Rhode Island: Ocean State is a Growing Maritime Cluster

While the 2024 elections in the USA are almost settled, Rhode Island stands out as a beacon of the climate resilience movement in the northeast USA. 

Election Outcomes

This year's election outcomes in Rhode Island gave clarity to some key questions that are afflicting politics in the USA in many places: does the Constitution need a rewrite? (RI voters said leave that State's constitution alone, for now). Should the State be spending public money to clean up the environment, expand education and housing opportunities? Voters in Rhode Island say "yes."

Four different Bond issues were on the ballot in Rhode Island and as reported in the Rhode Island Current voters approved them all. Education, infrastructure and the environment were all winners. The focus of the new/ renovated educational facility funds include biomedical (neurodegenerative diseases) at the Univ. of Rhode Island and cybersecurity at Rhode Island College. More than $53M of "Green Economy Bonds" will go towards environmental and infrastructure projects, including brownfield cleanups, maritime port expansion, wildfire mitigation, biodiversity, and invasive species control. The drought ongoing now in the northeastern USA is highlighting some water interdependencies not often discussed. Some new investments in coastal and floodplain resilience will be made by the Rhode Island Infrastructure Bank. RIIB is one of those quiet, governmental entities that does most of it's work "backstage." It's worth bookmarking their annual event if you might be interested to do business here.

Growing Maritime and Marine- Knowledge Hub(s)

Rhode Island may be geographically small but the "ocean state" punches well above its weight in all things marine, ocean, and aquatic. The capital city Providence has one of the oldest hurricane barriers on the east coast of the USA, plus the state has been a pioneer in forward-thinking ocean policy, having made a "Special Area Management Plan" for the ocean via their Coastal and Marine Resources Council in 2010. For those exploring offshore energy, transmission, and marine resources in the northeast USA, the University of Rhode Island is one of the leading knowledge institutes on the entire east coast in terms of ocean science. CIC Providence is home to the largest group of offshore energy companies under one roof in the northeast. Statewide, industrial Ports are operating almost at full capacity, following ten years of steady growth. Overall this entire ecosystem that revolves around Narragansett Bay and the north Atlantic Ocean benefits greatly by broader regional connections including New London, CT to the west and New Bedford and Woods Hole, MA to the east.

Whether your are exploring ocean-based renewable energy, commercial fishing, or the health of the seas, many of the answers to today's questions in these fields can be found "somewhere" in Rhode Island!