From: Betsy Browning <blboots.betsy@gmail.com>
Sent: Thursday, July 25, 2019 1:53 PM
To: RPS, DOER (ENE)
Subject: Dangers in gutting biomass regulations for MA RPS
Categories: Saved as HTML
Dear John Wassam,
I have only been to one hearing in person but have been following this process online. There is a huge environmental danger to rolling back our standards.
Rolling back environmental protection by allowing biomass plants to get renewable energy credits will cause the biomass industry to flourish to the detriment of our regional forests. Extensive forest cutting is lucrative for the logging industry...People can turn a blind eye to the scientific facts when personal profit is involved
Forests, mature forests especially, sequester carbon. ....It takes generations to restore that kind of sequestration capability...The earth is in crisis and we really do not have that kind of time.
* A biomass Power Plant in the Springfield area would be devastating to air quality in a city already plagued with outrageous asthma rates. And garbage incinerators are a huge air quality danger.
Imagine the resources being spent on regional biological composting. Now that would be worth supporting.
How can we think of giving clean energy subsidies to biomass and garbage incinerator businesses!!!
.The Baker Administration’sproposed changes would allow electricity retailers to meet the increased renewable energy goals by purchasing energy from polluting power plants that currently are not eligible for the RPS. This is NOT what clean energy advocates and Massachusetts Legislature intended when they expanded the RPS last year.
Thank you for your consideration,
Sincerely
Betsy Browning
Colrain, MA