Introducing Green Buildings Legislation earlier this year
Dear friends,
I woke up this morning and was... comfortable! The heat wave has broken.
During the heat wave, I found myself thinking about heat pumps. A heat pump is an efficient way to heat our house; we could even put up more solar panels to create the electricity to run it. And, during the heat wave, I thought a lot about the bonus benefit that heat pumps cool the house too. We rely on a few window units for cooling our old house, but I'm looking forward to a more efficient and comfortable house in the next few years. The state budget included funding to help people pay for heat pumps and the recently passed federal Inflation Reduction Act has more. And, as I've been knocking on doors this summer, I've had some great conversations with constituents who have heat pumps - on one recent hot night I had a lot of questions for my kind constituent, who had lots of answers from his recent installation experience.
The General Assembly did a lot of work for the environment this year. See below for some highlights. And if you want to talk about heat pumps, or anything else, I'll be at Seven Stars at 10 a.m. today, sitting outside, enjoying the cool weather and good conversation.
Keep reading for information about voting, and community events including coffee and zoom with me. As always, please let me know what you think, by e-mail, phone or at my community conversation tomorrow at noon (see link above). Also, please follow me on Twitter orFacebook, or write to me at info@rebeccakislak.com. You can also call or text me at 401-400-2338. I look forward to hearing from you!
Highlights from 2022 Session
The Environment - Some Highlights
In 2021, the General Assembly passed the landmark Act On Climate which updates and adds accountability to our state’s framework for climate action. This year, the budget made significant investments in our environment, through a heat pump incentive program included in the budget. It is a 5 year, $25m program run through the office of energy resources. Congress just passed an additional federal program. These together will help us move from oil and gas heat to electric, which is more efficient and important if we are going to meet our Act on Climate goals.
Transportation policy is also key to meeting our Act on Climate goals. In addition, accessible public transportation is economic justice. To that end, the budget this year included a pilot program that will make the R-line free on RIPTA beginning September. E-bikes are an important mode of transportation, too, and I will keep working on my bill to bring RI into alignment with national standards for e-bike regulation, which passed the House but did not have an exact Senate duplicate last year (7839) and my bill to improve bike-related legal infrastructure (7899).
This year, we passed important legislation which I sponsored that will regulate harmful neonicotinoid pesticides. This measure will ensure that only people with proper training will be able to purchase and apply these pesticides which are dangerous for our pollinators. (H7129). We also passed a bill banning plastic bags (7065); a bill to measure and regulate PFAS – forever chemicals – in our water (7233); and a ban on PFAS in packaging (7438).
We successfully fought efforts to enact legislation that would remove the burning of medical trash through a new and untested technology called pyrolysis. (H8089) If this technology is ever ready for primetime, it will be able to pass muster through the current regulatory process through the Department of Environmental Management, and should not be exempt from regulatory oversight.
Coffee with Rep. Kislak Aug. 10 10-11 a.m.
Seven Stars, Hope Street
Ward 3 City Council Candidate Forum
August 11 6-7:30 p.m.
Rochambeau Library Event information here.
No Time to Fail - Documentary at RISD Museum
August 11 6:30 p.m.
Eventbrite with more infohere. During the 2020 election, filmmakers Sara Archambault and Margo Guernsey embedded with RI election officials with documentary film cameras. They followed their work behind the scenes with the intention of peeling back the curtain to give voters a first-hand look at what it really takes to pull off an election.
Rep. Marcia Ranglin-Vassell's Walk against hunger
August 14 at 9:30 a.m.
Roger Williams Park (meet at Temple to Music)
Zoom Lunch Break with Rep. Kislak
August 15 noon-1 Register here.
Flower Festival at What Cheer Flower Farm August 27 6-9 p.m.
Facebook event here
Zoom Meeting with Rep. Kislak
September 6 5:30-6:30 Register here.
