If you are not a subscriber to FUTURE CRUNCH then consider it.

Although the day to day news can be dismal, Future Crunch offers significant and far reaching world wide good news. The link below offers the 66 most impactful stories of 2023  Points 17 through 27 highlight environment and energy progress, but other sections share global health, social and economic outcomes. 

https://futurecrunch.com/goodnews2023/?ref=future-crunch-newsletter

Overview

Meetings and Events

-CHICKS 1/04

-Information session with Clean Energy NH 1/04

-Legislative info session with Nora Jones  1/07  (Conservation Law Foundation)

-Kent Street Coalition Legislative overview 1/11

-NH Sierra Club Volunteer Night 1/11

-Energy Working Group: Legislative/Policy Subgroup 1/12

-Plastics working group 1/14

-Youth Climate Action & Clean Energy Forum  1/18

Take Action:  

-Support SB 267 before January 3rd (Details below)

-Support SB 394 before January 3rd  (Details below)

Meetings and Events

Thursday Jan 4, 4-5 pm   Clean Energy NH:  History and Context for NH Air Quality

Chris will give a formal presentation on the larger contexts he has found helpful for understanding -- on the changes in NH's energy landscape over the years, and on NH’s relationship with our New England neighbors, including with ISO-New England. 

Register at https://bit.ly/AirQualityJAN4

Thursday, Jan 4 06:00 PM CHICKS

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81333944136?pwd=qOAYf5ge6dd49f8QkbvkDGm59F9kY2.1

-CHICKS is a grassroots, cross-sector and community-integrated program to protect the emotional and physical health of young children in the face of a warming climate.  CHICKS is a project of the NH Healthcare Workers for Climate Action. The first meeting of the CHICKS Working Group will be January 4, 2024. All are welcome.

Sunday, January 7 6 pm  Legislative Focus Session with Nora Jones (Conservation Law)

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/6275609302

Meeting ID 627 560 9302 

One tap mobile

+13092053325, 6275609302# US

Thursday, January 11 7th 

Annual Kent Street Overview (zoom details forthcoming)

Thursday, January 11 7 pm   NH Sierra Club Volunteer Night

NH Sierra Club is continuing monthly meetings on zoom to create a community of like minded Granite Staters to plan, act and grow a community-based move...

Sunday, January 14 6 pm Plastics WG

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/6275609302

Meeting ID 627 560 9302 

One tap mobile

+13092053325, 6275609302# US

Thursday, January 18 8:30 to 1 pm   for the Youth Climate Action & Clean Energy Forum.

Register here: 2024 YOUTH FORUM ON CLIMATE ACTION AND CLEAN ENERGY · League of Conservation Voters in New Hampshire (mobilize.us)

Take Action

SB267

In a two-day session, our NH Legislators will vote on 2023 retained bills like the one below. (All retained bills of interest to the NH Network are listed on their NH Bill Actions webpage.)

This bill, SB267, Bill Text: NH SB267 was turned down in the House Finance Committee along party lines. Before that, it had bipartisan support and could succeed now.

Please email or call legislators you think could make a difference. THANKS!  (There is no remote sign up for this bill.)

Any questions? Email or call Cynthia Walter, cawal...@gmail.com 412-610-4327

Talking points for your personal, short message:

Please vote Ought to Pass for SB267, a bill to add resources for the Department of Environmental Services (DES). NHDES endorsed the bill as amended by Sen. Avard and it had bipartisan support in the House and Senate.

This bill funds a position at DES to use a scientifically-based process called Cumulative Impacts Analysis (CIA) as they consider possible updates in permitting.

Currently, NHDES grants a permit for a facility based on only the impacts of that one facility. However, a new facility in combination with other facilities may, in fact, have cumulative impacts that will harm people or critical resources.

For example, my city had to spend $50 million to upgrade drinking water treatment because several similar industries added too many problem chemicals into our drinking water aquifer. 

SB 267 provides much-needed funds for NHDES to determine whether and how cumulative impacts should be addressed in permitting. This can aid in planning and protection of our health and resources such as air and water quality.

SB294

SB 394-FN-A, the bill to appropriate $1M to the cyanobacteria fund and allot $350K of that to Lake Kanasatka is being heard in the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday, Jan. 4 at 1:40 pm in Room 103 at the State House.  Lake Kanasatka has been experiencing repeated cyanobacteria blooms for the past few years.  In fact, it has just had another alert issued today.  The blooms in Kanasatka impact Lake Winnipesaukee as well, as Kanasatka drains into Blackey Cove, Lake Winnipesaukee.

It is VERY IMPORTANT that supporters of this bill communicate their support to members of the Committee. There are several ways to do this:

1. Attend the hearing, sign up in support on the forms on the table just inside the hearing room. If possible, also indicate that you want to speak in favor of the bill. Your remarks should be 3 mins and speak to how this bill benefits the region and environment (don’t make it just about a personal benefit) but also say how blooms have impacted you.

2. If you cannot attend, email the committee with your support and why. Again, short and a personal appeal is more likely to be read. Copy and paste the following email addresses to reach the senators on this committee: James.Gray@leg.state.nh.us, Daniel.Innis@leg.state.nh.us, Regina.Birdsell@leg.state.nh.us, Howard.Pearl@leg.state.nh.us, Jeb.Bradley@leg.state.nh.us, Cindy.Rosenwald@leg.state.nh.us, Lou.Dallesandro@leg.state.nh.us, debra.martone@leg.state.nh.us

3. Use the remote sign in form to also share your support for this bill. https://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/remotecommittee/senate.aspx

Clean Energy NH is offering an important overview to begin the legislative season.

Wednesday, December 20th at 2 pm  Clean Energy NH

Here's a link to a December 20th Clean Energy NH Preview of the 2024 Legislative Season.

In addition, for anyone wanting an opportunity for discussion or clarification, Chris Skoglund (of CENH)is making himself available the next day, Dec 21 at 4 pm, as the initial meeting of a “subgroup” of the new Energy Working Group.  

