Three members of a Massachusetts panel on global warming resigned Wednesday over the state’s plans to import hydro power from Quebec.
The Global Warming Solutions Act Implementation Advisory Committee offers expertise to the state Department of Energy and Environmental Affairs.
George Bachrach of the Environmental League of Massachusetts, Peter Shattuck of Environment Northeast, and Penn Loh of Tufts University joined NECN to discuss the reasoning behind their resignations.
“This was not an easy decision to come to,” Shattuck said. “The Patrick Administration is making great leaps on things like energy efficiency where we’re first in the country; we’ve got a booming solar industry that on a sunny day like today is pumping out a lot of homegrown energy.”
“At this moment, there are decisions being made that may lock us in to a future for the next 30, 40, years. You build these pipelines, the investment comes in, they’re not going to stay empty if we decide years from now that this is not the right strategy,” Loh added.
Bachrach said that the Patrick Administration has done great things for renewable energy in the past, but he is now rushing to meet a goal for his legacy.
“We all want to meet that number. We all want to reduce pollution, but there’s a right way and a wrong way to do it. We can bring in hydro from Canada. We can without destroying the wind and solar industry,” Bachrach explained. “We can, for example, bring a blend of 70 percent hydro and 30 percent wind that would protect a cleaner energy source for going under. If you flood this market, who will invest in solar and wind in Massachusetts?”
Politics
Shattuck, Loh, and Bachrach also discussed the legislation’s involvement in this issue.
