For many in the Providence-Warwick MSA Planning Area, cross-border trips are part of routine, daily life. Commuting to and from work, visiting cultural destinations in Providence or desirable tourist locations on the shore, and seeking out high profile commercial corridors like Route 6 all take residents of the Planning Area across borders. Similar flows occur with natural resources, for example, with the City of Fall River, MA supplying water to Tiverton, RI. We are a coastal region. Though containing varied landscapes, taken overall we are a largely urban and suburban region. We face common challenges, climate change chief among them, but from unique contexts and regulatory vantages across state lines, and from a starting point of varied municipal priorities. This regional effort must crosswalk state-to-state and state-to-local geographies. As we prioritize strategies for limiting Greenhouse Gas emissions, we will focus on identifying how our interstate connections and regional scale reframe climate pollution reduction goals, how local efforts integrate with state level efforts, and how we can center the needs of environmental justice communities.
