Urgent Action Alert
The Legislature has until January 5th to act on protecting our climate! CALL YOUR LEGISLATORS TO STATE YOUR OPPOSITION TO BIOMASS! More information below
Sign this petition, created by Springfield City Council member Jesse Lederman, to tell the Massachusetts legislature not to make Springfield a biomass sacrifice zone!
The 2050 Climate Roadmap Bill (H. 4933) before the MA legislature includes language that lists biomass electricity plants as “non-carbon emitting” sources of energy. This bill, in its current form, would pave the way for Palmer Renewable to build a biomass plant in East Springfield, which would further pollute the air in an economically distressed Environmental Justice community already called the Take Action Now
Now is the time to CALL ALL MEMBERS OF THE CONFERENCE COMMITTEE, especially Representative Golden and Senator Barret, who are also co-chairs of the TUE Committee:
If you don’t get to call anyone else, please call Senator Barrett!
Senator: Michael Barrett (Conference Committee Chair)Phone #: 617-722-1572Email: Mike.Barrett@masenate.gov
Senator: Cynthia Creem
Phone #: 617-722-1639
Email: cynthia.creem@masenate.gov
Senator: Patrick O’Connor
Phone #: 617-722-1646
Email: patrick.oconnor@masenate .gov
Representative: Patricia HaddadPhone #: 617-722-2600
District #: 508-646-2821Email: patricia.haddad@mahouse.gov
Representative: Thomas Golden
Phone #: 617-722-2263
Email: thomas.golden@mahouse.gov
Representative: Bradley Jones
Phone #: 617-722-2100
District #: 978-664-5936
Email: bradley.jones@mahouse.gov
Here’s why we are fighting:
- Dangerous health impacts: Burning biomass emits pollutants and particulates which could increase the risk of complications and death from COVID-19 for people already at high risk. Living near the proposed polluting incinerator will bring higher risks for asthma, heart disease, cancer, and other health conditions. If the language in H.4933 calling biomass “non-carbon emitting energy” is not removed, it will give the green light for Palmer to receive the financing it needs. If the Palmer biomass power plant is built, Springfield will become a sacrifice zone to produce power for wealthier communities elsewhere in the state.
- Worsening the climate crisis: The Partnership for Policy Integrity recently wrote that “Biomass power plants are major sources of CO2 emissions. Smokestack CO2 emissions from a wood-burning power plant are about 150% those of a new coal plant, for the same amount of electricity generated, and about 350% those of a new combined cycle natural gas plant” (source). “The Palmer plant would worsen an already dire situation by emitting more than 200 tons per year of fine particulates, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, heavy metals, carcinogens, and other harmful air pollutants out its smokestack, plus additional air pollution from truckloads of wood delivered to the facility and dust from wood fuel and ash stored on site. The plant is permitted to operate 24/7 and burn nearly a ton of wood per hour” (source).
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A conference committee of the MA legislature is meeting to decide the fate of this bill. They are planning on finalizing their decision very soon. We need to act now!
Here’s what you can do
Call or email your state Representative & your state Senator and ask them to contact the conference committee, focusing on Conference Committee Chairpersons and TUE Co-chairs Senator Barrett and Representative Golden, with the following asks:
- Pass a climate bill that does not contain problematic language calling biomass power plants “non-carbon emitting”
- Hold a hearing on DOER’s proposed changes that weaken the RPS and allow dirty biomass power plants to qualify for renewable energy subsidies
To find out more information about the legislative measures that would incentivize biomass, the environmental harm that biomass causes, and other information related to this issue, go to the Partnership for Policy Integrity’s website
CALL THE CONFERENCE COMMITTEE:
If you don’t get to call anyone else, please call Senator Barrett!
Senator: Michael Barrett (Conference Committee Chair)
Phone #: 617-722-1572
Email: mike.Barrett@masenate.gov
Senator: Cynthia Creem
Phone #: 617-722-1639
Email: cynthia.creem@masenate.gov
Senator: Patrick O’Connor
Phone #: 617-722-1646
Email: patrick.oconnor@masenate .gov
Representative: Thomas Golden
Phone #: 617-722-2263
Email: thomas.golden@mahouse.gov
Representative: Patricia Haddad
Phone #: 617-722-2600
District #: 508-646-2821
Email: patricia.haddad@mahouse.gov
Representative: Bradley Jones
Phone #: 617-722-2100
District #: 978-664-5936
Email: bradley.jones@mahouse.gov
Click here for a list of local Springfield area legislators (if you’re not in the area, find your legislators here) and the Conference Committee members.
State your opposition to the language in the Climate Bill that calls biomass fuel ‘non-carbon emitting’, and ask your legislators to urge the Conference Committee to remove all such language in the final version of the Climate Bill!
For background information, a list of local legislators, and scripts to use when you call or email, click here.
Call your friends and family in Massachusetts to introduce them to the issue of biomass. Ask them to call their state legislators to urge the Climate Roadmap Bill Conference Committee to remove the language included in Bill H. 4933 that falsely classifies biomass as “non-carbon emitting”. Please also share the link to this page so that your friends and family have access to the resources we have collected here!
Amplify our message on social media, using these hashtags:
- #ClimateBillWithTeeth
- #NoBiomass
- #EJ4MA
Fill out this form if you want to make commitments for the campaign to prevent the classification of biomass as a form of renewable energy.
Sign this petition, created by Springfield City Council member Jesse Lederman.
Letters to Share
Share this letter from over 30 MA organizations to the co-chairs of the TUE committee, urging them to hold a hearing and reconsider their push to approve regulatory amendments to the Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard that would grant the Palmer biomass plant and other biomass plants subsides that would make them financially viable
Share the Show Us The Science Letter, signed by over 100 organizations, demanding that the Conference Committee show us scientific evidence that backs up their claim that biomass is “non-carbon emitting.”
Share this powerful letter from the Springfield Climate Justice Coalition about how this proposal will harm Springfield residents who are already suffering disproportionately from air pollution.
Share this letter from 60 MA Organizations to the Conference Committee. These groups stand in solidarity with the Springfield community and urge the Massachusetts Legislature to reject language in the House’s proposed climate legislation that would pave the way for the construction of a biomass plant in Springfield. The signatories include a diverse array of organizations that work on public health, environmental justice, clean and affordable energy, climate change, and environmental protection in Massachusetts.
You can find more letters from the Springfield community to read and share here.
