From:                                         KIT BOOS <scboos@comcast.net>

Sent:                                           Tuesday, May 28, 2019 4:26 PM

To:                                               RPS, DOER (ENE)

Subject:                                     RPS/APS/biomass

 

Dear Mr Wassam,

 

I cannot state more strongly my opposition to considering incineration of garbage and wood as green, renewable energy.  It is a complicated math that was reasoned and worked out before, and the circumstances have not changed for the better, but has become more dire.  Climate change is upon us, and, indeed, accelerating.  We cannot afford to have more carbon and particulates emissions that come from burning wood.  Especially in Springfield, just down the road from where I live, which has one of the highest asthma rates in the country!  Air doesn’t stay local, it circulates.  The pioneer valley as a whole has poorer air quality already from pollution that blows in from NY state and the Midwest.  We don’t need a biomass plant in Springfield, and we do not need more subsidized wood burning in MA!

 

But we can act locally to manage our emissions.  I implore the DOER to not loosen the already negotiated rules of the RPS/APS.  In this time of climate change, we need to double down on cutting carbon.  We do not want to be burning wood thoughtlessly when trees perform important functions such as carbon capture and sequestration, anchoring soil preventing erosion, water filtration and habitats for so many species of animals.  

 

Please listen to all the folks who are talking and writing to DOER on this issue that really impacts the health of people (of Massachusetts) and planet.

 

Sincerely.

Kit Sang Boos

Northampton MA