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Utilities, like governments, are monolithic edifices upon which waves of populist “outrage” love to crash. These sinister cabals exist to better themselves at our expense. They live to serve only themselves. And while that is always true of governments and perhaps Comcast, Eversource has done something to if not break then at least fissure the perception … Read more
At the end of August, I shared an email from a reader. They suggested that New Hampshire’s choice of tax policies was somehow tied to a series of business failures (some pending), one of which was Brookstone, a niche specialty items chain that has corporate offices in Merrimack (ack-ack), New Hampshire.
Brookstone is failing, yes. But is it New Hampshire’s fault?
So, Tom Thomson (son of Gov. Thomson of “low spending yields low taxes” fame) who for years was the honorary chair of AFP-NH which argues for Free Markets, has decided to go the Full Monty and arguing that electric rate payers (that would be you and I) should pay for his timber to be cut (e.g., override the biomass vetoes by Gov Sununu on SB 446 and SB 365 which would promulgate the over $2 Billion overcharges to keep the North Country Biomass subsidies for electrical generation plants that turn crap wood into overpriced electricity). Sure, Free Market until it comes to be “get me some” and have Government continue to institute a undeserved and mandated “tax” on the rest of us:
Tom Thomson, a timberland owner of 2,600 acres and the conservative son of former Gov. Mel Thomson, spoke at the event in favor of overriding the veto. “You have to weed your garden if you want healthy vegetables,” Thomson said. “It’s the same thing with forests.”
Hey, go weed your own dang garden, Tom, and leave my wallet alone. If you have any intellectual honesty at all, stop privatizing your profits and socializing your risk. You can’t find folks to buy your timber? Too bad – that’s the risk of being in business: reward AND failure. To paraphrase the line in your Op-Ed in the Concord Monitor:
Steve alluded to it here and I DID have the intention of putting up the thread but, well, with the start of putting in new technology, things rolled off my “table” as it were. It was all about Gov. Sununu doing the right thing and denying wood electrical generational plants a subsidy. No, not one that would have come directly from the State of NH but one in which the State would force us all to give our own personal money to them via higher electrical costs. The fact that the House and the Senate, and the Republicans therein, decided “This Is A Great Idea!” is awful, given the NH GOP Platform:
You probably didn’t know this but in an offline thread Skip and Jim Rubens traded debate ‘punches’ on Mr. Sununu’s veto of Biomass subsidies. We have opposed the plunder. Mr. Rubens considered the Biomass bailout to be worthwhile.
In an email, via Jim Rubens.com, Jim gives a nod to that debate and perhaps others and then defends his support to override Governor Sununu’s veto.
I just read Steve’s post North Country “Wood Welfare” and went to the NHPR article he links to and pulled this additional quote from “beleagured” logger Jay Matthews
“I’m concerned with my electrical bill like anybody, but … I think we’d probably be better off paying a little more money in our rate and then still have the logging community working, [rather than] to put ’em all out of business,” Matthews says.
Note the assumed all inclusive “…we” part – only if you are a logger. WHY should the rest of us pay more for your lifestyle/business model via enforced corporate welfare? I’m out of work (but working on a plan) so why should you demand that *I* and others like me have to pay more for you to keep your company going? Fairness? I don’t think so. As a
You’ve seen movies where a couple of Goodfellas in suits show up at a business and the proprietor, looking uncomfortable, hands them a bag of cash. New Hampshire has this too. Some nicely dressed guys (and girls) are using the state legislature to force a business to extract protection money from you. (Again.)
This time around it’s your electric rates (Again?). The Senate passed changes that would turn electricity providers into enforcers for a protection racket that takes money from you to line other people’s pockets.
It should be common knowledge that if we get rid of John Lynch and enough democrats that we can also free New Hampshire from the retarded fad known as RGGI. And the green energy initiatives that are all based on flawed science and an economic model that costs us jobs and business growth.
I recently read an article claiming that "biomass" energy will produce more greenhouse gasses than coal over the next 40 years.
Basically, biomass energy is the process of harvesting, then burning/incinerating wood and other plant (sometimes animal) products. In addition to wood, the biomass plant category includes corn, hemp, and sugarcane. The act of harvesting can include using construction debris, collecting waste or fallen trees, or by cutting live trees.
Massachusetts, under Governor Deval Patrick, recently invested $1M into the development of four new wood-burning plants in their State, but has decided to rethink their position based on this study, which was prepared for the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources. The department has opened the study for comments, and plans to conduct hearings this July.
Click References to this study can be found in numerous articles: Here, and here
Now, I’ve listened to Charlie Bass speak a number of times. Each time, he’s touted the fact that he’s been successful in the renewable, "biomass" energy business for a while. Charlie has used his time and experience in the biomass industry, since losing to Paul Hodes in 2006, as a badge of honor. Charlie is a board member for 2 renewable energy companies.
He has claimed that biomass can help us "reduce our dependence on foreign oil" (it could make a small dent, at the expense of cutting a lot of trees), is renewable (only if cut-based harvesting is followed by replanting), and is clean. Well, according to this study, it may not be as clean as we thought, and is certainly not "carbon-neutral".
I recently asked Charlie whether he’ll resign from the boards of these companies (one makes wood-pellets, the other builds biomass plants), or recuse himself from all energy policy activity in Congress, should he be elected in November. His response was that he will "resign from the boards".
However, my big question is…