Dear MA DOER RPS Public Comments,
We have so little time to act to reverse our CO2
emissions dilemma - why are we chopping down old trees, which absorb vast amounts
of carbon, and including wood burning as clean energy? Massachusetts deserves better than this
ridiculous proposal.
I am alarmed by the proposed changes to RPS Class I,
especially the changes that reduce or eliminate the core requirements of the 2012
RPS bioenergy rules. in particular the
DOER plans reductions in facility efficiency criteria, increases in the allowed
variety of wood, including whole trees, increasing from 20 years to 30 years
the timeframe for plants to show a net reduction in GHG emissions relative to
fossil fuels, calculations of lifecycle CO2 emissions that ignore fossil fuels
used in harvesting, processing and transport, elimination of requirements for
liquid fuels to show a real reduction in GHG?s, and the removal of Massachusetts-specific
forest harvesting criteria.
The Baker administration is aware that the climate crisis
is real, is urgent, and that the time window for dramatic action is just a few
years. These proposals are entirely
contrary to the public good, contrary to my health and especially the health of
children and older adults.
Clean energy does not come out of a smokestack. Burning
wood is a highly emitting source of energy and the there is no longer time to
grow new forests to recapture the emissions, and moreover living forests
sequester CO2.
Health impacts are an immediate consequence of wood
burning. The Commonwealth and its
citizens can ill afford increased health care costs and reductions in quality
of life due to illness caused by particulate matter pollution.
I urge you to withdraw the proposed eligibility changes
to RPS Class I and Class II.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Ingrid Geis
3 Black Horse Terrace
Winchester, MA 01890
(781) 756-0266