The Trump administration’s pact with oil, coal, and gas companies isn’t just bad for our planet and our health – it could cost Rhode Island hundreds of high-paying jobs, send our already high energy costs soaring, and potentially lead to brownouts.
R.I. Governor Dan McKee is right when he says the abrupt, unprecedented, and inexplicable decision by the Trump administration that has halted construction on the nearly finished Revolution Wind is going to stymie Rhode Island’s economic development, and threaten our energy security and our long-term energy affordability. But justJust as alarming, the people who run our electric power grid, ISO-New England, immediately pointed out that halting the project could very well lead to a shortage of electrical power – in other words, brownouts – when we miss out on Revolution Wind’s electricity powering 350,000 homes in Connecticut and Rhode Island.
The unprecedented and likely illegal attempt to shut down Revolution Wind is the latest evidence that Trump is hell-bent on replacing clean, job-producing, and affordable solar and wind projects in New England with dirty and price-volatile gas from out of state. Federal agencies keep finding bureaucratic means of stopping clean energy projects that are already financed and under construction or fully permitted. At the same time, they demand New England allow new gas pipelines that do not have financial support and are unlikely to reduce energy costs.
In concert, industry front groups with deceptive names like Natural Allies for a Clean Energy Future and Consumers Energy Alliance are mobilizing in support of fossil fuels and attacking clean energy. These groups and “grassroots” allies release pro-fossil fuel studies, environmental attacks, and surveys of questionable accuracy while receiving funding from fossil fuel companies, or in the case of Mass Fiscal Alliance, refusing to say who funds them.
Make no mistake: If they succeed, Rhode Island will be paying long after Trump is gone in the form of higher electricity bills, dirtier air, and a planet that continues to heat up.
Despite the fossil fuel industry’s attempts to strangle clean energy, deployment has exploded across the United States and globally. Nationally, solar, wind, and batteries dominate as we race to add new sources of electricity to meet growing demand. Solar is the cheapest and fastest growing source of energy in the country and globally.
The Trump administration’s support for fossil fuels is purely ideological and unbelievably myopic. Nationally, 90 percent of new capacity added to the grid is from solar and wind. In the winter, wind power – a free and local resource – ramps up just when we need it most. In summer, abundant sunshine makes solar an excellent source of power. During the heat wave that hit the region this summer, rooftop solar and batteries saved us from losing power – and saved consumers almost $20 million in fuel costs.
The shutdown of Revolution Wind makes sense only when viewed as part of the Trump administration’s service to fossil fuel profits. New York was able to restart an offshore wind project when it agreed to gas pipelines that residents had vehemently rejected only a few years before. Rhode Island may be extorted in the same way: Allow us to build and profit from a pipeline you don’t need and don’t want, or face job losses, higher energy costs, and the potential for electricity shortfalls.
When the federal government does the bidding of multibillion dollar corporations while driving up costs for the average American, we need states to step up. Our state and local leaders have a responsibility to lead where this administration has failed us: by investing in clean, local, and affordable sources of energy, enabling families and businesses to access clean technologies that are more efficient and better for our health, and refuting Trump’s nonsensical claims that fossil fuels are the future.
It is time to say no to illegal bullying tactics that threaten our health, our jobs and our economy. It is time to say no to government-run extortion on behalf of gas and oil companies. It is time to allow the crucially needed – and inevitable – clean energy transition to proceed.
Darrèll Brown is Conservation Law Foundation’s vice president for Rhode Island.