JFK Middle School, Northampton
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Candidates’ Night for Northampton City Council and School Committee
Northampton City Council Candidate Forum (wards 5 & 7) on Climate
Candidate Forum at Lathrop Community Wards 5 and 7
Candidate forum sponsored by Climate Action Now. Northampton Area LWV is a cosponsor.
6:30-7:20 p.m. Ward 5 candidate forum
7:20-7:30 p.m. Transition between forums
7:30-8:30 p.m. Ward 7 candidate forum
Northampton City Council Candidate Forum (Wards 1,2 & 4) on Climate
Candidate Forum at Northampton Senior Center Wards 1,2, and 4
Candidate forum sponsored by Climate Action Now. Northampton Area LWV is a cosponsor.
6:30-7:20 p.m. Ward 1 candidate forum
7:20-7:30 p.m. Transition between forums
7:30-8:20 p.m. Ward 2 & 4 candidate forum
Book Group: Suffrage Movement
Action 12: two bills protect children & families at U.S. borders
Two bills to mitigate harm to children at U.S. borders
H.R. 3451, Humane Enforcement and Legal Protections (HELP) for Separated Children Act
H.R. 3452, Help Separated Families Act
LWVUS was a co-signer of the letter below. Orange sections describe the bills.
Dear Member of Congress,
The undersigned organizations are writing to express our strong support for the Humane Enforcement and Legal Protections (HELP) for Separated Children Act (H.R. 3451) and the Help Separated Families Act (H.R. 3452), introduced by Representative Lucille Roybal-Allard, which codify protections for children who may be separated from their parents by immigration enforcement actions in the interior. As organizations committed to promoting the health and wellbeing of children, youth, and families, we stand united against the administration’s harsh immigration enforcement agenda and the harm it is imposing on more than a quarter of children in the United States, the majority of whom are U.S. citizens. These companion bills represent a critical step toward mitigating the harm of enforcement actions on children.
There may be no greater threat to children’s emotional security than the fear of being separated from a parent. Research consistently demonstrates that family separation has harmful effects on children’s psychological and physical well-being. Children whose parents are detained or deported often suffer from physical and mental health difficulties, including irregular sleeping or eating habits, developmental regressions, and increased anger and withdrawal. These outcomes are most pronounced when children witness a parent’s arrest and when they experience long periods of separation from their parent. Children who are left behind following separation from a parent are also at greater risk of entering the child welfare system.
The HELP Separated Children Act includes provisions that would help to mitigate some of the stress and instability of immigration enforcement on children by allowing parents to arrange for the care of their children prior to being taken into custody and prior to deportation; supporting continued contact between detained parents and children; and ensuring parents are able to fully participate in child welfare proceedings. The bill also seeks to minimize trauma for children who are present during enforcement actions by requiring agents to undergo training and to refrain from interrogating parents in front of children or using children as translators.
Meanwhile, the Help Separated Families Act includes critical provisions to address barriers that may prevent children in the child welfare system from being able to reunify with a detained or deported parent or to be placed in the care of a family member. For example, the bill prohibits immigration status alone from being a factor in placement decisions and permits certain forms of foreign identification for purposes of a background check. The bill also seeks to prevent unnecessary permanent separation by allowing child welfare agencies to delay the process for terminating parental rights in cases when a parent is detained or deported, unless certain conditions are met.
These important bills could not be timelier following the administration’s recent announcement that they will be undertaking massive raids in communities around the country. Children are increasingly feeling the effects of the administration’s interior immigration enforcement polices, including making every undocumented immigrant a priority for deportation and scaling back the ability of immigration officials to exercise discretion when making decisions about detaining or deporting parents of U.S. citizen children. As a result, millions of children are increasingly vulnerable to being separated from a parent or loved one.
No child should have to live in fear of losing a parent. We urge you to stand with children and families by co-sponsoring the HELP Separated Children and Help Separated Families Acts.
Messages
Jim McGovern is a cosponsor of both bills. Thank you for cosponsoring H.R.3451 and H.R. 3452. Passing these bills and implementing their actions is of the utmost importance for protecting children separated from their families at the border and for helping families to reunite. It is incomprehensible to me why anyone would oppose these bills. Please work hard to convince your colleagues to pass these bills – NOW. No child should have to live in fear of losing a parent.
Richard Neal is not a cosponsor. He is chair of the House Ways & Means Committee. H.R. 3452 was introduced in the Ways & Means Com. I am angry that H.R. 3452, the Help Separated Families Act is stagnating in the Ways and Means Committee. I, along with the majority of Americans, demand you hold a hearing and pass it to the House for a full vote. It is incomprehensible to me why anyone would oppose this bill. No child should have to live in fear of losing a parent.
