The country’s smallest state has the opportunity to elect an exciting, populist new mayor David Morales to its largest city this summer with plans for Providence to lead on clean energy and environmental justice. In a state surrounded by water, it’s critical Rhode Island legislators invest in strong climate adaptation measures to stave off rising tides. While the state has taken action on clean energy, the current Governor has attempted to defund several of the state’s climate programs and stalled their implementation. We’re backing leaders for both the state legislature and city government to back up a new Morales administration’s climate agenda: 

David Morales for Mayor of Providence: Morales is a state representative and proven champion for working families with a real plan to make Providence a climate leader. As mayor, he’ll launch a major green-infrastructure bond to modernize aging stormwater and sewer systems, electrify Providence Housing Authority buildings, expand home energy efficiency programs, and invest in reliable buses, protected bike infrastructure, and a free neighborhood circulator pilot. David will also hold Port-area polluters accountable in order to move the waterfront toward offshore wind, solar, and low-emission development instead of fossil fuels and energy-intensive data centers.

Yulyana Torres for Providence City Council Ward 3: Torres is an attorney who works at Sojourner House where she’s built the organization’s first family law program representing survivors of domestic violence in Rhode Island. On City Council, she’ll invest in stormwater maintenance, enforce the Carbon Neutral Buildings Act, hold polluting industries accountable, and ensure the Green Revolving Fund delivers energy efficiency projects. Yulyana will also expand bike, scooter, bus, and pedestrian infrastructure so Ward 3 and all of Providence can move toward a safer, healthier, carbon-neutral future.

Jackie Goldman for Providence City Council Ward 5: Goldman is a public health worker and community organizer whose climate platform centers the neighborhoods most burdened by pollution and extreme heat. On the City Council, they’ll fight to stop the expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure at the Port of Providence, strengthen oversight of polluting industries, and bring more trees and green space to communities denied those resources. Jackie will pair environmental justice with affordable housing and safe, accessible streets so every Ward 5 resident can live in a healthier, more resilient neighborhood.

Annajane Yolken for Providence City Council Ward 13: Annajane Yolken is a public health advocate who helped co-found the Substance Use, Policy, Education, and Recovery PAC to pass landmark drug policy reform like the country’s first laws authorizing overdose prevention centers. On City Council, she’ll expand access to weatherization and energy efficiency upgrades for homeowners and renters, support flood-resilient infrastructure near the river, and stand against new fossil fuel infrastructure at the Port. 

Amy Santiago for State House District 7: Santiago has served the community throughout her life as a public school teacher, a prison system group therapist, and currently an advocate for those experiencing housing instability. In the statehouse, she’ll fight to restore RIPTA funding, expand composting, invest in stormwater and flood-mitigation infrastructure, grow green space, and hold major polluters accountable.

Jennifer Stewart for State House District 59: Stewart is a teacher and state representative who has made affordable, accessible public transit a cornerstone of her climate leadership. She has fought to stabilize and expand RIPTA, protect paratransit and RIDE services for disabled Rhode Islanders, and establish an intervenor support program so residents and environmental justice groups can participate in utility and energy-siting decisions. Jennifer will continue taking on powerful interests—from utility companies to data centers—while advancing cleaner energy, lower costs, and a fairer future.

Gena Felix for State Senate District 8: Felix is a nurse and former Rhode Island National Guard servicemember who understands that climate change is a public health crisis. In the state senate, she’ll fight to reduce exposure to toxic chemicals and microplastics, protect clean air and drinking water, support renewable energy and efficient infrastructure, and prepare communities for flooding and extreme weather. Gena will champion science-based solutions—from wetland restoration and living shorelines to stronger recycling and waste-reduction policies—so every family can live in a healthy neighborhood.

Meghan Kallman for State Senate District 15: Kallman is a longtime climate organizer and state senator who has turned that commitment into some of Rhode Island’s most ambitious environmental legislation. She has led efforts to decarbonize and benchmark buildings, ban PFAS in consumer products, protect RIPTA, make a major bus route fare-free, and enable transit-oriented housing. Meghan will keep advancing policies that treat housing, transit, worker well-being, and climate resilience as inseparable parts of a just and livable future.

Nelly Burdette for State Senate District 17: Burdette is a psychologist and healthcare leader who recognizes climate change as a public and behavioral health crisis. In the state senate, she’ll advance practical policies to cut emissions, strengthen community resilience, and protect residents from the stress, trauma, displacement, and widening health inequities caused by extreme weather. 

Miguel Sanchez for Providence City Council Ward 6: Sanchez is a Providence city councilor and vice chair of the Special Committee on Environment and Resiliency who has helped advance some of the city’s strongest climate policies. He helped pass the Carbon Neutral Buildings Act, establish a revolving Green Fund, and make Providence the nation’s first Climate Jobs City which pairs emissions reductions with high quality union jobs. If reelected, Miguel will make environmental justice at the Port of Providence a top priority by holding polluters accountable and protecting surrounding neighborhoods from fossil fuel pollution.

Justin Roias for Providence City Council Ward 4: Roias is a Providence city councilor who has passed citywide climate policy and worked to protect his neighborhood from industrial pollution. He co-sponsored the Building Energy Reporting Ordinance and secured $25,000 for air-quality monitoring near a local asphalt plant. If re-elected, Justin will strengthen oversight of industrial polluters, and expand green space and shade trees so working-class neighborhoods no longer have to sacrifice clean air and public health.