In 2013, the US Army Corps of Engineers gave Rhode Island towns detailed maps, showing how to evacuate if there’s a hurricane. Just two years later, a state study showed that some of those same roads are among the most vulnerable to sea level rise. The state’s transportation agency recently launched a pilot study, looking into options for adaptation in one East Bay community, but there’s concern that the state is moving too slowly.
Sofie Rudin
Science and Environment Reporter
401-302-1057
srudin@thepublicsradio.org
Sofie Rudin is the science and environment reporter at The Public’s Radio. She previously worked as producer, editor, and general assignment reporter. Her series "When is it time to retreat from the sea?" was a finalist for a Covering Climate Now Journalism Award. She also led the development of web pages for reporting on COVID-19, shoreline access and The 2020 Gallery, which won a National Headliner award and PMJA award. Sofie graduated from Brown University in 2017, where she studied geology.
Posted inArticle, Environment
Expansion of propane storage in Port of Providence needs full review, regulators say
A proposal to expand propane storage in the Port of Providence will need a full review, Rhode Island regulators have decided. Sea 3 Providence currently imports liquefied petroleum gas by ship. The company last year asked regulators for a declaratory order that would allow it to build six new 90,000-gallon storage tanks and start bringing […]
Posted inArticle, Environment
Climate change creating new options for fish lovers who want to “eat local”
Warming ocean temperatures are causing fish species to shift northwards. Species once common in the mid-Atlantic are becoming fixtures off the coast of Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Reporters Sofie Rudin and Antonia Ayres-Brown look into what it’ll take to adapt to those changes.
Posted inArticle
Smaller fish to fry: Rhode Island project hopes to boost interest in scup
For those who fish off the coast of New England, scup is commonplace. It’s a small fish that plays a modest role in the region’s commercial seafood industry, often used for bait or shipped whole to markets in New York and Boston. An industry research group is now leading an effort to popularize the sustainable fish more broadly, which it says could be a boon for Rhode Island fishermen.
Posted inArticle, Environment
Gas companies to pay R.I. $17 million in settlement
Several major oil and gas companies will pay Rhode Island more than $17 million, in a pair of settlements announced by the state attorney general’s office Monday. The lawsuit was filed in 2016 over the use of an additive, methyl tertiary-butyl ether or MTBE, that has the potential to cause cancer. The attorney general’s office […]
Posted inArticle, Environment
R.I. not on track to meet climate goals, latest state assessment finds
When state scientists released their annual report on greenhouse gas emissions for 2016, they had good news to share: the state had achieved its 2020 goal ahead of schedule. That goal was to reduce climate-warming fossil fuel emissions to 10 percent below a 1990 baseline. But updated numbers released by the state Friday show the […]
Posted inArticle, Business
Massachusetts court puts sale of Narragansett Electric on hold
The proposed sale of Narragansett Electric is on hold, after the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court put a stay on the deal. National Grid currently owns the utility, which provides electrical service to nearly all Rhode Island customers, and gas to much of the state. National Grid has been seeking to sell Narragansett Electric to Pennsylvania-based […]
Posted inArticle, Business
R.I. Attorney General asks courts to halt sale of Narragansett Electric
Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha is asking the state Superior Court to review the sale of Rhode Island’s largest utility company. And he’s asking for an immediate stay on the transaction to prevent “extensive and irreparable harm” to energy customers. Earlier this week, regulators approved the transfer of Narragansett Electric, the utility that provides […]
Posted inArticle, Business
Regulators approve sale of R.I.’s largest electric and gas utility
Rhode Island regulators will allow the sale of the state’s largest gas and electric utility to move forward.
Posted inArticle, Environment
Solar fields are contributing to deforestation in Rhode Island. Advocates want to change how the state incentivizes development
Since 2018, more than a thousand acres of Rhode Island forest have been cleared for solar development. Environmental advocates say this works at cross purposes to the state’s efforts to combat climate change. They’re calling for legislation aimed at pushing solar development away from forested land.