James McGovern. https://mcgovern.house.gov/contact
408 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-6101
Richard Neal. https://neal.house.gov/contact
2309 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-5601
Action 11: 2 bills: Incentives for purchasing electric vehicles
Driving America Forward Act, H.R. 2256
Clean School Bus Act of 2019, S. 1750
An essential goal in America’s plan to severely cut carbon emissions must include rapidly replacing all gas-powered vehicles with electric vehicles in the next two decades. Over 40% of carbon emissions in Massachusetts come from transportation.
The Driving America Forward Act, H.R.2256, has broad bipartisan support in the House. It would extend tax credits, allowing many more people to buy electric vehicles. The bill would amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, which currently allows a tax credit of up to $7,500 to the first 200,000 cars sold per manufacturer. The new law would offer a $7,000 credit to an additional 400,000 cars per manufacturer. James McGovern is a cosponsor.
Messages:
Representative McGovern: Thank you for cosponsoring H.R. 2256, which will allow Americans to buy more electric vehicles by offering additional tax credits, and it will help us reach our goal of severely cutting carbon emissions. Please encourage Rep. Richard Neal to hold a hearing on this bill and quickly move it out of the House Ways and Means Committee for a full vote.
Representative Neal: A critical strategy for removing carbon emissions from transportation, which contributes 40% of emissions, must be to rapidly replace gas-powered vehicles with electric vehicles. H.R. 2256 will expand tax credits and allow many more Americans to purchase electric vehicles. Your leadership is critical in the passage of this bill. Please hold a hearing – soon – and send it out of the House Ways and Means Committee for a vote by the House.
The Clean School Bus Act of 2019, S. 1750, introduced by Sen. Kamala Harris, directs the Department of Energy to establish in the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy the Clean School Bus Grant Program for awarding grants to governmental and nonprofit entities responsible for providing school bus service for the replacement of existing school buses with electric buses. Senators Markey and Warren are not cosponsors.
Messages:
Senators Markey and Warren: Please cosponsor and work hard for passage of S.1750, the Clean School Bus Act of 2019. Creation of a grant program for the purchase of electric school buses will speed America on the path to severely cutting carbon emissions from transportation, plus it will remove the health risks to students from exposure to pollutants from diesel fuels.
James McGovernhttps://mcgovern.house.gov/contact
408 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515202-225-6101
Richard Neal. https:neal.house.gov/contact
2309 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-5601
Senator Elizabeth Warren. https://warren.senate.gov/contact
309 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Senator Ed Markey. https://markey.senate.gov/contact
255 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Massachusetts Presidential Primary & Northampton Override Vote
Save the date! March 3, 2020
Action 10
Eliminate biomass from future energy production in Massachusetts
Please join our campaign to eliminate biomass from future energy production in Massachusetts, which is part of our collaboration with the Amherst LWV, Climate Action Now, and other groups across western MA. Governor Baker’s administration plans to reclassify electricity and heat made by biomass plants as “renewable energy,” in order to justify building more of them, including a large one in Springfield. In Springfield, which has some of the highest asthma rates in the country?
If we want some control over our future, we literally and figuratively cannot throw wood on the fire! The rules must change – at all levels of government.
New rules:
- All new energy production must release zero carbon and remove carbon from the atmosphere.
- Biomass should not be part of state’s energy production.
We need your help to spread the message. Send emails:D
- Emails to the Department of Renewable Energy (DOER) and Gov. Baker: Message: No more biomass plants. All new energy in MA must be from zero-carbon sources (solar and wind). Deadline for comments to DOER is July 26th.
2. Emails to the chairs of the Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources, and Agriculture: this joint House and Senate committee is holding two bills that are both related to biomass burning and environmental justice.
- H. 853 removes incentives for biomass burning and prevents classifying it “renewable.”
- H.761/S.464 puts into law the right of all MA citizens to clean air and water, which is in the state Constitution, but is not being enforced. This law is designed to provide environmental justice to low-income, racially diverse communities, like Springfield, by keeping out polluting industries. Message: Both bills must be passed this year.
Contact Info
- DOER: doer.rps@mass.govin subject line: Re: RPS Class 1 and RPS Class 11 Rulemaking – 225 CMR 14.00 and CMR 15.00
Or mail letters to MA DOER, Attn. John Wassam, 100 Cambridge Street, Suite 1020, Boston, MA 02114
- Governor Charles Baker: Massachusetts State House, 24 Beacon St., Office of the Governor, Room 280,Boston, MA 02133
- Chairs of the Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture:
Anne Gobi, anne.gobi@masenate.gov
Smitty Pignatelli, rep.smitty@mahouse.gov
Please share this action with friends and relatives, especially your kids and grandkids, our greatest source of inspiration!
