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I got a response from Stan Rosenberg yesterday. Letter was on-topic (don't you hate those generic letters?), and thanked me for sending my thoughts because discussion on the Act will be happening over the weekend and into next week when there will be debate on the floor, so my letter was very timely. He said that the provision I brought up, on coal gasification without CO2 capture/sequestration, is the most controversial part of the bill, and was the topic of much discussion this past Wednesday.

This is what I wrote to him (and a variation of it to Governor Patrick):

Dear Senator Rosenberg,

Currently the state Senate is working on a proposed amendment to the "Green Communities Act", with some members trying to modify it to provide incentives for coal gasification technologies -- without requiring carbon capture and sequestration.

This would be a disastrous action. Our world is reaching tipping points that will change our climate forever, and not for the better. We need to do everything we can to prevent that from happening. On a personal note, I have asthma, and the increasing levels of air pollution make it difficult for me to stay for long periods of time in the more polluted areas of the Pioneer Valley. I imagine any of the cities in eastern Massachusetts would be much the same. It's one of the reasons I moved up into the hilltowns, where the air is cleaner. I am against promoting projects that increase greenhouse gas emissions!

No coal gasification projects should be allowed until a method of carbon capture and sequestration is installed, especially at the Somerset plant.

We must find other ways to power our daily lives. And, we need to use less power/fuel than the average American currently uses. My husband and I have done what we can to cut back on driving, and we have used less for heat and cooling for years because of our firm belief that limited resources should be used responsibly, and because we want a cleaner environment. We don't feel that we've suffered or been discomfited by changing our lifestyles, nor are we particularly heroic or remarkable. We're just doing the sorts of things that everyone should be doing, in order to share our world's resources with the rest of the world.

Wisdom and heart are needed now to pursue a clean and long-term future, not costly, dirty, short-sighted projects.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Heather Gray

I do like Senator Rosenberg. Over the years he's worked very hard for us, whether as a representative or senator.