Reminder Publishing photo by G. Michael Dobbs
SPRINGFIELD – The ongoing issue of whether or not a bio-mass plant should exist in Springfield near the Chicopee border received renewed attention last week with Sen. Edward Markey coming to Springfield to announce his support for efforts to prevent its opening.
City Councilor Jesse Lederman, who has long advocated against the plant proposed by Palmer Paving at its Page Boulevard property, reached out to Markey who was here in the region visiting the Holyoke Soldiers Home on Feb. 18.
Lederman, accompanied by fellow colleagues on the City Council including Tim Allen and Michael Fenton, was joined by state Sens. Adam Gomez and Eric Lesser as well as neighborhood residents and members of The Springfield Climate Justice Coalition (SCJC).
Activists Urge Gov Baker To Reverse Energy Rules That Boost Biomass wamc.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from wamc.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
12-year battle continues: Area organizations urge Gov. Charlie Baker to not allow rule changes favorable to Springfield biomass plant
Updated Feb 17, 2021;
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SPRINGFIELD Area organizations that have fought against a proposed biomass energy plant in East Springfield for the last 12 years urged Gov. Charlie Baker on Wednesday to reject rule changes favorable to the project.
Protesters gathered outside the state office building on Dwight Street, presenting a petition to Baker signed by 38 organizations. The petition demanded that Baker withdraw proposed amendments to the state’s Renewable Portfolio Standard that ”would allow inefficient and dirty biomass power plants like the (Palmer Renewable Energy) plant to qualify as renewable energy in Massachusetts and collect millions of dollars in subsidies each year.”
Columnist Marty Nathan: Positives and a negative concerning the climate emergency AP PHOTO In this July 19, 2007 file photo, an iceberg melts off the coast of Ammasalik, Greenland. AP
Published: 1/6/2021 2:16:09 PM
Modified: 1/6/2021 2:15:59 PM
I admit it: this column on the climate emergency is usually pretty depressing.
Today, though, I want to offer a bit of respite and hope. Though 2020 is on course to be either the hottest or second-hottest year on record; though the polar regions are still warming at three times the rate of the rest of the world, spelling disaster for low-lying coastal regions threatened by rising seas; though the 2020 Gulf hurricane season was the most active in recorded history; and though drought-induced Western wild fires in the last year burned over 8 million acres, there are glimmers of optimism as we enter 2021.
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.