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81777623630?pwd=b05qRG5TMFpDcnB3U2dQcGpxR0JwUT09
Meeting ID: 817 7762 3630     Passcode: 594273 
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kUSq9RvR3

Also, on Thursday, Jan 4, Chris will give a formal presentation on the larger contexts he has found helpful for understanding -- on the changes in NH's energy landscape over the years, and NH’s relationship with our New England neighbors, including with ISO-New England. (Zoom link TBA)

Overview

Meetings and Events

• Clean Energy NH 2024 Legislative Overview 12/20

• Clean Energy NH clarification and discussion 12/21

• Energy WG 1/04

• CHICKS 1/04

• Legislative info session with Nora Jones  1/07  (Conservation Law Foundation)

• Kent Street Coalition Legislative Overview 1/11

• NH Sierra Club Volunteer Night 1/11

• Plastics working group 1/14

• Youth Climate Action & Clean Energy Forum  1/18

Take Action 

• Fast Democracy website:  Track federal and state legislation on areas of interest

• Go VEGAN for a month!

Feed Your Brain

• Bow Power Plant update and action

Meetings and Events

Join the New England Young Fishermen's Alliance and us for a special event on December 18 from 3-4 pm.

Register:  https://www.nhfoodalliance.org/line-new-hampshires-young-fishermen

The fishermen and women, who have successfully completed the New England Young Fishermen's Alliance 9-month professional development program, called Deckhand to Captain training, will share their stories with the NH Food Alliance Network— how they started in the seafood industry, what drives them to protect their livelihoods, the challenges they face, and opportunities they hope to embrace as they transition from the deck to the captain's wheelhouse.

Their stories are informed by their learnings through intensive training on business plan development, financing, collaborative marketing, seafood industry advocacy work, safety training, cooperative research, and much more as part of this one-of-a-kind training program. Come together to connect with our fishermen and women and feel informed by their experiences as we continue to support and serve this vital food-producing community in New Hampshire. We will hear from the fishermen and women and have ample time for questions and further networking.

Wednesday, December 20th at 2 pm  Clean Energy NH

Here's a link to a December 20th Clean Energy NH Preview of the 2024 Legislative Season. Energy committee members might consider asking their towns to join CENH as municipal members for $250 a year. 

Thursday, December 21st, 4 pm  Energy WG and Clean Energy NH

Friday, January 4th,  4 to 5 pm Energy WG  (zoom link will be forwarded)

Focusing on a preview of energy policy in the next legislative session. 

Friday, January 4th,  6:00 pm CHICKS

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81333944136?pwd=qOAYf5ge6dd49f8QkbvkDGm59F9kY2.1

CHICKS is a grassroots, cross-sector, and community-integrated program to protect the emotional and physical health of young children in the face of a warming climate.  CHICKS is a project of the NH Healthcare Workers for Climate Action. The first meeting of the CHICKS Working Group will be January 4, 2024. All are welcome.

Sunday, January 7, 6 pm  Legislative Focus Session with Nora Jones (Conservation Law)

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/6275609302

Meeting ID 627 560 9302 

One tap mobile

+13092053325, 6275609302# US

Thursday, January 11, 7th Annual Kent Street Overview (zoom details forthcoming)

Thursday, January 11, 7 pm.  NH Sierra Club Volunteer Night

NH Sierra Club is continuing monthly meetings on zoom to create a community of like-minded Granite Staters to plan, act, and grow a community-based move...

Sunday, January 14, 6 pm Plastics WG

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/6275609302

Meeting ID 627 560 9302 

One tap mobile

+13092053325, 6275609302# US

Thursday, January 18 8:30 to 1 pm   for the Youth Climate Action & Clean Energy Forum.

Register here: 2024 YOUTH FORUM ON CLIMATE ACTION AND CLEAN ENERGY · League of Conservation Voters in New Hampshire (mobilize.us)

Take Action

Fast democracy.  Track federal and state legislation in areas of your interest.

You may already know about this but here is a site where you can track both US and State bills on topics you choose.  

https://fastdemocracy.com/my-tracked-topics/

Veganuary Challenge! It involves eating a purely plant-based (vegan) diet for one month.

Why?

It’s the most environmentally friendly diet. It’s been calculated that if you stick to a vegan diet for one month you’ll be responsible for saving over 32 thousand gallons of water, and over 600 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions (that’s better than giving up your car for a month!)

We're starting January 1st. How do you get started? Sign up here for recipe ideas and information:

https://veganuary.com/en-us/try-vegan/?utm_campaign=WPC24US&utm_source=Nhnetwork

Feed Your Brain

Merrimack Station Delays Second Smoke Stack 

Retest Following February Failure

Community Members Keep Watch Over Coal Plant While Awaiting Word on Third Re-Test

BOW, NH. -- Merrimack Station, New England’s largest remaining coal plant, canceled its second smokestack retest of the year on Thursday, November 30. The retest was scheduled following allegations by the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (DES) that the plant’s particulate matter emissions exceeded EPA limits by 70% during a February test. The plant’s owner, Granite Shore Power, aborted the first scheduled retest in October following a mechanical failure. A smoke stack retest has yet to be completed since and, according to DES, Merrimack Station is currently not in compliance.

Since the second canceled retest, New Hampshire Sierra Club members in the Capital Region community have kept a close watch on the smokestack. Today, the New Hampshire Sierra Club chapter released a collection of photos captured over the past two weeks showing plumes of various sizes rising from the stack. In some photos, the air surrounding the plant is a hazy shade of brown in stark contrast to the blue skies above. 

In May, DES warned Granite Shore Power that operating the coal units before a successful stack test performance would “constitute an excess emission and a deviation from permit conditions.”

In response to the plant’s continued operations, Catherine Corkery, Senior Regional Organizing Representative with the New Hampshire Chapter, issued the following statement:

"It is incredibly disheartening to see smoke rise above the Merrimack Station smoke stack day-after-day. Without properly passing a stack test, it is uncertain whether the coal plant is operating at permissible particulate matter levels. Exposure to PM can cause or worsen cardiovascular disease, asthma, and diabetes. Heightened pollutants put our elderly, children, neighbors with chronic medical conditions, and Concord — one of the state’s most racially diverse communities — at great risk. 

These consequences cannot be ignored. New Hampshire Sierra Club volunteers and staff will continue to look out the windows of our homes and workplaces for signs of toxic pollutants in the air throughout the region. We call on DES to ensure Merrimack Station passes a performance test before continuing operations."

About the Sierra Club

The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.

-------------

Take time to rest your brain 

and enjoy the holiday season!

