.  We can fix the roads we have, improve public transporation and rail and make safer routes for kids and others to get around.