“Dirty, industrial biomass pollutes our neighborhoods and has no place in our clean energy future,” said Kirstie Pecci, Interim Director of CLF’s Environmental Justice program. “Massachusetts residents deserve clean air and a livable future. The Commonwealth should not subsidize power plants or incinerators that will harm communities already bearing the brunt of local pollution and climate impacts.”
A Renewable Energy Certificate is a way to measure and track the production of clean energy. It’s how states and utilities track how much clean energy is being produced by renewable energy sources and which electrical utilities are buying that power.
A Renewable Portfolio Standard is a way for states to ensure their electric utilities – and by extension, the states themselves – are making progress on clean energy. The best policies heavily emphasize clean renewables like wind and solar.
Biomass developers are pushing for state policy changes that would allow their plants to emit more air pollution, underreport their climate impacts, and take families’ and businesses’ money while harming the health of our communities. CLF is joining Springfield residents and other local groups in fighting back.
Springfield, alongside community and environmental organizations like CLF, has been fighting this proposed biomass plant for years. We set the fight aside in 2017 when Palmer Renewable Energy, the company behind the proposal, paused its plans for construction. But now the company is back, hoping that its efforts to weaken state policy will bring its proposal back to life.
The Massachusetts Legislative Session is over, and CLF has our recap of the good, the bad, and the “meh” from the last two years of work by our elected officials.
While Massachusetts has made solid progress on clean energy, much work remains if we want to protect our families and businesses from the devastating effects of climate change. The magnitude of the transition before us – moving to virtually 100 percent clean energy in every sector of our economy – allows no rest or time… Continue reading If We Act Fast, Massachusetts Can Still Make Progress on Clean Energy
CLF is working with our partners to advance clean energy jobs for people in New England and to help make dirty fossil fuels a thing of the past. That’s what brought me to the State House recently, where I testified in favor of a strong renewable energy policy for Massachusetts. Updating Our Clean Energy Directives I… Continue reading Advocating for More Renewable Energy in Massachusetts
