This is awesome news. The Senate seems poised to take the lead on the push for robust renewables development in RI, which is great for the environment, ratepayers, and the economy at large.

“This package of legislation encourages the development of renewable energy in Rhode Island,” [Senate President Joseph] Montalbano said. “It gives us the triple benefit of cleaner air, stable utility prices and the surge of economic development associated with producing and using more renewable energy in our state.”

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Another bit of momentum in the push for a green economy in Rhode Island. This op-ed by George Nee and Chris Wilhite comes out of a working group of enviro advocates and trades unionists that Sens Miller and Moura, RI Jobs With Justice, and I have been convening:

At the same time, Rhode Island’s excessive dependence on imported energy threatens our environment and our national security. The massive amount of energy that Rhode Island imports creates a drain on our economy. The good news is that environmental challenges like global warming represent the most important economic opportunities of our generation while protecting our coastlines and our beloved Narragansett Bay.

That’s why the Sierra Club Rhode Island Chapter and the Rhode Island AFL-CIO share a vision for Rhode Island’s new energy economy. This new vision is integral to bridging the gap between environmental groups and the labor community in regard to Quonset Point. Now we are joining forces to make Quonset the potential center of the new-energy economy and to reduce our dependence on imported energy in two ways: 1) invest in renewable power; and 2) conserve our energy resources.

But I am. Go, Projo, go! Keep hammering away on the urgency of developing a renewables-based economy in Rhode Island. I’m really hopeful about many of the conversations happening at the Assembly this year — please stay tuned, and be on call to nag the hell out of your elected officials.

We have the potential to be a national leader here — push the rest of the country forward, develop a ton of jobs, reduce pollution, and achieve energy independence.

It would be better to at least quickly try out some of these ideas in some of the more obvious places — the state has plenty of unnavigable reefs and shoals for wind turbines, and wave-power generators could go just about anywhere — and then study the results and proceed expeditiously from there. If Rhode Island were to get in on the ground floor of the renewable-energy business, there would be major spin-off opportunities. Who knows? Maybe an Australian firm that wants to sell us wave-energy generators would like to set up a production facility here, say at Quonset, where a wind-turbine maker could join it.

The Projo E-board, and Bob Whitcomb in particular, deserve lots of credit for their persistence on this issue.

In a major victory for cleaner air and energy independence, the federal Minerals Management Service has given preliminary environmental approval to Cape Wind, the proposed wind farm for Nantucket Sound. Final approval is expected later this year. The MMS, the key federal unit in determining whether the project gets built, found that there would be no significant environmental problems with the project. It is still unclear whether political pressure from the powerful and rich people opposing the project explains the long delay in getting this preliminary approval. Those noxious coal plants go up much more quickly…

I hope they keep up the pressure on this, and start pushing harder on potential wind in RI, especially in light of Patrick Kennedy’s recently announced opposition thereto.

What, you ask? There might be something positive going on in Rhode Island? Something that elicits excitment and media attention from outside of the Oean State?

More (barely) out-of-state press about how sweet it would be if Rhode Island actually got moving on one of the off-shore wind proposals that are being tossed around.

The country’s smallest state may not have oil, coal or natural gas reserves to power the homes and workplaces of its approximately 1 million residents, but Rhode Island is rich in one natural resource with energy-producing potential — offshore wind.A proposal from a New York company puts Rhode Island on track to be the first state to host an offshore wind farm.

Allco Renewable Energy Group is interested in erecting test towers at four sites to determine whether the amount, consistency and direction of winds is enough for one or more wind farms comprised of 250 to 350 turbines each.

We can’t dilly-dally for another year. We have to pass the Power Authority legislation and deeper net metering THIS YEAR or we’re going to lose our opportunity to become a national renewables leader.

Hint, hint, Powers-That-Be (greater than this lowly freshman’s):

More national news today about the potential mega-wind developments in Rhode Island. If we get this much attention for talking about moving the projects forward, imagine how psyched people would be if we actually pushed them forward!

SUGAR LAND, TX–(Marketwire - December 27, 2007) - Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas) — Developers are studying the addition of about 620 megawatts (MW) of new power generation for Rhode Island. This would represent an increase of about 33% from the existing 1,890 MW of available generating capacity to about 2,510 MW. All three projects would be powered by renewable energy.

As we express concern about the a budget deficit, foundering economy, and population loss, why don’t we do something awesome and exciting that’d make us a hotbed for an up-and-coming industry. For real, this time.