Overview

Notes from the December 3rd Plastics WG

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1V8mDMHcrypLRkDfsGD9ayRHsFuXTEsHCDENrihYDoSE/edit

Hi Energy working group members and wider NH Network folks, 

Here is the link to the recording & presentations from last week's Energy WG

Topics Covered:

• Round-robin with introductions and projects we are working on

• Presentation of EWG survey results 

• Subgroups - Energy Policy & Energy Committee Sub-Groups 

• Update on NH Priority Climate Action Plan consultation, Net Metering, NH Saves 

We agreed to set up two sub-groups: 1) Energy Policy, focused on tracking and engaging on energy policy at the state level and 2) Energy Committees, focused on exchanging information and resources among energy committees. Stay tuned for more information about future meeting times. These will meet separately from the monthly Energy Working Group meetings, and will likely report-back to the wider group periodically with updates, resources, and actions.

Thanks to everyone who joined and shared in the discussions! We're off to a great start. Please invite anyone you think would be interested in joining this group to send an email to  Susan Richman (susan7richman@gmail.com) or Gabrielle Watson (watson.gabrielle@gmail.com). 

Meetings: 

• • Climate WG 12/13

  • NH Agricultural Policy Forum 12/13

  • League of Conservation Voters 12/14

  • Sierra Club Volunteer Meeting 12/14

  • Clean Energy NH 2024 Legislative Overview 12/20

  • Energy WG 1/04

  • Plastics Working Group -Legislative info session with Nora Jones  1/07  (Conservation Law Foundation)

  • Kent Street Coalition Legislative overview 1/11

  • Plastics working group 1/14

Take Action:  

• • Fast Democracy website:  Track federal and state legislation on areas of interest

  • Go VEGAN for a month!

Feed Your Brain:  

• •    For Some Young Republicans Climate Change is Not an Oxymoron

  •    New Energy Efficiency Plan Moves Forward 

  •    List serve for NH EV owners or potential owners

  •    Detailed info sheet on EPR legislation

Meetings and Events

Wednesday, December 13 - NH Network Climate Working Group 7 to 8 pm

We hope a representative from every member organization of the NH Network working on climate change will attend.  Let's connect, share plans and projects, and amplify each other's efforts!

https://citizensclimate.zoom.us/my/cclnhrizoom?pwd=MTRoSmtMQ3J3bksyc0xwVk9sbEJMdz09

• Or by phone: 1-929-205-6099 9831200408# 1632#

• Meeting Agenda

Wednesday, December 13th  8:15 am to 9 30 am  2023  Annual NH Policy Forum highlighting up coming legislation

https://groups.google.com/g/nh-environment-energy-and-climate-network/c/rP0x0me446I

Thursday, December 14  11 30 to 1 pm   League of Conservation Voters: 

Clean Energy and Climate Action in 2024 - A New Hampshire and National Perspective

Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church  21 Centre Street  Concord, NH

Join the League of Conservation Voters and partners as we look forward To January of 2024 with a full docket of clean energy and climate action proposals which is set to be considered by New Hampshire lawmakers.

Speakers will provide insight and analysis on the 2024 New Hampshire policy landscape with continued funding for energy efficiency investments, advocacy for more renewable energy sources and the development of offshore wind as just a few of the topics at hand. The program will also provide updates on federal funding from both the infrastructure bill and the Inflation Reduction Act.

For more information, contact League of Conservation Voters New Hampshire State Director Director Rob Werner   at rob_werner@lcv.org.   (603) 674-9810 (mobile)

Thursday, December 14  7 pm  Sierra Club Volunteer Meeting including an update on the Bow Power Plant

https://www.mobilize.us/climateactionnh/event/584089/

Wednesday, December 20th at 2 pm  Clean Energy NH

Here's a link to a December 20th Clean Energy NH Preview of the 2024 Legislative Season. Energy committee members might consider asking their towns to join CENH as municipal members for $250 a year. I got our Select Board to join CENH this year and we have put this cost into our budget request for next year. This is a very good way to access CENH insights on legislation and other energy policy in New Hampshire. (And you get two tickets to the Local Energy Solutions conference, worth $200!)

Friday, January 4   4 to 5 pm Energy WG  (zoom link will be forwarded)

Focusing on a preview of energy policy in the next legislative session. 

Sunday, January 7 6 pm  Legislative Focus Session with Nora Jones (Conservation Law)

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/6275609302

Meeting ID 627 560 9302 

One tap mobile

+13092053325, 6275609302# US

Thursday, January 11 7th Annual Kent Street Overview (zoom details forthcoming)

Sunday, January 14 6 pm Plastics WG

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/6275609302

Meeting ID 627 560 9302 

One tap mobile

+13092053325, 6275609302# US

Take Action

Fast democracy.  Track federal and state legislation in areas of your interest.

You may already know about this but here is a site where you can track both US and State bills on topics you choose.  

https://fastdemocracy.com/my-tracked-topics/

Veganuary Challenge! 

It involves eating a purely plant-based (vegan) diet for one month.

Why?

It’s the most environmentally friendly diet. It’s been calculated that if you stick to a vegan diet for one month you’ll be responsible for saving… over 32 thousand gallons of water, and over 600 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions (that’s better than giving up your car for a month!)

We're starting January 1st. How do you get started? Sign up here for recipe ideas and information:

https://veganuary.com/en-us/try-vegan/?utm_campaign=WPC24US&utm_source=Nhnetwork

Feed Your Brain

For Some Young Republicans Climate Change is Not an Oxymoron

https://newhampshirebulletin.com/2023/12/07/actually-not-an-oxymoron-for-some-young-republicans-climate-and-environment-are-top-issues/?emci=1e82edb7-c995-ee11-8925-002248223f36&emdi=07180ca4-5397-ee11-8925-002248223f36&ceid=149033

New Energy Efficiency Plan Moves Forward (with some controversy - my opinion)

https://www.nhpr.org/nh-news/2023-12-02/new-energy-efficiency-plans-moving-forward-with-split-public-utilities-commission-decision

If you own, or you're thinking of buying, an EV, you might want to join this listserve for the NH EV Community:

https://groups.google.com/g/nhev

Detailed info sheet on EPR legislation

https://docs.google.com/document/d/10qK5K13yVnjZS7tLqkIflgV4-gKSMty2/edit

Overview

Seemingly, there are endless opportunities to connect and meet during the month of December.  It can be overwhelming, but one hopes you will choose a couple or three to join.

-Good news on recycling:  

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/FMfcgzGwHxsbrhTxqnbWMrLVDZMtDfMN

-Good news:  the NH Saves Program approved by NH PUC.  Thanks to all that sent letters.

