New Year Requires New Energy Strategy? Zurier Invited to be ‘In The Dugout’ guest
With “affordability” top of mind for Ocean State residents, the CEO of the RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity today called upon Senator Sam Zurier and all members of the special Senate Energy Commission he chairs to take a holistic and realistic look at Rhode Island’s net-zero policies and Act On Climate mandates.
“Per my recent Providence Journal opinion piece, it is vitally important for the future prosperity of our state that this commission make an honest and comprehensive re-evaluation of our state’s energy strategy,” commented the Center’s CEO, Mike Stenhouse. “Since the Act’s mandates were enacted many years ago, the national energy landscape has dramatically changed … and state policymakers must adjust, as has been done in other states.”
Recent reports, published by the Center and its northeast energy consortium partners, have underscored the “staggering costs and risks” associated with the Ocean State’s existing net-zero approach which has little chance of achieving its costly agenda-driven goals and that could lead to “freezing in the dark” disasters. An upcoming report by the consortium, detailing significantly more affordable pathways to a prosperous energy future, is scheduled for release on January 13.
“We’ve entered a new year and it’s time for a new approach to the climate change debate, one that recognizes certain big picture truths,” continued Stenhouse. “Rather than continuing with a unattainable strategy that prioritizes reductions in carbon emissions, at great cost to families, Rhode Islanders deserve a realistic new strategy that prioritizes abundant, reliable, clean, and affordable energy sources so that the people of our state can prosper in their personal and professional lives. I have invited Senator Zurier to be my guest on my In The Dugout podcast to discuss his plans for his Commission.”
The Center recommends the Commission follow the lead of other northeast states and consider three actions. First, repeal Rhode Island’s electric vehicle mandates. Second, withdraw from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. Third, delay all Act on Climate milestones by at least 20 years.
In 2025, lawmakers created a special Senate commission ‘to study and provide recommendations for potential changes’ to our state’s Act On Climate energy policies. The commission is composed of four Democrat State Senators (Chairman Zurier, Mark McKenney, Susan Sosnowski, and Lammis Vargas) and one Republican (Gordon Rogers).
