The Roanoke Times recently printed this op-ed from VBEG member Al Weed:

“A new poll commissioned by the American Windpower Energy Association indicates that fully 75% of Americans support a mandatory renewable electricity standard. …

“The debate over a mandatory RES is in full throat today in Congress, and Rep. Rick Boucher, DAbingdon, is in a position to play a very constructive role. Yet he, like many of his Southern colleagues, is resisting the 25% goal. There are many reasons for this, but without doubt one reason is that renewable electricity will supplant the use of coal. …

“Coal, however, has been fading fast–even without carbon pricing that will make coal pay for the CO2 it emits as a greenhouse gas. Direct employment in coal mining in Virginia in 2007 was down to about 4,800. …

“What should be defended … is the right of these folks to have jobs and clean communities–and to have leaders who will spend more energy helping to build a future …

“We can learn from the experience in Virginia’s tobacco country. . . . Former tobacco farmers at least still have their land and will benefit from the coming biomass economy.”… (Click the link above to read the whole article on The Roanoke Times.)

From the Boston Globe: http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/green/articles/2009/05/25/a_red_flag_on_green_energy_plan/

“SUPPOSE you learned that, in the name of green energy, Massachusetts was going to sanction cutting down trees - a lot more trees - and burning them. Crazy, you’d say? Right. But those are the facts.

“It’s widely acknowledged that forest burning in developing countries is a major source of greenhouse gases. Yet because of an accounting convention, the northeastern Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, which seeks to cap carbon dioxide generated by the energy sector, treats carbon released into the atmosphere by burning wood as if it is immediately “resequestered” by new growth, and is thus “carbon neutral.” Although it takes a minute to burn a tree and 70 years to grow it back, there is no acknowledgement that regrowth is not immediate. The climate bill before Congress buys into this notion, too.

“To meet the 2018 cap set by the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, Massachusetts is increasing renewable energy generation, and treating wind, solar, and biomass as equally carbon-neutral approaches. Hence, the state is fast-tracking three large biomass plants to generate 135 megawatts of power in Western Massachusetts. In total, 165 to 200 megawatts of biomass generation are being planned.” …

(Read the rest of the article at the link above. For a continuing discussion of this topic, please visit the forums at http://www.virginiabiomass.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1108.)