Dear Governor Baker:

 

I am alarmed by the proposed changes to RPS Class.

 

Especially the changes that reduce or eliminate the core requirements of the 2012 RPS bio-energy 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 time frame for plants to show a net reduction in GHG emissions relative to fossil fuels, calculation 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.

 

Your 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 contrary to 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 there is no longer time to grow new forests to recapture the emissions.

 

Living forests sequester CO2. Health impacts are an immediate consequence of wood burning.

 

The Commonwealth and its citizens cannot 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,