Jan. 26, 2001
Conservation Legislation Volunteer Corps Newsletter
2001 #7
Dear CLVC Members,
Thank you for your concern to the environmental issues up for discussion
in the legislature this year! As the house and senate begin to meet
about these important issues, we urge you to take action. Your
action(s) can be a phone call, a letter, and/or attendance at hearings.
Please let us know when you take action. We love to see your support.
Also, I encourage you to communicate with us. If you need more
information about particular issues, please let us know.
Here's the agenda for the next two weeks.
On Tuesday, January 30, 2001 at 9am in room 203, LOB, the Transportation
Committee will discuss HB 258, establishing a task force to conduct an
ongoing study of the feasibility of re-establishing the Lawrence,
Massachusetts to Manchester, New Hampshire rail service and the Concord
to Lebanon northern passenger rail service line.
At 10am on 1/30, HB 222-FN, relative to lighting and light pollution
will be addressed in room 301, LOB.
Also at 10am on 1/30, the State Federal Relations and Veterans Affairs
Committee will meet in room 306, LOB to discuss HCR 5 - urging the
federal government to consider the impacts on New Hampshire and smaller
states of interstate waste legislation.
At 11am on 1/30, there will be a subcommittee (Environment and
Agriculture Committee) work session on HB 195 - creating a committee to
study amending the constitution to require that government decisions
affecting the environment reflect consideration of the welfare of future
generations.
On Wednesday, January 31, 2001 at 10am the Science, Technology, and
Energy Committee will meet in room 304, LOB to discuss HB 253-FN -
relative to mercury reductions.
*** This bill would require the Claremont incinerator to reduce mercury
emissions to the level that the Penacook incinerator was forced to meet
last year.
At 1pm on 1/31, the Science, Technology, and Energy Committee will meet
again in room 304 to address HB 274-FN - banning the residential open
burning of trash and relative to a dioxin emissions reduction and
control program.
*** Dioxin is a harmful pollutant to human health and the environment.
In a resent study, dioxin was rated 14th of 55 comparative environmental
risks in New Hampshire. NH leads the way to cleaner air with HB 274!
That marks the end of January. Spring is in sight!
On February 2, 2001 at 11am, the Science, Technology, and Energy
Committee will meet in room 304, LOB to discuss HCR 6 - urging NH to use
the "precautionary principle" when determining the safety and
feasibility of using products, techniques, and technologies.
On the near horizon.
***NH's Clean Power Strategy***
If there is one BIG bill to support, it is the Clean Power Bill (still
in draft form). On January 10, 2001, Gov. Shaheen announced an
aggressive first-in-the-nation Clean Power Strategy that will push NH's
three fossil-fuel power plants to make major reductions in the amount of
pollution they emit.
Under the NH Clean Power Strategy, the state's three fossil fuel plants
- Merrimack Station in Bow, Newington Station in Newington, and Shiller
Station in Portsmouth - will have a five-year window to reduce their
emissions of.
- Sulfur dioxide, the chief cause of acid rain, by 75 %
- Nitrogen oxides, the chief cause of ozone smog, by 70%
- Mercury, which poses a danger to human health and wildlife, by 75%,
and
- Carbon dioxide, which is a chief cause of the "greenhouse" effect, by
7% below the 1990 levels
Rep. Jeb Bradley, chair of the House Science, Technology, and Energy
Committee, will be the bill's prime sponsor. The Clean Power Strategy
has already attracted support from both parties in the legislature!
All of the above information was taken from the DES (Department of
Environmental Services) website. To read more about this promising
program, please visit the DES website at
www.des.state.nh.us. Look
under the "Air Quality" link.
Contacts
Julian Zelazny, Audubon Society of NH,
bosko@cyberportal.net, (603)
224-9909
Charlie Niebling, Society for the Protection of NH Forests,
cneibling@spnhf.org, 224-9945 x 327
David Schaarsmith, NH Lakes Assoc.,
dks@nhlakes.org, 226-0299
Brian Hart, LCHIP Coordinator,
bhart@igc.org, 230-9729
Emily Genaway, CLVC Newsletter Writer,
emily.genaway@awl.com, 343-1343
NH State Government: www.state.nh.us
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