At 1,545 square miles of total area, Rhode Island is geographically the smallest state in the United States, yet it stands as the second-most densely populated. Though it measures just 37 miles wide and 48 miles long, the "Ocean State" features an intricate, fractured coastline along Narragansett Bay and the Atlantic Ocean that stretches for nearly 400 miles of tidal shoreline. Water officially covers one-third of the state’s total area, encompassing Block Island further offshore and feeding into Providence, home to one of New England’s critical deepwater ports.
CLIMATE IMPACTS
The impacts of climate change upon Rhode Island’s built and natural environments are wide-ranging, discernible and documented, and, in many cases growing in severity.
- Rhode Island will experience warmer air and water temperatures, more extreme weather events such as droughts, intense precipitation, severe storms and flooding, increasing rates of sea level rise, shorter winters and longer summers, and less snowfall and ice coverage.
- In 2020, Rhode Island experienced almost 23 days above 90 degrees and three heat waves with severe drought across almost half of the state.
- In 2022 Rhode Island experienced the hottest August on record, with a drought so severe that Providence was declared a federal disaster area.
- Sea level has risen almost 11” in Rhode Island over the past century.
- Under a high SLR scenario, the NOAA predicts a sea level rise for the Northeast of 77 ft by 2050, 6.89 ft. by 2100 and 12.14 ft. by 2150. Rising sea levels will threaten coastal wetlands, and Rhode Island could lose about 13%, 52% or 87% of coastal wetlands statewide under 1,3, and 5 feet SLR scenarios, respectively.
- The Northeast has experienced 60% more extreme precipitation days from 1958-2021, the largest increase of any region in the nation.
- Climate change has the potential to pose significant risks for Rhode Island’s water, wastewater, surface transportation, and energy infrastructures and utilities, the natural environment, and the health, welfare, and economic well-being of its citizens.
ENERGY
Rhode Island made history by launching the nation’s first operational offshore wind farm. Nonetheless, natural gas provides the bulk of the state’s electricity, accounting for 87% of total electricity generation—giving Rhode Island the highest percentage reliance on natural gas for power generation of any state in the nation. Most of the remaining net generation comes from solar, wind, and biomass resources, alongside small amounts of petroleum and hydropower. Renewables provide 13% of the state’s electricity, mostly driven by solar energy, which contributed 9%. Notably, solar generation in Rhode Island has nearly doubled since 2020.
Due to its compact size and low-intensity industrial footprint, Rhode Island consumes less energy per capita than any other state and is the second-lowest emitter of energy-related carbon dioxide emissions, behind only Vermont. The residential sector leads Rhode Island’s energy consumption, accounting for about one-third of the state’s total—the fourth-highest share for a residential sector's energy footprint in the nation, trailing only Connecticut, Vermont, and New Hampshire. The transportation sector is a close second at slightly less than 30%, followed by the commercial sector at roughly one-fourth, and the industrial sector at just over one-tenth.
CLEAN ENERGY GOALS
- Rhode Island joined four other New England states in 1996 to implement a landmark electricity restructuring plan that separated power generation from transmission and distribution. Initially rolled out exclusively for industrial customers, this restructuring expanded in 1998 to include all commercial and residential consumers. As a result, virtually all electricity generated within the state’s electric power sector today comes from independent power producers.
- Until 2017, Block Island—located about nine miles south of the state’s coastline—was a notable exception. Because it was completely isolated from the mainland grid, the island depended entirely on local diesel-fueled generators, with fuel arriving via trucks ferried from the coast. High fuel prices frequently drove Block Island's electricity costs to more than four times the state average—a financial burden that spiked in the summer when an influx of tourists drove up energy demand.
- To solve this crisis, the island partnered in the nation’s first offshore wind project. On May 1, 2017, the island's utility officially shut down its diesel generators and began drawing power from a new undersea cable system. Installed in tandem with a five-turbine offshore wind farm, this subsea cable linked Block Island to the mainland power grid for the first time in history, allowing residents to use clean energy while enabling excess wind-generated electricity to be exported back to the onshore grid.
CLIMATE PLANS AND LEGISLATION
Rhode Island has consistently tackled climate change through legislative statutes and executive actions issued by the Governor.
- Building on the 2014 Resilient Rhode Island Act, which targeted greenhouse gas reductions of 45% below 1990 levels by 2035 and 80% by 2050, Governor Gina Raimondo issued a 2015 executive order directing state agencies to cut energy use by 10% by 2019 and requiring that at least 25% of the State Fleet consist of zero-emission vehicles by 2025.
