Gov. Gina Raimondo said Rhode Island will continue to address climate change despite President Donald Trump’s decision to pull the United States out of a global climate agreement.
Raimondo signed an executive order at the Statehouse Monday reaffirming Rhode Island’s commitment to meeting the climate goals of the 2015 Paris Accord. The move comes after President Donald Trump announced the United States will be withdrawing from it.
“We’re going to fight against the president and we’re going to continue to take leadership and action as we have been and at the same pace that we have been despite the lack of leadership we see coming out of Washington,” Raimondo said.
Rhode Island is the only state in the country with an operational offshore wind farm. The number of clean energy jobs in the state have also gone up every year since 2014.
Last year, a national organization called American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy ranked Rhode Island fourth in the nation for its energy efficiency policies and program efforts.
Raimondo also recently joined the United States Climate Alliance, a newly formed bipartisan group of governors, to honor the Paris agreement. So far, more than 10 states have joined the alliance, including Massachusetts, Connecticut and Vermont.
