From:                                                       Fran Ludwig <fludwig12@yahoo.com>

Sent:                                                         Thursday, July 25, 2019 11:31 PM

To:                                                            RPS, DOER (ENE)

Subject:                                                   Reconsider Changes to RPS:  Wood and Trash are not Clean Renewable Energy Sources

 

Categories:                                             Has Not Been Sumarized

 

I strongly object to the changes to RPS standards to include burning biomass, and trash and reducing protection of forests.

If there were ever a time when we need to get off carbon based fuel and move to renewables, it's NOW.  Therefore your proposed changes to relax the RPS standards  for biomass eligibility in favor of burning more dirty wood products and trash make no sense.  Your mandate was to use science based data to develop standards for burning biomass, which would restrict this type of combustion to limited well controlled circumstances.

I urge you to reconsider changes in the RPS criteria to include biomass and trash as “renewable”  sources of energy.   Given the climate emergency in which we all need to move toward 0 carbon as soon as possible with significant reductions in 10 years, burning wood cannot count as being carbon neutral over the critical 10 year span (it would take at least 10 years for new trees to grow and absorb CO2 and in the meantime CO2 from the burning wood adds to planet warming pollution.  Relaxing forestry criteria for cutting trees for fuel at this point is totally counterproductive. 

In addition particulates from wood create a health hazard.  The planned facility in Springfield will only exacerbate high rates of asthma in an “environmental justice” community that has not seen much justice so far.

Our hard won increase in RPS % will disappear if wood burning facilities come on line because of less stringent RPS standards.    

For the sake of my grandchildren and yours and all living systems I implore you to re-think your plans to gut RPS standards.  We have to turn this carbon habit around soon or we won’t be able to.

 

Frances Ludwig

19 Wyman Rd.

Lexington MA 02420