Published on Thursday, December 18, 2025
PROVIDENCE, RI – Today the Executive Climate Change Coordinating Council (EC4), chaired by Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) Director Terry Gray, approved the 2025 Climate Action Strategy. The Strategy is intended to guide implementation of the Act on Climate and provides a comprehensive assessment of Rhode Island’s emissions trajectory, programmatic tools, and the feasibility of achieving statutory greenhouse gas reduction mandates under current conditions. Developed in collaboration with the Office of Energy Resources (OER) including significant public input, the strategy outlines a path to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 45% below 1990 levels by 2030.
“The Climate Action Strategy is the result of hard work by all the EC4 agencies and, in particular, the climate teams at OER and DEM. Over the last 14 months they have worked very closely with the experts at Energy, Environment, and Economics, Inc. (E3) who provided contract support and modeling. Throughout the process, we have engaged with many different communities to get meaningful input and feedback,” said DEM Director and EC4 Chair Terry Gray. “This strategy reflects a clear-eyed assessment of today’s landscape and the challenges ahead. Rhode Island was moving in the right direction under the Act, but our efforts are clearly impeded by considerable federal policy changes.”
“The EC4’s approval of this strategy charts a path forward for making progress towards the Act on Climate while recognizing new, significant challenges from the Trump administration,” said OER Acting Energy Commissioner Christopher Kearns. “The core of our climate work is increasing the share of zero-emission energy resources while maintaining electricity affordability for households. Supporting rate stability is a key foundation for meeting our emissions reduction goals, alongside continued investments in clean energy, electric vehicles, heat pumps, pre-weatherization, and energy-efficiency programs that are essential to sustaining progress.”
Since the Act on Climate was signed in 2021, new programs, laws, and regulations have supported the state’s emissions-reduction goals. RI has been a leader in offshore wind development and modeling showed that fully carrying out these initiatives as originally planned would’ve put the state on track achieve the 2030 reduction targets.
Recent federal actions – including tariffs, the rescission of Clean Air Act authorities supporting clean vehicles, the termination of Inflation Reduction Act clean-energy and electric-vehicle tax credits, efforts to stall offshore wind development, and the elimination of programs such as Solar for All – have significantly altered the landscape on which Rhode Island’s climate strategy was built. The updated strategy recognizes that these changes will have immediate and serious consequences for the state’s climate plans. Given these challenges, Rhode Island must adjust its climate planning efforts to reflect the new federal landscape. The EC4 is evaluating alternative paths to achieve meaningful emissions reductions while protecting ratepayers from unsustainable costs.
For more information on climate science and RI’s climate actions, visit www.climatechange.ri.gov. For more information on DEM programs and initiatives, visit www.dem.ri.gov. Follow DEM on Facebook, Twitter/X (@RhodeIslandDEM), or Instagram (@rhodeisland.dem) for timely updates. Sign up here to receive the latest press releases, news, and events from DEM's Public Affairs Office to your inbox.
Date