-Good news as reported from Senator Shaeen’s office:

-Senator Shaheen celebrated the towns of Exeter, Peterborough and Harrisville that were

among only 12 projects nationwide selected for $900,000 through the Energy Efficiency

and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) Program. Senator Shaheen was in Exeter to

discuss their project which will partner with NHSaves and Weatherization programs in

the state to bring energy efficient upgrades to over 100 manufactured homes.

Clean Energy NH was awarded $500,000 through USDA RD, Rural Energy for America

Program (REAP) Technical Assistance funding that was expanded through the Inflation

Reduction Act.

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) and NOAA announced $144 million in new grants to support natural infrastructure projects in 31 coastal states and U.S. territories. Congratulations, to the Town of Durham ($1,994,500) and The Nature Conservancy-New Hampshire ($999,800) for their projects that were selected for funding.

-Here are two links for an upcoming 12/06 ISO Meeting in Boston.  The first is written by Don Kreis and is worth your time.

https://indepthnh.org/2022/12/01/ratepayers-stage-a-ballroom-coup/

https://www.iso-ne.com/committees/industry-collaborations/consumer-liaison

-Meetings: 

Department of Energy:  Climate Action Plan…seeking public input for obtaining federal grants to reduce greenhouse effects:  various dates and workshops to affect climate change in NH

-Plastics WG  12/3

-Energy WG  12/7

-Community Action Plan 12/06

-ISO NE Boston meeting 12/06

-Citizens Climate WG 12/6

-NH Agricultural Policy Forum 12/13

-League of Conservation Voters 12/14

-Sierra Club Volunteer Meeting 12/14

-Clean Energy NH 2024 Legislative Overview 12/20

-Take Action:  

Attend any, all or some of the above listed meetings.  Legislative action is around the corner.

-Feed Your Brain:  

-Environmental and energy updates from Senator Shaheen’s office

Meetings and Events

-November 30,  January 30 and February 8  Department of Energy:  Climate Action Plan

There are a series of community and public comments and sharing committees to enable NH to participate in a 4.6 billion dollar grant to reduce greenhouse emissions.  The grant specifically asks for local input.

Three cross-sector shareholder gatherings where people working on greenhouse gas and air pollution reduction efforts, advocates, non-profits, regional and city/town planners, association leaders, etc. can talk together about priorities and projects that are essential elements of New Hampshire's PCAP (due March 1, 2024) 

-December 6, January 9 and January 24  Department of Energy:  Climate Action Plan

UPDATE ON Climate Action Plan listening sessions: Several NH Network members attended the Nov 30 session. It was beautifully organized (well-moderated break-out sessions on different topics),and the opportunity to hear from one another was interesting and informative!  Highly recommend you sign up for one, and report back! Moving forward we have number of community conversation opportunities both ONLINE and IN-PERSON for this first phase of work. They are occurring between December 6 th,  2023 and February 8 th, 2024.

Share the following link with people who can help move NH forward.

https://carsey.unh.edu/new-hampshire-listens/nhdes-updating-new-hampshires-climate-action-plan

Three community conversations:  Between December 2023 and early February 2024, a series of community conversations will offer time for people to learn, listen, and talk with each other to help develop a priority climate action plan focused on air pollution reductions in New Hampshire. These conversations are focused on talking about local issues and potential solutions.

Important details on engagement, action goals and input are available at:

https://carsey.unh.edu/new-hampshire-listens/updating-new-hampshire-climate-action-plan

-Sunday, December 3 at 6 pm    Plastics WG meeting.

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/6275609302

Meeting ID 627 560 9302 

One tap mobile

+13092053325, 6275609302# US

-Monday, December 7 at  4 pm  Energy WG

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87570493142?pwd=sEOVZHyM6ZIVYXPcaHsaOAfS0Rnbia.1 Meeting ID: 875 7049 3142 Passcode: 425473

-Wednesday, Dec 6, 2023, 12:00 PM - 3:30 PM EST (Virtual option starts at 12:30.)

Independent System Operator (ISO) New England Customer Liaison Group meeting on operation of the NE grid.   These links will explain why this meeting is so important.

https://indepthnh.org/2022/12/01/ratepayers-stage-a-ballroom-coup/

https://www.iso-ne.com/committees/industry-collaborations/consumer-liaison

WHERE: Colonnade Hotel, 120 Huntington Avenue, Boston MA 02116. Validated parking onsite. In-person registration is limited to 125 people and closes on Wed, Nov 29 at noon. 

IN-PERSON registration is linked here.
VIRTUAL registration is linked here.

-Wednesday, December 6th at 7 pm Citizens Climate WG

https://citizensclimate.zoom.us/my/cclnhrizoom?pwd=MTRoSmtMQ3J3bksyc0xwVk9sbEJMdz09

• Or by phone: 1-929-205-6099 9831200408# 1632#

• Meeting Agenda

-Wednesday, December 13th  8:15 am to 9 30 am  2023  Annual NH Policy Forum highlighting up coming legislation

Nhttps://groups.google.com/g/nh-environment-energy-and-climate-network/c/rP0x0me446I

-Thursday, December 14  11 30 to 1 pm   League of Conservation Voters: Clean Energy and Climate Action in 2024 - A New Hampshire and National Perspective

Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church  21 Centre Street  Concord, NH

Join the League of Conservation Voters and partners as we look forward To January of 2024 with a full docket of clean energy and climate action proposals which is set to be considered by New Hampshire lawmakers.

Speakers will provide insight and analysis on the 2024 New Hampshire policy landscape with continued funding for energy efficiency investments, advocacy for more renewable energy sources and the development of offshore wind as just a few of the topics at hand. The program will also provide updates on federal funding from both the infrastructure bill and the Inflation Reduction Act.

For more information, contact League of Conservation Voters New Hampshire State Director Director Rob Werner   at rob_werner@lcv.org.   (603) 674-9810 (mobile)

-Thursday, December 14  7 pm  Sierra Club Volunteer Meeting including an update on the Bow Power Plant

https://www.mobilize.us/climateactionnh/event/584089/

-Wednesday, December 20th at 2 pm  Clean Energy NH

Here's a link to a December 20th Clean Energy NH Preview of the 2024 Legislative Season. Energy committee members might consider asking their towns to join CENH as municipal members for $250 a year. I got our Select Board to join CENH this year and we have put this cost into our budget request for next year. This is a very good way to access CENH insights on legislation and other energy policy in New Hampshire. (And you get two tickets to the Local Energy Solutions conference, worth $200!)

