ENVIRONMENTALLY SPEAKING
Podcast host Clarice Parsons interviews Kerin Browning and Marisa Desautel, managing partners of Desautel Browning Law. They will leave you cracking up while discussing some serious topics around state / federal environmental law, utility / energy statutory and regulatory compliance, civil litigation, and municipal and regulatory zoning and permitting.
In this episode of Environmentally Speaking, environmental attorney Marisa Desautel and co-host Clarice Parsons sit down with Rhode Island State Senator Alana DiMario (District 36) to discuss how environmental policy is shaped, implemented, and funded at the state level.
Senator DiMario shares her journey from mental health counselor to legislator and explains why climate change, coastal resiliency, and waste reduction are urgent priorities for her coastal district, including Narragansett, North Kingstown, and Block Island.
The conversation covers what happens after a bill passes, the importance of follow-through, and how state agencies, municipalities, and the public all play a role in turning environmental legislation into real-world action.
Topics covered include:
- Rhode Island’s part-time legislature and environmental policymaking
- Climate change impacts on coastal communities
- Greenhouse gas reduction under the Act on Climate
- Textile recycling and landfill diversion efforts
- The role of education, data, and agency coordination
- Funding challenges and creative solutions for climate initiatives
- How residents can get involved in environmental advocacy
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About the host
Marisa Desautel and Clarice Parsons
Attorney Marisa Desautel has been practicing law in Rhode Island and Massachusetts since 2006 and has 16 years of experience as an environmental and regulatory professional throughout New England.
Marisa’s practice focuses on state and federal environmental and utility/energy statutory and regulatory compliance, civil litigation, and municipal and regulatory zoning and permitting. Marisa leads the Energy and Environmental Practice Group. She brings extensive experience, having served as Senior Legal Counsel to the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management for more than eight years and has been legal counsel to the Rhode Island Energy Efficiency & Resource Management Council since 2015 
