wEEk iN rEViEw might we build with just a few of the billions spent on the senseless bloodbaths in Iraq and now Afghanistan? Who the hell is making these stupid decisions? Is our pathetic U.S. Congress incapable of making laws stating that our drugs will be produced in our country, by our people? Third, it seems there is always a drug McNeil Generating Station, supply for the Vermont’s largest biomass mentally ill and power plant criminal drug users. I state this because my late brother was a seriously mentally ill criminal who was addicted to bad drugs. He ate morphine sulfate like candy and overdosed three times that I know of. He was on Medicaid and other assistance in Vermont and so got his morphine scrips for a buck. Yes, a buck a scrip! Outrageous, yes. Are you mad yet? If not, get mad. Lastly, I can only speak highly of Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. When my husband had pancreatic cancer surgery, his docs supplied us with free pain and nausea meds. The pills would have cost us $100 apiece — yes, for one pill. Who is ripping off whom here? I will never believe it is DHMC. Most of us will never see the daily miracles performed by the medical personnel in our great country. Sukie knight
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10/10/11 2:03 PM
rachel Smolker
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I’m wondering where you got the 50 MW figure for additional biomass electricity generation that you cite as being in the Comprehensive Energy Plan [Re “Renewable or Retrograde? A Biomass Plant Proposed for Fair Haven Sparks Controversy,” October 5]. The plan, as I have read it, does not make such a specific projection on added biomass electrical capacity. Rather it does mention that, at the time of writing, 50 to 60 MW would potentially be coming online from proposed and nearly completed projects, one of which I assume is the Fair Haven facility. However, I may be wrong on this, and would like to know if I am, so I would be interested if you could point to your source. Thanks! Jake claro
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Reporter’s Note: That figure came from Chris Recchia, Deputy Secretary at the Agency of Natural Resources.
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[Re “Renewable or Retrograde? A Biomass Plant Proposed for Fair Haven Sparks Controversy,” October 5]: Fair Haven seems eager to have this facility built in their community, but town manager [Peter] Hathaway’s statement about pollution not being a concern is naïve to the extreme. McNeil is the state’s leading source of air pollution! Indeed it is not clearly visible, as many pollutants are not. Sadly, the state’s Bioenergy Working Group, mandated by the legislature to look at the state’s bio-energy “potential,” has decided to avoid looking at health impacts altogether. The American Lung Association, the American Heart Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics and others have all stated concerns about biomass combustion impacts on health; Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League just put together a compilation called “Second Opinion.” Concerns about climate and forests are also very troubling. [Deputy Secretary Chris] Recchia [of the Agency
MOM,
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BiomASS PollutES
of Natural Resources] says it is not fair to make comparisons with coal, but the basic fact is that wood is far less energy dense than coal and releases more CO2 per unit of energy produced. But this is only looking at the emissions from smokestacks and does not even consider the CO2 emissions from harvest, transport, soil disturbance and the loss of forest carbon sink that results. In total, burning trees for electricity is a climate disaster! Of course, so is burning coal, but let’s remember: This is being sold to us, and subsidized, as “clean, green, carbon neutral and renewable.” Not!