Feed Your Brain

-Here are federal energy and environment updates from Senator Shaheen’s office 

Below are Federal environment and energy (E&E) updates from the past month. I am also

attaching last month’s newsletter as a reminder of grant announcements from the previous

month. Please do not hesitate to reach out if Senator Shaheen can be helpful to you and your

community or organization.

Senator Shaheen Updates:

Senator Shaheen recently became Chair of the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee. Senator Shaheen’s first hearing will be tomorrow, Wednesday, November 1 at 2:30 on the topic of “The Great Outdoors: Small Businesses and America’s Outdoor Recreation Economy.” New Hampshire Small Business Owner, Andrew Drummond of Ski the Whites will be one of the witnesses for the hearing. The hearing will be livestreamed on the Senate Small Business and

Entrepreneurship Committee website.

NH Municipal Association and Senator Shaheen’s office held a webinar about Elective

Pay, a provision of Inflation Reduction Act. Elective pay allows applicable entities,

including tax-exempt and governmental entities that would otherwise be unable to claim

certain credits because they do not owe federal income tax, to benefit from some clean

energy tax credits. By choosing this election, the amount of the credit is treated as a

payment of tax and any overpayment will result in a refund. You can re-watch the

webinar and access further resources about elective pay here.

New Hampshire Congressional Delegation Applauds Twin States Clean Energy Link’s

Selection to be Part of $1.3 Billion U.S. Department of Energy Program.

Senator Shaheen celebrated the towns of Exeter, Peterborough and Harrisville that were

among only 12 projects nationwide selected for $900,000 through the Energy Efficiency

and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) Program. Senator Shaheen was in Exeter to

discuss their project which will partner with NHSaves and Weatherization programs in

the state to bring energy efficient upgrades to over 100 manufactured homes.

Clean Energy NH was awarded $500,000 through USDA RD, Rural Energy for America

Program (REAP) Technical Assistance funding that was expanded through the Inflation

Reduction Act.

U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen, a senior member of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee

that funds the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), announced with the

NH delegation that $27.6 million in LIHEAP funds are being awarded to New Hampshire to

assist Granite State families ahead of the winter season with fuel assistance. Granite Staters can

apply for heating assistance through their local Community Action Partnership office. Please visit

CAPNH.org to find an office near you.'

U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) announced

an investment of nearly $3.4 Million in New Technologies for Ag Extension at the University of

New Hampshire.

New Hampshire will receive a Department of Energy (DOE) award totaling $6,619,797

to help modernize the state’s power grid. The funding will be used to invest in

disadvantaged communities, bolster grid resilience for extreme weather and other disruptive events and provide additional workforce development and training

opportunities. New Hampshire will hold a competitive selection process to identify

projects in need of this funding. These grants were funded by the Bipartisan

Infrastructure Law.

U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Susan Collins announced their bipartisan resolution to

designate October 4, 2023, as “Energy Efficiency Day” passed the Senate unanimously.

The resolution celebrates and promotes the economic and environmental benefits gained

from investing in energy efficiency.

Federal Grants & Programs Announced:

*New*: The White House is updating a running list of IRA funding opportunities here

and BIL funding opportunities here. I will keep highlighting major Notice of Funding

Announcements for energy and environment projects below but be sure to check these

list frequently for updates of all open funding.

For a complete list of IRA and BIL grants & programs please check out the IRA

Guidebook and the BIL Guidebook.

The Biden Administration released a technical assistance guide which helps communities

navigate, access, and deploy infrastructure, climate resilience and clean energy funding.

The guide provides comprehensive information about more than 100 federal technical

assistance programs that can support efforts to win Federal funding and deploy it in

communities across the nation.

Below are a couple of grants and programs that were announced last month. Please reach out if

Senator Shaheen can be helpful in identifying grants or writing a letter of support for a federal

grant.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the availability of $235 million in

grants to assess and clean up polluted brownfield sites across the country. The new grants through

EPA’s Brownfields Multipurpose, Assessment, and Cleanup (MAC) program will advance

environmental justice and help transform what were once polluted, vacant, and abandoned

properties into community assets while spurring economic revitalization in underserved

communities.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service is making nearly $50 million in grant

funding available for proposals that support crucial links between resilient, healthy forests, strong

rural economies and jobs in the forestry sector. The open funding opportunity comes through the

Forest Service’s three key grant programs to support the forest products economy: Wood

Innovations Grant, Community Wood Grant, and Wood Products Infrastructure Assistance Grant

Programs. The agency is seeking proposals that support innovative uses of wood in the

construction of low carbon buildings, as a renewable energy source, and in manufacturing and

processing products. These programs also provide direct support to expand and retrofit wood

energy systems and wood products manufacturing facilities nationwide.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced the availability of up to $36 million through

President Biden’s Investing in America agenda for fish passage projects across the nation that

address outdated, unsafe or obsolete dams, culverts, levees and other barriers fragmenting our

nation’s rivers and streams.

FEMA is making $1.8 billion available for two grant programs designed to help communities

increase their resilience to the impacts of climate change, including increasingly frequent and

extreme weather events. The Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) annual

grant program is making $1 billion available for projects that protect people and infrastructure

from natural hazards and the effects of climate change. The Flood Mitigation Assistance program

is making $800 million available.

Overview

This week’s summary offers action and meeting opportunities.  Time sensitive action is supporting net metering.  Ideally, you can take time today to contact the various stake players.

There is an important and simple action item on PFAS within NH and within North Carolina.

Meetings and Events

Department of Energy:  Climate Action Plan…seeking public input for obtaining federal grants to reduce greenhouse effects

-Plastics WG  12/3

-Energy WG  12/7

-ISO NE Boston meeting 12/06

-Citizens Climate WG 12/6

-NH Agricultural Policy Forum 12/13

-Clean Energy NH 2024 Legislative Overview 12/20

Take Action

-Sierra Club PFAS petition

-Take action before 11/27 on contacting the PUC re:  net metering pricing.

-Take action to support Rep. Aron’s letter concerning PFAS leakage into the Ammonoosuc River

Feed Your Brain

-Coal particulates are worse for human health than previously thought.

-Bow power plant fails “stack” test.  Exceeds federal limits by 70%.

-The National Environmental Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC) and White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council (WHEJAC) meetings and listening sessions.

Meetings and Events

-November 30,  January 30 and February 8  Department of Energy:  Climate Action Plan

There are a series of community and public comments and sharing committees to enable NH to participate in a 4.6 billion dollar grant to reduce greenhouse emissions.  The grant specifically asks for local input.