- In spring 2017, she expanded these targets by mandating a goal of 1,000 MW of clean energy and 20,000 clean energy jobs by 2020. The 2020 Rhode Island Clean Energy Industry Report verified that the state's clean energy labor force expanded by 77.3% between 2014 and 2020.
- In fall 2017, Governor Raimondo ordered the creation of the state’s first comprehensive climate preparedness strategy, which culminated in the summer 2018 release of the landmark Resilient Rhody This actionable framework directly targeted vulnerabilities across critical infrastructure, utilities, natural ecosystems, emergency readiness, and community health.
- Rhode Island became the first state in the nation to target 100% renewable electricity by 2030, a goal established via an executive order by Raimondo in January 2020 before she joined the Biden administration.
- Following the directive, the Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources published The Road to 100% Renewable Electricity by 2030 to analyze the economic and practical factors governing its implementation.
- The General Assembly codified these timelines in 2022 by updating the Renewable Energy Standard (RES) to require 34% of retail electricity sales from renewables by 2025 and 100% by the end of 2033, outpacing nearly all U.S. jurisdictions (with Washington, D.C. aiming for 100% by 2032).
- Concurrently, Governor Dan McKee signed the binding 2021 Act on Climate into law, accelerating the 2014 goals to mandate emissions cuts of 45% below 1990 levels by 2030, 80% by 2040, and full net-zero emissions by 2050, while requiring a statutory Climate Action Strategy to track implementation.
- To reinforce state efficiency, Governor McKee signed the Lead by Example Executive Order on May 9, 2023, requiring state agencies to appoint specialized coordinators to systematically reduce fossil fuel emissions and building energy use.
- To leverage federal funding under the EPA’s Climate Pollution Reduction Grant (CPRG) program, Rhode Island delivered its Priority Climate Action Plan (PCAP) in 2024.
- In December 2024, the state published the Resilient Rhody State of Resilience Report to audit ongoing progress on the initial 61 resilience goals, following it in early 2025 with the Resilient Rhody 2025 Statewide Coastal Resilience Plan to map climate and sea level vulnerabilities.
- In December 2025, Rhode Island formally released its 2025 Climate Action Strategy and submitted its Comprehensive Climate Action Plan (CCAP) to the EPA. The report explicitly warned that federal rollbacks under the Trump administration—including the rescission of Clean Air Act authorities, termination of the $7,500 EV tax credit, constraints on offshore wind leasing, and elimination of the Solar for All grant and related clean energy tax credits—threaten to disrupt the state's progress.
- However, the Environment Council of Rhode Island (ECRI), a coalition of roughly 60 environmental groups, criticized the 2025 Climate Action Strategy for listing passive recommendations instead of committing to an enforceable, binding implementation plan. ECRI’s 2025–2026 Green Report Card concluded that Rhode Island's overall climate momentum has slowed, though it celebrated notable recent legislative wins including:
- Clean energy workforce development
- Stricter regulations on toxic PFAS and rodenticides
- An expanded "Green Bond"
- Protections against invasive plant species
- The creation of a dedicated resiliency infrastructure fund, the Resilient Rhody Infrastructure Fund
ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE
Rhode Island exhibits the sixth-largest racial gap in the nation for exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5), highlighting deep systemic disparities. Residents of South Providence, Washington Park, Pawtucket, and Central Falls routinely experience poor air quality from highway vehicle emissions and clustered industrial or fossil fuel companies. In South Providence, organizations like the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) have spent more than 15 years fighting chronic polluters, notably an unpermitted waterfront scrapyard.
At the State House, Senator Dawn Euer’s Environmental Justice Act has received intense committee hearings but failed to pass the full General Assembly. A series of auxiliary bills, including worker heat protections and low-income utility payment plans, also stalled during the 2025 and 2026 legislative sessions. However, while statewide environmental justice legislation faces structural roadblocks, local action has stepped in. Providence—which ranks fifth among major U.S. cities for its low-income energy burden and stands among the highest for income inequality—pioneered a localized Climate Justice Plan. Grassroots organizations like Climate Action RI continue to push forward on a community level to promote equitable mitigation and inclusive adaptation strategies.
COLLABORATIONS WITH OTHER STATES
- Rhode Island became a charter member of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) in 2007. This cap-and-invest program serves as the nation’s first mandatory, market-based initiative to systematically reduce carbon dioxide emissions from electricity generation across 11 Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states.
- Rhode Island is also an active member of the S. Climate Alliance, a bipartisan coalition of 24 governors—representing states and territories including Puerto Rico—collaboratively deploying state-led policies to advance the emissions-reduction goals of the Paris Agreement.
