Rhode Island Maps Strategy for Green Economy Advancement

Last week the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation (RIEDC) released its strategic agenda for accelerating the growth of the state's green economy, distributing action items among four topical groupings: advanced manufacturing, energy efficiency, innovation cultivation, and wind power. A Roadmap for Advancing the Green Economy in Rhode Island was produced from a series of roundtables over the past year with 120 representatives from state government, universities, industry, labor, and other economic development nonprofit entities. Some of the specific initiatives in the report include:

• Develop a center of excellence in advanced green manufacturing at the University of Rhode Island;
• Audit all state buildings for energy efficiency and implement prioritized improvements;
• Enact some type of targeted, direct financial incentives for industry engaged in green energy efforts;
• Modernize state building codes to accommodate more energy-efficient designs;
• Commence in-state Bachelor's and Master's programs in Energy Management;
• Create a statewide SBIR liaison for businesses;
• Install 100 MW of onshore wind power capacity; and,
• Initiate a $1 million fund to assist R&D at universities and private companies.

In addition, the roadmap calls for the formation of the Rhode Island Green Economy Network (RIGEN) to manage the implementation of action items over the long term. For the time being, RIGEN would operate as an informal network and not a separate nonprofit entity. RIGEN also would be charged with convening green energy forums twice a year with relevant stakeholders, publicly reporting progress on the roadmap, and orienting the state's existing economic development programs towards more green-friendly projects and practices.

Interim leadership and management of RIGEN would be provided by the RIEDC. As proposed in Gov. Carcieri's FY11 budget, RIEDC is slated to receive $5.05 million in the next fiscal year, an increase from $4.57 million in FY10.

A Roadmap for Advancing the Green Economy in Rhode Island is available at: http://publications.riedc.com/view/qe2ne/default