NH Biomass Apathy
Apathy kills things faster than the politicians in Concord.
And a killing time is coming. The fate of the New Hampshire biomass industry will be decided on September 13th which is veto override day at the Statehouse.
Some things will happen before then. New Hampshire has two advocacy groups dedicated to forestry and biomass energy production. The New Hampshire Timberland Owners Association and the NH Wood Harvesting Council both have a long-term lobbying presence in Concord. But neither are doing enough statewide outreach especially as $100 million dollars, good jobs and an entire way of life that sits in the crosshairs.
If the legislature does not override the veto of Gov. Chris Sununu of Senate Bill 365 means the closure of six biomass energy plants, mass layoffs and some towns will lose as much as 27% of their total property taxbase. Bethlehem and Tamworth as examples.
The economic consequences for New Hampshire are very real but the biomass industry itself and it's Concord lobbyists aren't doing enough. For example, one of their priorities is a signed petition drive by mostly their own members which does little to nothing to convince legislators why wood biomass and it's subsidies are important for the entire state not just the North Country where most of this industry is located. If the wood biomass industry can't come up with a more focused and coherent argument before September 13th they may very well become the definition of apathy themselves.
And then the legislature will vote.
And a killing time is coming. The fate of the New Hampshire biomass industry will be decided on September 13th which is veto override day at the Statehouse.
Some things will happen before then. New Hampshire has two advocacy groups dedicated to forestry and biomass energy production. The New Hampshire Timberland Owners Association and the NH Wood Harvesting Council both have a long-term lobbying presence in Concord. But neither are doing enough statewide outreach especially as $100 million dollars, good jobs and an entire way of life that sits in the crosshairs.
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| Apathy Kills Things. Quickly. |
If the legislature does not override the veto of Gov. Chris Sununu of Senate Bill 365 means the closure of six biomass energy plants, mass layoffs and some towns will lose as much as 27% of their total property taxbase. Bethlehem and Tamworth as examples.
The economic consequences for New Hampshire are very real but the biomass industry itself and it's Concord lobbyists aren't doing enough. For example, one of their priorities is a signed petition drive by mostly their own members which does little to nothing to convince legislators why wood biomass and it's subsidies are important for the entire state not just the North Country where most of this industry is located. If the wood biomass industry can't come up with a more focused and coherent argument before September 13th they may very well become the definition of apathy themselves.
And then the legislature will vote.
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