New state regulations strike another blow against proposed biomass project in Springfield
Updated 3:49 PM;
SPRINGFIELD The state has dealt another blow to a proposed biomass project in East Springfield, announcing revised regulations banning such projects from qualifying for renewable energy incentives if they are located in or within five miles of an “environmental justice” community.
Subsidies had been available for biomass projects under the state’s Renewable Portfolio Standard prior to the changes announced Friday. The revisions are subject to a 30-day comment period.
Opponents have argued for years that the biomass plant would worsen pollution and harm public health, and urged the state to not provide financial incentives. The site of the biomass project in East Springfield is within a designated environmental justice community.
After years of protests, state officials revoke permit for controversial biomass plant in Springfield
By David Abel Globe Staff,Updated April 2, 2021, 6:09 p.m.
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Zulmalee Rivera-Delgado, 42, (right), her mother Grisel Delgado, 64, who has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and her 9-year-old daughter Zeva Rae Joyner, who has asthma, oppose the wood-energy plant proposed for Springfield. They say it will add to the already heavy pollution in the city.Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff
After years of protests, the state Department of Environmental Protection on Friday revoked a critical air permit for a massive wood-burning power plant proposed to be built in Springfield, which opponents said would pollute the city and contribute to climate change.
WASHINGTON– Chairman Frank Pallone (D-NJ) released an updated version of the CLEAN Future Act today. The new version proposes a faster 2035 timeline to achieve “net-zero” emissions in the power sector. However, the new bill maintains the partial credit for fossil fuel generation emitting less than .82 metric tons of CO2e per megawatt-hour through 2030 and then slowly lowers it to .40 in 2035.
Friends of the Earth previously co-released a report with the Partnership for Policy Integrity in 2020 identifying the potential benefits of the plan to both fracked gas power plants at baselines of both .82 and .40.
Friends of the Earth Program Manager Lukas Ross issued the following response:
Kalev Järvik stands on a bald patch of land in the heart of Estonia’s Haanja nature reserve and remembers when he could walk straight from one side of the reserve to the other under a canopy of trees.
Järvik has lived in the Haanja uplands in the southern county of Võru for more than 10 years. His closeness to the forest has shaped his life as a carpenter and the fortunes of the surrounding villages, with their handicraft traditions – a substitute for farming on the poor arable land. Upcountry, travel literature promotes the region to city dwellers, promising its ancient woodlands as a place to rest and reinvigorate the mind.
Massachusetts should say ‘no’ to biomass incineration in future energy policy (Guest viewpoint)
Updated Jan 21, 2021;
Posted Jan 21, 2021 Springfield - City councilor Jesse Lederman speaks at a demonstration in September to oppose plans for a biomass energy plant in East Springfield. (Hoang Leon Nguyen / The Republican)
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By Jesse Lederman | Guest viewpoint
Gov. Charlie Baker’s Department of Energy Resources is proposing to weaken state laws to make biomass incinerating power plants eligible for millions of dollars a year in state-guaranteed renewable energy credit incentives funded by us, the rate-payers.
Burning biomass is not renewable. According to the 2012 state-sponsored Manomet Study, wood-burning biomass power plants emit even more pollution than fossil fuel plants. That is why since 2012 the rules known as the Renewable Portfolio Standard have not allowed them to be eligible for the financial benefits brought on by awarding renewable energy cre