Three cross-sector shareholder gatherings where people working on greenhouse gas and air pollution reduction efforts, advocates, non-profits, regional and city/town planners, association leaders, etc. can talk together about priorities and projects that are essential elements of New Hampshire's PCAP (due March 1, 2024) 

-December 6, January 9 and January 24  Department of Energy:  Climate Action Plan

Three community conversations:  Between December 2023 and early February 2024, a series of community conversations will offer time for people to learn, listen, and talk with each other to help develop a priority climate action plan focused on air pollution reductions in New Hampshire. These conversations are focused on talking about local issues and potential solutions.

Important details on engagement, action goals and input are available at:

https://groups.google.com/g/nh-environment-energy-and-climate-network/c/wIpv0xpjw64

-Sunday, December 3 at 6 pm    Plastics WG meeting.

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/6275609302

Meeting ID 627 560 9302 

One tap mobile

+13092053325, 6275609302# US

-Monday, December 7 at  4 pm  Energy WG

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87570493142?pwd=sEOVZHyM6ZIVYXPcaHsaOAfS0Rnbia.1 

Meeting ID: 875 7049 3142 Passcode: 425473

-Wednesday, Dec 6, 2023, 12:00 PM - 3:30 PM EST (Virtual option starts at 12:30.)

Independent System Operator (ISO) New England Customer Liaison Group meeting on operation of the NE grid.

WHERE: Colonnade Hotel, 120 Huntington Avenue, Boston MA 02116. Validated parking onsite. In-person registration is limited to 125 people and closes on Wed, Nov 29 at noon. 

IN-PERSON registration is linked here.
VIRTUAL registration is linked here.

-Wednesday, December 6th at 7 pm Citizens Climate WG

https://citizensclimate.zoom.us/my/cclnhrizoom?pwd=MTRoSmtMQ3J3bksyc0xwVk9sbEJMdz09

• Or by phone: 1-929-205-6099 9831200408# 1632#

• Meeting Agenda

-Wednesday, December 13th  8:15 am to 9 30 am  2023  Annual NH Policy Forum highlighting up coming legislation

https://groups.google.com/g/nh-environment-energy-and-climate-network/c/rP0x0me446I

-Wednesday, December 20th at 2 pm  Clean Energy NH

Here's a link to a December 20th Clean Energy NH Preview of the 2024 Legislative Season. Energy committee members might consider asking their towns to join CENH as municipal members for $250 a year. I got our Select Board to join CENH this year and we have put this cost into our budget request for next year. This is a very good way to access CENH insights on legislation and other energy policy in New Hampshire. (And you get two tickets to the Local Energy Solutions conference, worth $200!)

Take Action

-PFAS in any state is a threat to all states.  Consider signing this petition.

I just signed this petition from Sierra Club North Carolina, calling on EPA Administrator Michael Regan to halt permission for Chemours to import 4 million pounds of PFAS waste from the Netherlands to its Fayetteville NC plant. This is an issue of national significance, as imported wastes could be sent to landfills or incinerators around the country.

https://act.sierraclub.org/actions/NorthCarolina?actionId=AR0403726

After your sign, please pass on this request to fellow activists.

Thank you.

Tracy Frisch

Clean Air Action Network of Glens Falls (NY)

-Join one of the Department of Energy public sessions to make federal funds available for limiting greenhouse emissions.  (Details offered above.)

-The NH Public Utilities Commission (PUC) will be considering setting a new Net Metering rate for NH residents, business, and local governments. The decision will be issued next May, June, or July. It's a way off. However, the DOE has to develop and submit a position on what that should be by December 1.    The docket number is DE 22-060 

Likely, this will be a contentious issue when the case formally begins at the PUC. The DOE/State of NH's position could be a large influence on final order. As you likely know, the Governor has been skeptical of small scale solar throughout his political career. He has shown a willingness to support it on occasion.

Ideally, letters would get to the Governor and/or DOE by Nov 27. In terms of content,

• The letters do NOT need to be perfect. It would be better to get more contacts from local governments, energy committees, or businesses than a few immaculate arguments. 

• Economic arguments (this is good for our taxpayers) may be more influential than environmental arguments (fortunately what's good for the economy/taxpayers is good for GHG emissions.

• Ideally individualized copies would be sent to both DOE and Gov. 

• DOE Commissioner: Jared Chicoine - jared.s.chicoine@energy.nh.gov

• Governor:  governorsununu@nh.gov

• For DOE consider cc'd DOE staff (pick 1?)

  • DOE DIrector of Regulatory Support: Tom Frantz - Thomas.C.Frantz@energy.nh.gov

  • Renewable Energy Division: deandra.m.perruccio@energy.nh.gov  

  • General:  energy-info@energy.nh.gov

-At a Third Act NH virtual event, Kendra Ford of 350NH / NoCoal No Gas encouraged turnout at  the Independent System Operator (ISO) New England Customer Liaison Group meeting on December 6th in Boston, beginning at 12 PM.  

This meeting is open to consumers and others who are interested in the operation of the grid, via either a virtual or a live option.

You need to register for the event and there is.  (Sign up options are listed above.)

- Below is a letter Rep. Judy Aron sent to the DES in response to Jon Swan's report (also below) of PFAS compounds in samples he took from the Ammonoosuc River -- which had seeped from the NCES Landfill.  (Given that DES has been reluctant to expand its monitoring responsibilities in other locations, this letter seems especially timely.)

 PLEASE ADD YOUR VOICE -- Praise Chairperson Aron of the House Environment & Agriculture Committee for her leadership and especially for her concern over PFAS.  

