With the presidential election quickly approaching, U.S. Rep. Gabe Amo has been busy traveling to battleground states to defeat fellow Democrat Vice President Kamala Harris.
Back home in Rhode Island, he recently hit the road again – this time to highlight the state’s “blue economy.”
In between tour stops at VATN Systems in Portsmouth, which makes autonomous underwater vehicles, and Flux Marine, a Bristol-based manufacturer of electric outboard motors, Amo spoke with The Providence Journal to explain what that means – and why it’s important to Rhode Island.
“I hope every Rhode Islander understands that it is part of our history, but also part of our future,” he said.
Amo represents Rhode Island’s 1st Congressional District. His comments were lightly edited for length and clarity.
Q: What is the ‘blue economy’?
A: It summarizes a lot of things that we’ve been doing in Rhode Island for a long time, but really tries to bring focus to how we approach it and how we invest in it. So it covers everything from shipbuilding to tourism, from aquaculture to our maritime and naval history to offshore wind energy. Things that deal with the connectivity between our manufacturing capacity and the Narragansett Bay and the ocean. That is in fact the blue economy.
Q: So you have offshore wind, nuclear submarines, sailboats, oyster farms – do these industries have anything in common besides being dependent on the ocean?
A: They are actually quite interdisciplinary. Do you know what they all have in common, all the things you just described? Boats. Someone has to make those boats. When you think about the labor that’s needed, we have people in unions who do all these functions, from the UAW people who represent the people at Electric Boat to the electricians who do all the work around our wind turbines.
So there is connective tissue in both the inputs and the way they affect our coastline. They have to share space. They occupy similar areas: you can be in Portsmouth at an underwater drone facility and have Hinckley Yachts nearby, and then have NOAA’s new Atlantic facility right next to it.
And then the last thing is the shared knowledge. Mapping oceans affects everyone who fishes. This also affects where you place turbines. This also has consequences for all the testing of different technologies in the water. So there’s a lot of connective tissue and shared learning.
Question: What should the federal government do to support this sector of the economy? Are there any bills you would like to see passed?
A: I’m currently working on legislation on this, and as you know, Congress isn’t passing many bills right now. However, there are so many different communities across the country on the coast that have different capabilities in the blue economy that I want to bring together and try to invest in.
That’s why there will soon be legislation that will allow the National Science Foundation to fund the work that’s been done here on technology hubs – really bringing together the different industry partners under the umbrella of the blue economy and strategically providing them with resources give.
And so it’s something that I will pursue throughout my time in Congress, however long I may serve, because I really think it’s a competitive advantage for Rhode Island and our economy.
Q: Rhode Island’s federal delegation has brought home a lot of money to help develop the local aquaculture industry, but on a local level it’s difficult to start an oyster farm because people don’t want them in their backyard. Is that a sector where you think there is room to expand and grow?
A: I think this is why the interconnectedness in different parts of the blue economy is so important, because we have one bay to share, and at the same time we need to have industry, recreation and economic opportunities. And I hope that aquaculture can be a future part of this blue economy tour so I can dive deeper into it.
Living in the Ocean State is certainly something I enjoy, and the more we can strategically invest in it, I think there will be some benefit to those who do that work, and the people who come to the state to enjoy enjoy that part. of our way of life.
Q: On a different note, you traveled to swing states to campaign for Kamala Harris. Where have you been so far, what are you hearing locally, and is there anywhere else you might show up between now and Election Day?
A: So far I’ve been to the Atlanta metro area and Macon, Georgia; the Research Triangle in North Carolina, as well as Winston-Salem and Charlotte; and Philadelphia.
During those trips, I do a mix of volunteer activations, church visits, and meetings with local stakeholders, such as small business owners. What I’ve seen is that supporters are very excited and ready to do the work of spreading the vice president’s message: creating economic opportunity, ensuring full protection of core freedoms like reproductive freedom, and of course ensuring that we have a stable future and not one driven by the 45th President, Donald Trump, who is trying to divide us and set our country back.
I’m looking forward to finding out where the campaign wants to take me, because a lot of those decisions are made based on where they need help most. And the message I’m sending in all these places is that I’m a member of Congress from Rhode Island, and we know where our four Electoral College votes are going. I need them to vote so we can have the democratic future most Rhode Islanders want. We need to win places like North Carolina, Georgia and Pennsylvania so that we can achieve Electoral College victory and really turn the page.
This article originally appeared in The Providence Journal: Q&A with Rep. Gabe Amo on RI’s ‘blue economy’ and the upcoming election
