SOURCR: The Union Leader

Town meetings call for reduced greenhouse gasses

By PAULA TRACY
Union Leader Staff
10 hours, 28 minutes ago

At least 115 town meetings in March will consider asking for the establishment of a national program requiring reductions of greenhouse gas emissions.

In much the way the state was able to play a role in affecting national acid rain policy in 1983, organizers of the climate change resolution are timing this effort when Presidential candidates are for the First-in-the-Nation primary and when residents are feeling the financial fallout of a mild winter.

Sharon Francis of Charlestown who collected petitions to get the measure on the ballot in her town said the idea of joining up town meeting voters and primary politics has worked in the past.

"Our living room format of meeting candidates, looking in their eye and sizing them up and having conversations on what is important is really is what New Hampshire contributes to the nation," she said.

Francis, who is also on the statewide steering committee for the climate change resolution, said the approach is similar to that used in 1983 when 197 of 199 towns voted to send a message to reduce emissions causing acid rain by 50 percent.

She recalled that the town vote was followed up by an acid rain conference with national speakers on the subject at the Sheraton Wayfarer in Bedford.

"All the networks covered it and all the Democratic candidates were tripping all over themselves to have more acid rain controls than the other guy. Gary Hart, John Glenn, Walter Mondale, they were among the candidates vying for the spotlight. They knew the town meetings had voted. What we do is very, very powerful," she said.

Volunteers in each community are being trained at regional gatherings this month so they can answer questions at town meeting, said Roger W. Stephenson, deputy director of external affairs for Clean Air-Cool Planet of Portsmouth. The organization focuses on finding solutions to global warming.

The warrant article was drafted by about 40 citizens last year at a meeting at St. Anselm College, called to see what could be done locally to influence national discussion on reducing carbon emissions.

Joe Keefe, a former chairman of the New Hampshire Democratic Party and Ted Leach, a Republican state representative from Hancock, are leading the coalition effort.

The warrant asks the President and Congress to create research initiatives for developing sustainable energy technologies and to develop local committees in the town to look at things that can be done locally.

Will Abbott, policy director for the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests is also a member of the statewide steering committee for the climate change resolution. He said he has been amazed at the number of people who have gone from being skeptical about climate change to those who now believe the energy production and use of coal, oil and gas is leading to global warming.

Former State Sen. Jim Rubens of Hanover is also involved in the discussion and as a member of the Union of Concerned Scientists, is bringing a presentation on his organization's findings to the State Fish and Game Commission this month.

The study projects that if the world continues to burn fossil fuels at present rates, atmospheric concentrations of heat-trapping greenhouse gasses will continue to increase.

"We can reduce these impacts by about a half," he said.

The global warming discussion in New Hampshire also comes at a time of great change in the Congress.

Rafe Pomerance, chairman of the Climate Policy Center in Washington, D.C. came to the summit of Mount Washington last week to discuss climate change with the Mount Washington Observatory staff.

During the Clinton Administration, Pomerance was deputy assistant secretary of state for environment and development from 1993 to 1999. He is now working to implement U.S. climate policy after years of negotiating on such subjects.

Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has just created the House Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming. Pomerance said the committee will face a number of questions on how to control emissions.

"The option that is getting the most attention is a cap on all fossil fuel at the source," he said.

Eventually the dirtiest (coal first then oil, then gas) would end up costing more than the cleanest power. Wind, nuclear and solar are all carbon-free.

"The simplest way to do this is when a ton of coal is mined or natural gas is produced the producer has to have a permit to move the fuel into the economy. And that permit has to reflect the carbon content of the fuel," Pomerance explained. "The government can either auction or give out permits. If they decided to give the allowances let's say to automobile manufacturers, those manufacturers could sell them to a coal mine which needed them.

"The idea is that government, through the Congress and President, limits the amount of carbon in the atmosphere by limiting the permits sold." The measure includes a safety valve which would allow the government to sell more permits if they get too high in price and effect the consumers.

"There are different views on it and environmental groups tend not to like it but we feel we can't do without it, because you need to do this gradually...you have to protect the economy," Pomerance said.

The end product would be to encourage renewables and energy efficiency by impacting the pricing. The less carbon intensive fuels will become less expensive and the more dirty fuel the more expensive.

Pomerance, coincidentally, was behind the 1983 acid rain petitioned warrant article in New Hampshire.

Francis said Pomerance brainstormed with him and came up with the idea for a petitioned warrant article timed with the First-in-the-Nation primary.

"New Hampshire citizens are so well-trained," Pomerance said.

A coalition of New Hampshire organizations is also forming to bolster the climate change initiative. Stephenson said the list includes the Lincoln-Woodstock Chamber of Commerce, the Mount Washington Valley Economic Council, The North Country Council and businesses impacted by climate change including Loon Mountain ski area in Lincoln, Mount Cranmore Resort in North Conway, New England Wood Pellet in Jaffrey and Northland Forest Products in Kingston.

A study issued this month by Carbon Coalition and Clean Air - Cool Planet showed the difference between slushy winters and snow ones is $13 million in winter business.

During the winter quarter, it said almost 40 percent of the state's total visitor spending goes to the North Country and almost 80 percent of that is spent on snow- or cold-dependent recreation.
Towns voting

Voters in the following 115 towns will be asked to consider a New Hampshire Climate Change Resolution. Residents of each of the towns were able to get the necessary 25 signatures to get the petitioned warrant articles on the town meeting warrant.

Allenstown, Alstead, Alton, Amherst, Andover, Antrim, Atkinson, Barnstead, Barrington, Bennington, Bethlehem, Boscawen, Brentwood, Bridgewater, Bristol, Brookline, Campton, Canaan and Candia.

Also Canterbury, Carroll, Charlestown, Chesterfield, Chichester, Columbia, Conway, Deerfield, Derry, Dorchester, Dublin, Dummer, Durham, Eaton Center, Effingham, Epsom, Exeter, Fitzwilliam and Franconia.

Also Gilford, Gilsum, Goffstown, Grafton, Grantham, Greenville, Hampstead, Hampton, Hampton Falls, Hancock, Harrisville, Hebron, Henniker, Holderness, Hollis, Hudson, Kensington, Kingston and Lee.

Also Lincoln, Lisbon, Littleton, Londonderry, Loudon, Lyme, Madison, Marlborough, Mason, Meredith, Merrimack, Middleton, Milford, Milton, Mont Vernon, Nelson, New Boston, New Hampton, New Ipswich, New London, and Newbury.

Also Newfields, Newington, North Hampton, Northwood, Nottingham, Orange, Orford, Pelham, Pembroke, Peterborough, Piermont, Plainfield, Plaistow, Plymouth, Rindge, Rumney, Rye, Salisbury, Sandwich, Seabrook, Shelburne, Springfield, and Stratford.

Also, Stratham, Sunapee, Swanzey, Tamworth, Tuftonboro, Wakefield, Warner, Washington, Webster, Westmoreland, Winchester, Windham, Wolfeboro and Woodstock.