Most of the North Country in New Hampshire is between 3 and 5% unemployment. Without the ‘city’ of Berlin dragging them down at 4.9%, the regional average would be between 3-4%. Not that bad. But this, according to the NH Senate, is an employment crisis.
Related: Bradley’s Bipartisan Biomass Bailout 2.0 – Rape Ratepayers or Die
To solve this crisis, or some other crisis, because it actually doesn’t matter for the sake of this conversation, they are ramming through what amounts to a statewide forced rate increase for electricity. You, your family, landlord, employers, and local government will pay more.
And the NH State Senate could not be more proud.
Consistent with recent case law, this amendment will create a ‘baseload renewable energy credit’ to be sold to existing utilities, thus creating a mechanism that avoids the issues that gave rise to the ill-advised litigation,” explained Senate Majority Leader Dan Feltes. “This is about standing up for the hard-working men and women of New Hampshire. We are focused on preserving jobs, protecting an annual economic benefit of $254 million dollars, and maintaining sustainable forest management.”
Dan Feltes lives in a vacuum. There is no conceivable way for the government to create jobs without taking money from someone else or to do it. Secondly (it’s a two-stage vacuum) how does an “industry” that can’t even operate without extortion payments from every rate-payer in the state provide a positive economic benefit?
“Lawmakers spoke clearly last year, the state supports biomass,” said Senator Martha Fuller Clark, chairwoman of the Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee. “We will move forward with this amendment to protect New Hampshire jobs and New Hampshire-based renewable energy.”
I think “lawmakers were hoodwinked. And, again with the jobs. You are not saving jobs you are redistributing them. You are taking productive positions that create wealth in the free market (without handouts or bailouts) and relocating them to a facility that can’t compete in any market.
“Representing a rural district in the northern part of the State – this amendment is critical to my constituents,” said Senator Bob Giuda. “This delay is unacceptable—we must act to protect the small businesses, landowners and the families that rely on the timber industry to survive.”
I get that Republican Bob Guida thinks he needs to toe this line, but he’s as guilty as the Democrats here. Again, government extractions by force have to kill something to “save” something else, and Guida knows that. Second, the exponential loss to New Hampshire created by making the entire state even less appealing thanks to higher energy costs will do far more harm to jobs and growth than whatever the Senate thinks it will “save.”
And the timber industry, by the way, will find a buyer for their “product” without you if you refuse to be their…
“Promoting ‘home-grown’ renewable energy policy is not a partisan issue. It serves the State by creating good jobs and benefitting our economy. The health of our forests is critical to our state in terms of the environment and our tourist economy. Biomass is an important tool for managing our forests that we cannot lose,” stated Senator David Watters.
Actually, David ‘rising’ Watters, it is a partisan issue. And the only tool here is the NH State Senate.
There ought to be a rule. Every job a legislator claims to create through legislation that forcibly redistributes other people’s money should result in the termination of two existing state government employees at salary levels equal or greater to that of the so-called job they claim to be creating or saving.
At least until that Balsams boondoggle gets completed. Ha!
