The Environment Council of Rhode Island (ECRI) released its biennial Green Report Card on August 18, 2014, issuing letter grades to state legislators based on environmental votes and bill sponsorships in the 2013 - 2014 term of the General Assembly. Recent leadership on climate change, clean energy, and other issues helped earn lawmakers higher marks on average than two years prior, with the State Senate receiving a mean grade of B+ and the House of Representatives receiving a B average.
"Rhode Island lawmakers are beginning to connect the dots in an important way between the environment and the economy," said Jamie Rhodes, President of ECRI, a coalition of over 60 organizations and businesses with a common mission of protecting and enhancing Rhode Island's environment. "While the General Assembly unfortunately missed certain opportunities to protect water quality and special places like Narragansett Bay, lawmakers should overall be commended for accomplishing some impressive legislation these past two years –– at the same time that they allowed little to pass in the way of environmental rollbacks."
