It's Time to ACT on the Act On Climate! Decarbonize RI's Buildings

Gov. Dan McKee; Speaker Joe Shekarchi; Rep. Marvin Abney, House Finance Committee; Sen. Dominick Ruggerio, Senate President; Sen. Louis DiPalma, Senate Finance Committee

In 2021, Rhode Island enacted the Act On Climate, requiring climate-destroying pollution to be reduced 45% by 2030, 80% by 2040, and 100% by 2050.

Yet, in each of the three years following that enactment, the state failed to take any meaningful step toward reducing pollution from one of our state's biggest sources of pollution: burning fossil fuels to heat large buildings. The Building Decarbonization Act was introduced, but did not pass, in 2022, 2023, or 2024. The bill asks that large buildings monitor their energy use and become more efficient over time, saving the owners money in the long run.  Massachusetts and seven other states, as well as numerous cities including Providence, have already implemented reporting standards. Yet Rhode Island has not.

This year, the state may finally act. Gov. McKee's proposed 2026 budget allocates an employee for monitoring buildings' energy usage. But, lamely, his proposal is limited to only state-owned buildings! Large commercial buildings and municipal buildings must be included as well if we are to meet the Act On Climate. Providence's experience has proven that this is a very manageable task.

Please sign this petition to tell Governor McKee, Speaker Shekarchi, and House Finance Chair Abney: it's time to ACT on the Act On Climate. Pass the Building Decarbonization Act, for both large private and public buildings, in 2025.
Sponsored by
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Climate Action RI

To: Gov. Dan McKee; Speaker Joe Shekarchi; Rep. Marvin Abney, House Finance Committee; Sen. Dominick Ruggerio, Senate President; Sen. Louis DiPalma, Senate Finance Committee
From: [Your Name]

In 2021, you enacted the Act On Climate with overwhelming public support and huge vote margins. The Act requires a 45% reduction in climate-destroying pollution by 2030, an 80% reduction by 2040, and a 100% reduction by 2050.

Yet, in each of the three years that followed that enactment, you didn't pass the Building Decarbonization Act (BDA)—which is the first step to reducing one of state's biggest sources of emissions. The BDA merely requires the state's largest privately-owned and public buildings to monitor and report on their energy use. This monitoring is needed to develop emissions standards to rein in pollution and reduce energy costs.

Gov. McKee's FY2026 budget proposal allocates an OER employee to administer this program for state-owned buildings only. Based on the experience of Providence, which contains a majority of the state's large private buildings and already administers a similar reporting program, the scope of work in the budget request can reasonably include not just state-owned buildings but also municipal and large commercial buildings over 50,000 gross square feet. Many companies, universities, and hospitals are already tracking their energy use and can share it to the Office of Energy Resources.

We ask that you pass the 2025 Building Decarbonization Act (H5493, S0091) and match its language in the FY2026 budget by including all public buildings and all commercial buildings over 50,000 square feet in the benchmarking and performance standards. Incentives to make heating more efficient stand to save property owners, including state and local governments, money in the long term.

We don't have any more years to procrastinate meaningful action on climate pollution from buildings. Let's follow the lead of Massachusetts, seven other states, and dozens of cities nationwide, and start actually acting on the Act On Climate by amending the budget article 3 section 15 and finally passing the BDA.