Environment
Protecting the Environment and Preserving Our Natural Resources
Senator Reed understands that a clean environment is important to our state’s health, economy, and quality of life. His conservation efforts have earned him high marks from leading environmental groups and helped clean up and preserve Rhode Island’s open spaces, beaches, and Narragansett Bay.
Reed Chairs the Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior and Environment, which has jurisdiction over several key agencies, including the Department of the Interior and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). He has fought efforts to gut the Clean Air Act, defeating legislation that would have overturned the EPA’s scientific finding that greenhouse gases are pollutants that impact public health and welfare.
Save the Bay honored Senator Reed for his long-standing commitment to preserving the environment and address the problem of climate change, which affects our environment, economy, and security, noting: “Senator Reed has been a staunch advocate for protecting Rhode Island’s coastal environment and preserving Narragansett Bay. Senator Reed has secured millions of dollars to help restore the Bay and its ecosystems, educate the public about marine conservation, protect coastal property, and reduce pollution into the Bay from combined sewer overflows.”
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Reed has also been at the forefront of a national movement to reconnect kids with nature and strengthen environmental education in America's classrooms. He is the author of the proposed No Child Left Inside Act, which would support outdoor learning activities.
Key Priorities & Accomplishments
- Reed has helped provide millions of dollars in federal Brownfields funding to support environmental cleanups and revitalize former industrial and commercial sites throughout the state, transforming them from abandoned and blighted properties into community assets.
- Reed secured over $27 million in federal funding for conservation projects to help preserve Rhode Island’s fish and wildlife populations, cultural heritage, and protect open spaces. Major projects included the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor, the Rhode Island National Wildlife Refuges, and Rocky Point.
- In an effort to help protect the health of Narragansett Bay, Senator Reed has worked with the U.S. Navy and non-profit groups like Clean The Bay to remove hazardous submarine floats from the Bay and marine debris that was littering the shoreline.
- To ensure the safety and security of Rhode Islanders, he helped successfully block a controversial proposal to locate a liquefied natural gas plant in a densely populated, environmentally sensitive area that posed enormous risks to the vibrancy of Narragansett Bay and the safety of surrounding communities.
The Latest
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Senators seek lead tests at old sites
Six U.S. senators called on the Environmental Protection Agency to immediately examine the health threats posed by forgotten factory sites featured in a recent USA TODAY investigation. In a letter sent Wednesday to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, the senators urged the EPA to "take immediate action" to r...
Posted on 5/10/2012 | -
Reed Announces $1.9 Million to Help Preserve and Protect Rhode Island's Waterways
In an effort to help protect Rhode Island's costal habitats and estuarine ecosystems, U.S. Senator Jack Reed today announced over $1.9 million in federal funding through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for two Ocean State conservation programs. T...
Posted on 5/1/2012 | -
Reed Congratulates RI’s 2012 Green Ribbon Schools
U.S. Senator Jack Reed today congratulated Classical High School and Nathan Bishop Middle School for being selected among the first winners of the U.S. Department of Education’s Green Ribbon Schools recognition. The national designation recognizes “green&...
Posted on 4/23/2012 | -
Reed Asks U.S. Forest Service to be Ready to Assist RI with Wildfires
- U.S. Senator Jack Reed today called on the U.S. Forest Service to stand ready to assist Rhode Island as the state deals with the elevated risk of forest and brush fires. Over the last several weeks, dry, windy conditions and warm weather prompted the Rhode Island Depart...
Posted on 4/19/2012 | -
Reed asks Forest Service to ready for RI wildfires
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Rhode Island's senior U.S. senator has asked the U.S. Forest Service to prepare to respond to wildfires as the state deals with an elevated risk of brush and forest fires. Sen. Jack Reed wrote to the Forest Service on Thursday to urge it to "ready its resources" to respond to any...
Posted on 4/19/2012 | -
Reed Votes to End Handouts to Big Oil Companies
Tonight the U.S. Senate voted to advance a measure that would end tax subsidies for large oil companies. U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), a cosponsor of the Repeal Big Oil Tax Subsidies Act, wants to end corporate welfare to the five largest oil companies and use the $...
Posted on 3/26/2012 | -
Reed: Fuel the Economy, Not the Oil Industry
After the oil industry claimed this week that fewer environmental regulations, continuing $4 billion in annual U.S. taxpayer subsidies to private oil companies, and allowing drilling anywhere on federal land and along the coasts would “immediately” lower gasoli...
Posted on 3/23/2012 |
