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2019 GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS INVENTORY RESULTS INDICATE PROGRESS TOWARD ACT ON CLIMATE MANDATES PROVIDENCE, RI – The Department of Environmental Management (DEM) announced today that Rhode Island¡¯s gross greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
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<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><b><span style="font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">2019 GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS INVENTORY RESULTS<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><b><span style="font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">INDICATE PROGRESS TOWARD ACT ON CLIMATE MANDATES<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">PROVIDENCE, RI – The Department of Environmental Management (DEM) announced today that Rhode Island¡¯s gross greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions decreased 7.4% between 2018
and 2019. Over a longer timeframe, net emissions decreased 19.6% between 1990 and 2019. At 10.04 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (MMT<span style="color:black;background:white">CO©ü</span>e), the 2019 net GHG emissions, in absolute terms, are below the
2020 GHG threshold of 11.23 MMT<span style="color:black;background:white">CO©ü</span>e mandated by state law. The findings emerged from an analysis of the 2019 GHG emissions inventory conducted by DEM air quality specialists. The annual inventory is the primary
scientific tool for assessing progress toward the Act on Climate – authored by Senator Dawn Euer and Representative Lauren Carson and signed into law by Governor McKee in 2021 – to guide the state to net-zero GHG emissions by 2050.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">¡°The GHG emissions inventory indicates progress toward Act on Climate mandates but does not lessen the urgency with which my administration is working to address the
effects of climate change,¡± said Governor Dan McKee. ¡°Much needs to be done and I am looking forward to reviewing the update of the 2016 greenhouse gas reduction plan to be reported out by the Executive Climate Change Coordinating Council later this week.¡±<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">¡°These measurements are important because they show we¡¯re on the right track to meeting the mandated benchmarks,¡± said DEM Director Terry Gray. ¡°But at the same time,
nobody in state government is declaring victory. Complying with the Act on Climate is going to demand sustained, consistent action and follow-through over many years<span style="color:#443D39">.¡±</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">Most GHG emissions in 2019 emanated from three sectors: transportation (39.7%), residential heating (19.3%), and electricity consumption (18.9%). Between 1990 and 2019,
emissions from these sectors decreased by 13.7%, 12%, and 27.4%. Two sectors¡¯ emissions were, in relative terms, much higher in 2019 than 1990: industry (+27.3%) and agriculture (+24.1%). In absolute terms, however, the differences were much smaller. In this
timeframe, emissions from industry increased 0.22 MMT<span style="color:black;background:white">CO©ü</span>e and emissions from agriculture increased 0.01 MMTCO2e (see page 7 of attached inventory report). The difference between relative and absolute values
underlies the truism that when small totals change slightly, the percent difference is greatly magnified.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">The transportation sector continues to be the largest source of GHG emissions. Further reductions from transportation ¡°are critical to meet the 2030, 2040, and 2050 Act
on Climate mandates,¡± the report states. ¡°Significantly more zero-emission vehicles across weight classes will be required to meet Act on Climate emission reduction mandates.¡±<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">Along with its deep influence on policymaking, the Act on Climate changed how DEM air quality specialists conducted the 2019 inventory. Whereas most inventory years
between 1991 and 2018 recorded gross GHG emissions totals only, DEM included carbon sequestration from Land Use, Land Use Change, and Forestry (LULUCF) for the 2019 inventory. This allowed the 2019 inventory to include a net emissions total, which was important
for an apples-to-apples comparison to the Act on Climate¡¯s 1990 baseline. <span class="A14">
<span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">Carbon sequestration, or removal, is the process of capturing and storing atmospheric carbon dioxide. The DEM Division of Agriculture and Forest Environment assisted in development of an in-house methodology
to estimate carbon removed by forestland. To properly account toward the Act on Climate¡¯s net-zero emissions mandate by 2050, all new inventories will include a LULUCF sector.</span></span></span><span class="A14"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="A14"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="A14"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">DEM continues to collaborate with the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection to align and improve electricity sector accounting
practices and better quantify where renewable energy credits are settled. This was an important step toward accurately accounting for emissions reductions associated with the state¡¯s 100% renewable energy standard (RES).</span></span><span class="xeop"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="xeop"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:#201F1E;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">Like many other states that regularly perform economy-wide GHG emissions inventories, Rhode Island relies heavily on the US Environmental Protection Agency¡¯s State Inventory
Tool (SIT). Although EPA updates the SIT annually, there is a three-year lag between the end of the year being measured and publishing the GHG inventory in which to collect, compile, and verify the data. This lag affects the timing of DEM¡¯s annual emissions
inventories.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="xeop"><span style="color:#201F1E;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in"><a href="https://dem.ri.gov/sites/g/files/xkgbur861/files/2022-12/ridem-ghg-inventory-2019.pdf">Click here for the state¡¯s
GHG inventory webpage</a></span></b><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">.</span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:#0066FF">
</span><span class="xeop"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:#201F1E;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">For more information on the state¡¯s efforts to combat climate change and to find ways to participate, please
visit </span></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif"><a href="http://www.climatechange.ri.gov"><span style="color:#0066FF;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">www.</span><span style="color:#0066FF">climatechange.ri.gov</span></a><span class="xeop"><span style="border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">.</span></span></span><span style="color:#0066FF"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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