Biomass background info
- We are in the midst of a climate crisis/emergency.
- The Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard (RPS) is the minimum percentage growth rate of renewable energy that electric utilities must use. Currently the growth rate is 1%/year. A 2018 law increases the growth rate of renewables to 2%/year, starting in 2020 – GOOD NEWS. In order to help the electricity companies reach the new goal, Governor Baker’s administration wants to change the regs and declare energy from wood and garbage burning “renewable” – BAD NEWS.
- MA has 2 renewable energy standards – one for electricity production – Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard (RPS), and one for heat production – Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard (APS). The APS was originally designed for energy -efficient heating systems, such as ground source heat pumps, solar hot air and water. EXELLENT. WE NEED THIS.
- Millions of dollars of grant money for APS, energy-efficient heating systems, is being diverted to building biomass burning plants and garbage incinerators. (80% subsidies for construction, then we ratepayers are charged for that energy.)
- As a result of tremendous public outcry for years, the original environmental standards that were created when the biomass burning program began, were strong. Since then, the emissions standards have been drastically reduced, without public comment. As a result of weak standards, burning coal is far cleaner than burning wood or garbage. And all of this burning releases heavy metals, and substances that cause smog and acid rain. And it releases huge amounts of fine particulates, soot, that cause all kinds of health problems.
- Burning wood and garbage increases carbon emissions. Combustion releases carbon. Period. That’s physics.
- Forests are huge carbon sinks. We should be planting more trees, not burning them.
- Here’s the problem – Governor Baker proudly supports biomass power plants and garbage incinerators as clean, renewable energy.
Last year more than 50% of the “renewable energy” in New England’s power grid came from biomass and garbage burning. This is real “fake news.”
The Springfield biomass project was the subject of nearly a decade of litigation, regulatory challenges, and protests by environmental organizations, neighbors, and elected Springfield officials, who contend it would raise air pollution and exacerbate already high rates of asthma in the region. Springfield City Councilor Jesse Lederman, with four other councilors at his side, spoke at the DOER hearing. ” We stand before you to submit testimony in opposition to the proposed revisions to the renewable portfolio standard that would allow for ratepayer subsidies to be granted to large scale wood-burning incinerators in Massachusetts,” said Lederman as members of the audience broke into applause and cheers.
Sample letter to DOER
Dear Mr. Wassam:
I am writing as a representative of the Northampton/Springfield League of Women Voters, regarding the proposed changes to the MA Renewable Portfolio Standard Class 1 and Class 11 Regulations. We are strongly opposed to the construction of any new biomass plants in Massachusetts.
Climate scientists say that in order to avoid catastrophic warming, we must cut carbon emissions in half in the next ten years. Every energy policy decision made in MA must be aimed at achieving long-term carbon emission reductions. It is unconscionable, then, to consider reclassifying biomass burning as “renewable energy,” or to weaken emissions standards so much that wood burning plants would release far more carbon dioxide and pollutants than do coal-fired plants. Burning anything, including garbage, speeds our trajectory toward climate chaos.
A plan to locate a biomass plant in Springfield is outrageous. Most areas in Springfield are classified as Environmental Justice populations, as defined by the MASS DEP. The proposed Palmer plant would increase fine particulates in Springfield, “the most challenging place in the country for a person with asthma to live in,” according to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation.
Requiring taxpayers to subsidize construction of new biomass plants is wrong. In order to reach our goal of cutting carbon emissions in half in the next ten years, we must transform our electricity production. Our subsidies should go to generating all electricity from zero carbon sources (solar and wind), and to building an electric grid capable of storing and distributing power as needed. Our forests must be protected and expanded. Recent scientific research, reported by the World Economic Forum, confirms that forests are absolutely essential in mitigating climate change, thanks to their carbon sequestering and storage capabilities.
All decisions made by the DOER must be based on climate science and environmental justice.
Nancy Polan, Legislative DirectorNorthampton Area League of Women Voters
Sample letter to Senator Anne Gobi
Dear Senator Gobi,
I am writing to you as a representative of the Northampton Area (includes Springfield) League of Women Voters (LWV). We urge you, as chair of the Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture, to work for swift passage of H.761/S.464, An Act relative to environmental justice and toxics reduction in the Commonwealth, and H.853, An Act to Assure the Attainment of Greenhouse Gas Emissions Goals in the Alternative Portfolio Standard. If passed together, these bills would strengthen environmental regulations and protect low income, racially diverse communities from further environmental degradation. The need is particularly acute right now, as Springfield is mounting a huge protest against the proposed Palmer biomass plant. In Springfield, with some of the highest asthma rates in the country!