Your letter will go to the House Env & Ag Comm, the Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee, and DES Robert Scott and Mike Wimsatt if you copy the addresses from Representative Aron's letter.  ( I had to tinker with these emails a bit, but they will “go.”)

judy.aron@leg.state.nh.us

<robert.scott@des.nh.gov>; Wimsatt, Mike <michael.j.wimsatt@des.nh.gov>; Mike Wimsatt <michael.wimsatt@des.nh.gov>

Cc: saveforestlake@yahoo.com <saveforestlake@yahoo.com>; ~House Environment and Agriculture Committee <houseenvironmentandagriculturecommittee@leg.state.nh.us>; Kevin Avard <kevin.avard@leg.state.nh.us>; ~Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee <senateenergyandnaturalresources@leg.state.nh.us>; Crepeau, Adam <adam.j.crepeau@nh.gov>; Jeb Bradley <jeb.bradley@leg.state.nh.us>; Sherman Packard <sherman.packard@leg.state.nh.us>

 Judy Aron <judy...@leg.state.nh.us>; Robert Scott <robert...@des.nh.gov>; Wimsatt, Mike <michael....@des.nh.gov>; Mike Wimsatt <michael...@des.nh.gov>;  savefor...@yahoo.com <savefor...@yahoo.com>; ~House Environment and Agriculture Committee <houseenvironmentand...@leg.state.nh.us>; Kevin Avard <kevin...@leg.state.nh.us>; ~Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee <senateenergyand...@leg.state.nh.us>; Crepeau, Adam <adam.j....@nh.gov>; Jeb Bradley <jeb.b...@leg.state.nh.us>; Sherman Packard <sherman...@leg.state.nh.us>

Dear Commissioner Scott and Director Wimsatt,

As Chair of the House Environment and Agriculture Committee, I have been receiving correspondence regarding dangerous PFAS compounds reportedly leaking into the Ammonoosuc River from the  NCES landfill (as stated in  the email below).  I would like to know what immediate steps your department is taking to verify and deal with what appears to be an environmental crisis unfolding in the Ammonoosuc River.   

This is of urgent matter and must be dealt with immediately as it not only constitutes a violation of the Clean Water Act, but it threatens the health and well being of everyone living in that area! 

Please reply to me and my committee. as well as to my Senate counterparts, as to what actions you as state regulators tasked with monitoring this kind of contaminant pollution,  are pursuing regarding this contaminant runoff and/or leachate from the NCES landfill, and if there is anything legislatively that needs to be done immediately to support your work to contain and eliminate this and further contamination.

I await your prompt reply as I am very concerned about this matter.

Thank you,

Judy Aron

NH State Representative

Sullivan County District 4

(From Jon Swan)

Good Morning Ms. LeClair et al.,

Considering that I have not heard anything from EPA regarding my concerns that the NCES Landfill is failing to contain harmful contaminants from being released upgradient of and into the surrounding watershed of the Ammonoosuc River, I conducted my own "water sampling" of the water emerging from the "Main Seep" via the surface water channel, discharging directly into the Ammonoosuc River.  

My sample was taken directly from the water cascading off of the NCES property via the seep drainage channel on Friday morning, October 20, 2023.  The surface water was flowing strongly off the property's edge, in such a way that it allowed me to collect my sample without trespassing on NCES property.  My access into the Ammonoosuc River was granted by a property owner on the other side of the river, and my sampling was witnessed by that property owner.  I was up to my waist and armpits in the Ammonoosuc River the entire time, and it was cold!    

I have attached the lab report, which I just received last Thursday, November 9, 2023.  I did not test for any other contaminants, like 1,4-Dioxane, solely PFAS.  

On pages 2-3 of the report, you can read that there were 3 detections of PFAS contaminants being released directly into the Ammonoosuc River:

Perfluorobutanesulfonic Acid (PFBS)   4.35 ng/L

Perfluorohexanoic Acid (PFHxA)    4.73 ng/L

Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA)    2.39 ng/L

Page 10 also shows a result of 1.37 ng/L for Perfluoroheptanoic Acid (PFHpA), a “J” qualifier, thus below the reporting limit but apparently above the laboratory method detection limit (MDL). 

I would note that these 4 PFAS compounds are the same top 4 found PFAS compounds consistently detected in NCES leachate lab reports, from 2018-2023, obtained from NHDES and the City of Concord WWTPs.  Basically, the contaminants detected entering the Ammonoosuc River at the Seep drainage channel match the PFAS profile of NCES Landfill leachate.  The same can be said for the numerous detections and exceedances of PFAS contaminants at the upgradient B-304 and B-928 wells.  

It would seem to me that this release of contaminants directly into the Ammonoosuc River is a violation of the Clean Water Act.  

I must admit, it is disturbing to think that a concerned citizen has been forced into this action, because both state and federal regulators have failed to do so.  

I do hope the EPA and the Town of Bethlehem will take this latest revelation seriously.  I can only imagine the volume of contaminants being released into the Ammonoosuc River, via the drainage channel surface water discharge.  It has become quite clear to me that the relationship between SHA/Casella and NHDES officials has become compromised.  An investigation into what is occurring at the NCES Landfill is warranted, and I believe this lab report provides concrete evidence in support of my prior charges that the landfill is failing.

All of this, of course, is my opinion, based on my research and experience.  Thank you!

Feed Your Brain

-(from Marybeth Raven)

Hey NH Network energy folks,

I just want to point out this NYT article  about how Coal particulates are worse for human health than previously thought. 

This is an opportunity for us  to mention this sad fact in the upcoming DEC "Listening sessions" about the NH Climate action plan. NH has the last large coal burning facility in New England -- in Bow, NH.  When this this is running, it provides electricity  to the ISO network in general -- so the electricity is most likely going to Boston,  or other populated areas -- yet the residents of NH -- particularly Bow-- suffer the health consequences. 

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/23/climate/coal-exhaust-air-pollution-deaths.html?unlocked_article_code=1.A00.pX8E.NcuzykdQXTIo&smid=url-share

-Bow coal plant fails “stack test”

https://newhampshirebulletin.com/2023/11/22/federally-reportable-violations-followed-failed-stack-test-at-merrimack-station-state-says/

-There is a lot here, but choose a webinar to attend.

The National Environmental Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC) and White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council (WHEJAC) will host a meeting, each, in early December. The meetings are free and open to all members of the public. Individual registration for the events is REQUIRED. The meetings require registration for participants to submit comments orally or written.

National Environmental Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC) – REGISTER HERE!

NEJAC will convene a virtual public meeting on Tuesday, December 5, 2023, 10:00 AM to 7:30 PM ET. The meeting discussions will focus on several topics including, but not limited to, updates on NEJAC recommendations related to air quality and community monitoring, PFAS, finance and investments and responses to community concerns brought forward in Puerto Rico.

Public Comment Period: Those who wish to participate during the public comment period must register by 11:59 p.m. ET, November 28, 2023. Written comments can be submitted up to two weeks after the meeting closes on December 19, 2023.

Individuals or groups making remarks during the oral public comment period will be limited to three (3) minutes. Please be prepared to briefly share your comments; including your recommendations on what you want the NEJAC to advise EPA to do. Submitting written comments for the record are strongly encouraged.

