Posted by gtheroux on 10/05/09 5:49 PM Last updated 10/05/09 5:55 PM

Stop Spewing Carbon Campaign:  http://www.stopspewingcarbon.com    The objective of the campaign is to acquire the appropriate number of certified signatures to get a referendum onto the ballot for the Massachusetts 2010 election.   Our goal is 80,000 signatures. 

This ballot question proposes a change to the law so as to limit the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) that biomass plants can emit in order to qualify as "renewable energy" under Massachusetts law. CO2 is the most prevalent greenhouse gas and causes global warming. 

CO2 from biomass burning would be limited to 250 pounds per megawatt hour under this petition. Biomass burning releases as much as 3,300 pounds of CO2 per megawatt-hour, more than any other combustible fuel. Compare this to 2,100 pounds for coal, 1,900 pounds for petroleum, and 1,300 pounds for natural gas. Biomass emits approximately 1.5 times as much CO2 as the typical coal plant.  Not to mention all the other harmful impacts like dioxin emissions. http://www.maforests.org/, http://www.massenvironmentalenergy.org/

Your tax dollars and your electric rates go to building biomass burners. Put a stop to it! http://www.nobiomassburning.org/  

Five proposed biomass burners in Massachusetts (Fitchburg, Greenfield, Pittsfield, Russell, and Springfield) would increase the state's power plant CO2 emissions by 10% but provide only 1% of the state's electricity. There are also plans to convert the coal plants in Salem and Somerset to burn biomass.

A 50 megawatt biomass power plant burns 650,000 tons of wood a year. If all five biomass plants were built, forests throughout Central and Western Massachusetts would be logged in only 9 to 16 years. It's not too late to JUST SAY NO!   http://www.maforests.org/Impacts.htm

Under current state law, biomass power plants can burn forests, tires, trash, and construction debris, but qualify as "clean and green" renewable energy under the state's renewable energy laws. http://www.springfieldincinerator.info/

We have just a short time to collect tens of thousands of signatures. Information on this petition effort is available at:  http://www.stopspewingcarbon.com .  If you see someone collecting signatures in your community, take the time to sign.  Your signature could be the one that gets us to our goal. You can also call 1-800-729-1363 to join the Stop Spewing Carbon Campaign and to assist with this effort to place this referendum on the Massachusetts 2010 ballot.