The LWV supports H.761 on moral and constitutional grounds. All residents in Massachusetts have the right to clean air and water, as written In Article 97 in the state Constitution. Those protections have not been enforced. A 2018 report by the EPA makes it clear that Article 97 has not protected everyone. People in environmental justice communities have borne the brunt of pollution from projects such as the Palmer plant. H.571 must be passed to establish in law the values that give allpeople access to clean air, water, and a healthy environment.
The LWV is strongly opposed to construction of any new biomass plants to generate heat or electricity. Climate scientists say that in order to avoid catastrophic warming, we must cut carbon emissions in half in the next ten years. Every energy policy decision must be aimed at achieving long-term carbon emission reductions. It is unconscionable, then, to consider reclassifying biomass burning as “renewable energy,” or to weaken emissions standards so much that wood burning plants would release far more carbon dioxide and other pollutants than do coal-fired plants.
Rather than subsidizing biomass plants, subsidies should go to rapid expansion of electricity from zero-carbon sources (solar and wind), and to building an electric grid capable of storing and distributing power as needed. Keep and expand our forests because they are absolutely essential in mitigating climate change by sequestering and storing carbon.
We look to your leadership by ensuring that all energy and environmental decisions are based on climate science and environmental justice.
Nancy Polan
Legislative Director, Northampton Area League of Women Voters
ACTION 9: Energy Storage Tax Incentive & Deployment Act of 2019
HR 2096 and S1142 allow tax credits for (1) energy storage technologies, and (2) battery storage technology.
The development of energy storage systems across the country is a crucial piece in integrating clean energy into the grid at a greater scale and ensuring that the power derived from clean energy sources like wind and solar is available when it’s needed most.
The bill expands the tax credit for investments in energy property to include equipment that (1) receives, stores, and delivers energy using batteries, compressed air, pumped hydropower, hydrogen storage(including hydrolysis), thermal energy storage, regenerative fuel cells, flywheels, capacitors, superconducting magnets, or other technologies identified by the Internal Revenue Service; and (2) has a capacity of at least five kilowatt hours.
The bill also expands the tax credit for residential energy efficient property to include expenditures for battery storage technology that (1) is installed on or in connection with a dwelling unit located in the United States and used as a residence by the taxpayer, and (2) has a capacity of at least three kilowatt hours.
***************************************
Representative Richard Neal is the chair of the House Ways and Means Committee and he has the power to advance this critical legislation.
What should I say?
Rep. Neal. “This crucial bill will accelerate our rapid transition to 100% renewable energy. The energy storage tax incentive bill will help make renewable energy storage scalable and accessible, so that we can best use clean energy when it’s needed and store the rest. Improving the grid’s energy storage capabilities can help reduce costs for consumers and improve service reliability.
It is imperative that you promptly hold a hearing, move it out of the House Ways and Means Committee, and send it to the House for a vote.”
Senators Warren and Markey: “Cosponsor S1142. This crucial bill will accelerate our rapid transition to 100% renewable energy. The energy storage tax incentive bill will help make renewable energy storage scalable and accessible, so that we can best use clean energy when it’s needed and store the rest. Improving the grid’s energy storage capabilities can help reduce costs for consumers and improve service reliability.”
Rep. McGovern.“Cosponsor HR 2096. This crucial bill will accelerate our rapid transition to 100% renewable energy. The energy storage tax incentive bill will help make renewable energy storage scalable and accessible, so that we can best use clean energy when it’s needed and store the rest. Improving the grid’s energy storage capabilities can help reduce costs for consumers and improve service reliability.”
Richard Neal
Washington office Springfield office
2309 Rayburn House Office Building 300 State Street
Washington, DC 20515 Suite 200
Phone: 202-225-5601 Springfield, MA 01105
Fax: 202-225-8112 fax Phone: 413-785-0325
https://neal.house.gov/contact Fax: 413-747-0604
Senator Elizabeth Warren. www.warren.senate.gov/contact
309 Hart Senate Office B. Washington phone: 202-224-4543
Washington, DC 20510 Springfield phone: 413-788-2690
Springfield office
1550 Main St., Suite 406
Springfield, MA 01103
Phone: 413-788-2690
Senator Ed Markey www.markey.senate.gov/contact
255 Dirksen Senate Office B. Washington phone: 202-224-2742
Washington, DC 20510 Springfield phone: 413-785-4610
Springfield office
1550 Main St. 4thfloor
Springfield, MA 01103
413-785-4610
James McGovern
Washington office Northampton office
408 Cannon House Office Building 94 Pleasant St.
Washington, DC 20515 Northampton, MA 01060
Phone: 202-225-6101 phone: 413-341-8700
Fax: 202-225-5759 hours: M-F 9-5:00pm
hours: M-F 9-5:30