On November 21, 2025, Rhode Island’s efforts to curb carbon emissions faced a sobering reality check, as the state’s Department of Environmental Management (DEM) released a report revealing that emissions had actually increased in 2023. The 41-page analysis, published Friday, showed that Rhode Island produced 9.52 million metric tons of carbon dioxide last year—a 1.4% rise from 2022. The findings cast doubt on the state’s ability to meet its ambitious Act on Climate mandates, which require net-zero emissions by 2050 and a 45% reduction from 1990 levels by 2030.
According to the DEM, transportation remains the single largest contributor to Rhode Island’s carbon footprint, responsible for 37% of total emissions in 2023. The culprit? Highway vehicle emissions, which jumped more than 6% over the previous year. DEM Director and Executive Climate Change Coordinating Council chair Terry Gray called the results “disappointing,” acknowledging that Rhode Island’s emissions mirrored a national trend of rising travel-related pollution in 2023.
“Significant decarbonization of transportation, electricity consumption, and buildings are instrumental to attain net-zero emissions by mid-century,” the report stated. But the path forward isn’t as easy as flipping a switch. The state’s long-term pace of progress, while showing modest reductions in some sectors, is simply too slow to hit the legally mandated targets. If Rhode Island continues to decrease its fossil fuel reliance at the current rate, it will miss the 2030 target and further jeopardize its 2050 goal, the DEM warned.
The problem is compounded by shifting federal policies. Rhode Island Governor Dan McKee pointed directly at Washington, saying, “The Trump administration’s rollback of clean-energy initiatives and its cuts to billions of dollars in funding have intentionally undermined the clean-energy future for states across the nation.” McKee vowed to keep working with partners to “chart a practical and responsible path forward on reducing emissions,” but acknowledged the uphill battle in the current policy climate.
Leading the state’s response is the Executive Climate Change Coordinating Council, a consortium of agencies tasked with steering Rhode Island toward its decarbonization mandates. Early projections from the council already suggested the state was on track to fall short of the 2030 milestone, but the 2022 report emphasized that their model was “simple” and “preliminary.” A more detailed analysis, informed by the latest emissions data, is expected by year’s end.
Digging into the numbers, the transportation sector’s spike in emissions is driven in large part by an increase in Rhode Island-registered vehicles—and, perhaps, better data. The DEM’s report notes that the state shifted from federal to state-level data sources, which may have led to a more accurate (and higher) tally. But that’s not the only wrinkle in the data.
Air travel emissions became a point of controversy after the Rhode Island Airport Corporation (RIAC) stopped providing emissions data for T.F. Green International Airport following the expiration of a state law mandating air quality reports in July 2023. As a result, DEM had to estimate airplane emissions using federal fuel reports, which are less precise. The report didn’t mince words: “It is critical to the scientific integrity of this publication that RIAC provides DEM with complete aircraft operations data for all six state airports.”
Bill Fischer, a spokesperson for the airport corporation, pushed back, arguing that the agency was simply following the law. “After 14 years of data collection and analysis—including data from the COVID-19 period when aviation activity dropped dramatically—no causal link was established between airport operations and the health impacts cited in Warwick. This further demonstrated that airport activity was not the primary driver of those readings,” Fischer wrote in an email. He added that, with the reporting requirement expired, the corporation no longer had legal authority to spend money gathering and reporting emissions data under federal aviation law. Fischer also claimed that aircraft operations data needed for emissions modeling was publicly available on the corporation’s website.
But the DEM disagreed. Evan LaCross, a spokesperson for the agency, said the Act on Climate law’s broad language still requires state groups to develop their own rules and regulations to comply, and that providing “complete aircraft operations emissions data” falls within RIAC’s authority and duty.
Beyond transportation, home heating was the second largest source of emissions in Rhode Island, accounting for 19.6% in 2023. There was a silver lining here: emissions from home heating dropped slightly from the previous year, thanks to a milder winter and improvements in energy efficiency and weatherization. The report noted that it was unclear how much a 2022 state rebate program—designed to help residential and commercial building owners offset costs to convert to heat pumps—affected overall building heating emissions.
Electricity consumption rounded out the top three emissions sources, remaining essentially flat year-over-year. Nearly a quarter of the state’s electricity use came from renewable sources, but the carbon intensity of power supplied by regional grid operator ISO New England was higher than in previous years. The DEM expressed optimism that electricity-related emissions would decline significantly beginning next year, when the 704-megawatt Revolution Wind project starts supplying power to Rhode Island and Connecticut.
The emissions inventory also considers other factors, including industrial product use, agriculture, and waste, while accounting for the carbon absorbed by trees and natural lands. Still, the overall message from the DEM was clear: unless Rhode Island accelerates its clean energy transition and reduces its reliance on driving, it will not meet its own decarbonization mandates.
The state’s struggle is hardly unique. Across the country, states are grappling with the consequences of federal rollbacks on clean energy initiatives and the challenge of collecting accurate emissions data. Rhode Island’s experience highlights the complex interplay between local ambition, federal policy, and the practical realities of decarbonization. As the Executive Climate Change Coordinating Council works toward a more detailed plan, all eyes will be on whether Rhode Island can get back on track—or if the Act on Climate’s bold targets will remain out of reach.
For now, the report stands as both a warning and a call to action. The road to net-zero is long, and Rhode Island’s journey has hit a speed bump. But with new projects on the horizon and a renewed focus on data and accountability, there’s still hope that the state can steer itself toward a cleaner, greener future.
