In Massachusetts, there are many ways towns can become energy efficient, deploy solar energy and save taxpayers money at the same time. There are state funding programs, numerous incentives and ways for systems to pay for themselves.
One program in Massachusetts is called the Green Communities Designation & Grant program (GCDG). Started in 2008, âthe Green Communities Division of the MA Department of Energy Resources (DOER) wanted to help municipalities become more sustainable, control rising energy costs and incubate the clean energy technologies and practices that will put Massachusetts cities and townsâand the commonwealth as a wholeâat the center of the 21st-century clean energy economy. Envisioned as a way to encourage municipalities to make clean energy decisions, the division is mandated to offer grant opportunities to municipalities designated as âGreen Communities.ââ (1)
Biomass plant will create a ‘sacrifice zone’ in Springfield (Guest viewpoint)
Updated Dec 23, 2020;
By Marty Nathan | Guest viewpoint
If I remember correctly, I was reading a piece describing the cancer and other severe chronic diseases suffered by low income people living in Louisiana’s petrochemical refinery district known as Cancer Alley. The writer said, “You can’t have a polluting industry without a sacrifice zone.”
Words to remember, that immediately flashed through my mind when listening to an explanation of the Baker Administration’s new rules classifying “clean” energy sources under the state’s Renewable Portfolio Standard program (RPS). Technologies that qualify get lucrative renewable energy subsidies from ratepayers.