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News Release | Environment Rhode Island Research & Policy Center

Nuclear Power Plants Threaten Drinking Water for Tens of Thousands of Rhode Islanders

The drinking water for tens, perhaps hundreds of thousands of people in Rhode Island could be at risk of radioactive contamination from a leak or accident at a local nuclear power plant, says a new study released today by Environment Rhode Island Research & Policy Center and Rhode Island PIRG Education Fund.

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News Release | Environment Rhode Island

President Obama Expected to Stand Up to Big Oil on Keystone XL Pipeline

With President Obama and the State Department poised to reject an effort to force administration approval of the Keystone XL pipeline, Environment Rhode Island's Channing Jones issues a statement of thanks and support.

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News Release | Environment Rhode Island Research & Policy Center

One Million Acres Around the Grand Canyon Protected from Toxic Mining

After more than 2 years of environmental analysis and receiving nearly 300,000 public comments from the American people, environmental and conservation groups, the outdoor recreation industry, mayors, and tribal leaders, Secretary Salazar withdrew more than 1 million acres of land around the canyon from new mining claims for the next twenty years.

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Result

Preventing summer smog

In 2006, we joined with the American Lung Association to stop a power plant in Providence from being permitted to burn oil during the summer smog season.

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Result

Taking illegal polluters to court

The Wood-Pawcatuck River will be less polluted thanks to our lawsuit against a chronic polluter in South County. The plant was forced to pay for violating the Clean Water Act, and had to install modern pollution control equipment.

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News Release | Environment Rhode Island Research & Policy Center

Nuclear Power Plants Threaten Drinking Water for Tens of Thousands of Rhode Islanders

The drinking water for tens, perhaps hundreds of thousands of people in Rhode Island could be at risk of radioactive contamination from a leak or accident at a local nuclear power plant, says a new study released today by Environment Rhode Island Research & Policy Center and Rhode Island PIRG Education Fund.

> Keep Reading
News Release | Environment Rhode Island

President Obama Expected to Stand Up to Big Oil on Keystone XL Pipeline

With President Obama and the State Department poised to reject an effort to force administration approval of the Keystone XL pipeline, Environment Rhode Island's Channing Jones issues a statement of thanks and support.

> Keep Reading
News Release | Environment Rhode Island Research & Policy Center

One Million Acres Around the Grand Canyon Protected from Toxic Mining

After more than 2 years of environmental analysis and receiving nearly 300,000 public comments from the American people, environmental and conservation groups, the outdoor recreation industry, mayors, and tribal leaders, Secretary Salazar withdrew more than 1 million acres of land around the canyon from new mining claims for the next twenty years.

> Keep Reading
News Release | Environment Rhode Island

President Obama & EPA Protect Public Health, Announce Landmark Mercury Standard for Power Plants

President Obama and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the first-ever nationwide standard for mercury and air toxics pollution from power plants. Exposure to mercury and other air toxics is linked to cancer, heart disease, neurological damage, birth defects, asthma attacks, and premature death.

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News Release | Environment Rhode Island

Twenty-Two Rhode Island Businesses and Organizations Sign Letter to Oppose Dirty Water Legislation

Rhode Island small businesses and organizations signed a letter to the state's representatives in Washington, D.C. urging them to champion the protection of Narragansett Bay and other waters in the state and across the country by leading the fight against the unprecedented number of anti-environmental riders in recent House and Senate bills. Many of these amendments have threatened to ease or eliminate longstanding Clean Water Act protections and to undermine the Environmental Protection Agency's ability to enforce environmental regulations.

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Result

Preventing summer smog

In 2006, we joined with the American Lung Association to stop a power plant in Providence from being permitted to burn oil during the summer smog season.

> Keep Reading
Result

Taking illegal polluters to court

The Wood-Pawcatuck River will be less polluted thanks to our lawsuit against a chronic polluter in South County. The plant was forced to pay for violating the Clean Water Act, and had to install modern pollution control equipment.

> Keep Reading
Result

At 54.5 mpg, a big step forward.

On July 29, President Obama announced the outline of new clean car standards covering cars and light trucks through 2025, which will amount to the single biggest step this country has ever taken to end our addiction to oil and tackle global warming.

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Report | Environment Rhode Island Research & Policy Center

Danger in the Air

Pollution from power plants and vehicles puts the health of our nation’s children and families at risk. Ground-level ozone, the main component of smog, is one of the most harmful and one of the most pervasive air pollutants. There are millions of people living in metropolitan areas around the country, including in Rhode Island, exposed to multiple days each summer when the air is unhealthy to breathe. This report ranks metropolitan areas for their unhealthy air days in 2010 and 2011.

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Report | Environment Rhode Island Research & Policy Center

Gobbling Less Gas for Thanksgiving

Environment Rhode Island's new report, “Gobbling Less Gas for Thanksgiving: How Clean Car Standards Will Cut Oil Use and Save Americans Money,” uses regional Thanksgiving travel projections released by AAA to estimate how much less oil would be used—and how much money would be saved at the gas pump—if the average car taking those trips in Rhode Island this Thanksgiving met the 54.5 miles-per-gallon fuel efficiency standard the Obama administration is proposing for new cars and light trucks by model year 2025.

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Report | Environment Rhode Island Research & Policy Center

Global Warming Way Forward

With a gridlock on energy and climate policy in Congress, Rhode Island and other states can take matters into their own hands to dramatically reduce global warming emissions.

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Report | Environment Rhode Island Research & Policy Center

A Program that Works

Environment Rhode Island's new report, “Gobbling Less Gas for Thanksgiving: How Clean Car Standards Will Cut Oil Use and Save Americans Money,” uses regional Thanksgiving travel projections released by AAA to estimate how much less oil would be used—and how much money would be saved at the gas pump—if the average car taking those trips in Rhode Island this Thanksgiving met the 54.5 miles-per-gallon fuel efficiency standard the Obama administration is proposing for new cars and light trucks by model year 2025.

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Report | Environment Rhode Island Research & Policy Center

Dirty Energy's Assault on our Health: Ozone

Dirty energy pollutes the air we breathe, threatening our health and our environment. When power plants burn coal, oil or gas, they create the ingredients for ground-level ozone pollution, one of the main components of “smog” pollution. Especially on hot summer days, across wide areas of the United States, ozone pollution reaches levels that are unhealthy to breathe, putting our lives at risk. In 2009, U.S. power plants emitted more than 1.9 million tons of ozone-forming nitrogen oxide pollution into the air.

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