The NEJAC is interested in receiving public comments relevant to the following charges:

1. Cumulative Impacts Framework Charge

2. Farmworker and Pesticides Charge

The public can submit written comments in three (3) different ways:

1. by using the webform: https://www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice/forms/national-environmental-justice-advisory-council-nejac-public-comment

2. by sending comments via email to ne...@epa.gov.

3. by creating comments in the Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OEJECR-2023-0101 at http://www.regulations.gov, when it opens.

Questions: Please contact Paula Flores-Gregg at ne...@epa.gov or by phone 214-665-8123.

Learn more about NEJAC: https://www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice/national-environmental-justice-advisory-council

_______________________________________________________________

White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council (WHEJAC) – REGISTER HERE!

WHEJAC will convene a virtual public meeting Wednesday, December 6, 2023 2:00 - 7:45 PM ET.

Public Comment Period: Those who wish to participate during the public comment period must register by 11:59 PM ET, November 29, 2023. Written comments can be submitted through December 20, 2023.

The WHEJAC is interested in receiving public comments relevant to current charges, topics, and questions currently under consideration:

• The Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool

• The Environmental Justice Scorecard

• Carbon Management

• Ways that the WHEJAC could recommend advancing environmental justice through a whole-government approach.

• Examples of environmental hazards of particular concern for Indigenous Peoples and Tribal Nations related to Federal activities that may affect sacred sites and areas of cultural significance, cultural or other traditions or practices, subsistence, and ways of life.

• Ways in which the Federal government can address community impacts, and concerns of Indigenous Peoples and Tribal Nations.

• Ways in which the incorporation of Indigenous knowledge into Federal decision-making could help address environmental hazards and environmental justice concerns.

More information on each charge: https://www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice/white-house-environmental-justice-advisory-council under WHEJAC Membership and Workgroups.

The public can submit written comments in 3 different ways:

1. By entering comments in the Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OEJECR-2023-0099 at https://www.regulations.gov/

2. By using the webform at https://www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice/forms/white-house-environmental-justice-advisory-council-whejac-public-comment

3. By sending comments via email to whe...@epa.gov, for comments with additional materials.

Overview

Perhaps the most important action item available to the Network.  Last Thursday Kent Street Coalition offered a two hour webinar on “Untipping the Judiciary.”  It included national wide organizations  Demand Justice and the American Constitution Society as well as remarks from Andru Volinsky and Cinde Warmington.  Their message:  Power lays with the federal judges, and they increasing decide elections and the most important cultural issues.  

According to the webinar, Donald Trump appointed nearly one quarter of all federal judges, and Biden has done a decent job, but there are many remaining openings.  In the last months he has sent only a handful to the Senate which appoints federal judges.  The House is not involved.  Action is simple.  Contact Senators Shaneen and Hassan, and contact them  to push forward on as many nominations within the next year.  

AND, the next NH governor will select two supreme court judges in 2026

From the newly formed Energy WG

Please fill out this Energy Working Group Members Survey. 

The survey will give us a sense of who's currently in the newly formed NH Network Energy Working Group and what members would like to focus our monthly meetings on. 

Please respond to the survey by by Monday December 4th so we can share the results at the December 7th 4:00 - 5:00 meeting:

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87570493142?pwd=sEOVZHyM6ZIVYXPcaHsaOAfS0Rnbia.1 Meeting ID: 875 7049 3142 Passcode: 425473

Meetings and Events

• Department of Energy:  Climate Action Plan…seeking public input for obtaining federal grants to reduce greenhouse effects

• Plastics WG  12/3

• Energy WG  12/7

• ISO NE Boston meeting 12/06

• Climate WG 12/6

• Clean Energy NH 2024 Legislative Overview 12/20

Take Action

• Regional news letter:  a model for the future?

• Attend NH Department of Energy listening sessions on Climate Action plans and potential    

grants.

• Take action before 11/27 on contacting the PUC re:  net metering pricing.

• North Country donation request

Feed Your Brain

• Plastics WG minutes

• Video recording of Networks 11/13 on the “Military and the Challenge of Climate Change.”

• Update on Casella’s garbage landslide in NY.

• Jon Swan’s update on chemicals in the Ammonoosuc River

Meetings and Events

November 30,  January 30 and February 8  - Department of Energy:  Climate Action Plan

There are a series of community and public comments and sharing committees to enable NH to participate in a 4.6 billion dollar grant to reduce greenhouse emissions.  The grant specifically asks for local input.

Three cross-sector shareholder gatherings where people working on greenhouse gas and air pollution reduction efforts, advocates, non-profits, regional and city/town planners, association leaders, etc. can talk together about priorities and projects that are essential elements of New Hampshire's PCAP (due March 1, 2024) 

December 6, January 9 and January 24  Department of Energy:  Climate Action Plan

Three community conversations:  Between December 2023 and early February 2024, a series of community conversations will offer time for people to learn, listen, and talk with each other to help develop a priority climate action plan focused on air pollution reductions in New Hampshire. These conversations are focused on talking about local issues and potential solutions.

Important details on engagement, action goals and input are available at:

https://groups.google.com/g/nh-environment-energy-and-climate-network/c/wIpv0xpjw64

Sunday, December 3 at 6 PM  —  Plastics Working Group meeting.

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/6275609302

Meeting ID 627 560 9302 

One tap mobile

+13092053325, 6275609302# US

Wednesday, December 6 at 12:00 PM - 3:30 PM EST (Virtual option starts at 12:30 PM.)

Independent System Operator (ISO) New England Customer Liaison Group meeting on operation of the NE grid.

WHERE: Colonnade Hotel, 120 Huntington Avenue, Boston MA 02116. Validated parking onsite. In-person registration is limited to 125 people and closes on Wed, Nov 29 at noon. 

IN-PERSON registration is linked here.
VIRTUAL registration is linked here.

Wednesday, December 6th at 7 PM - Climate Working Group

https://citizensclimate.zoom.us/my/cclnhrizoom?pwd=MTRoSmtMQ3J3bksyc0xwVk9sbEJMdz09

• Or by phone: 1-929-205-6099 9831200408# 1632#

• Meeting Agenda

Thursday, December 7 at  4 PM — Energy Working Group

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87570493142?pwd=sEOVZHyM6ZIVYXPcaHsaOAfS0Rnbia.1 Meeting ID: 875 7049 3142 Passcode: 425473

Wednesday, December 20th at 2 PM  — Clean Energy NH

Here's a link to a December 20th Clean Energy NH Preview of the 2024 Legislative Season. Energy committee members might consider asking their towns to join CENH as municipal members for $250 a year. I got our Select Board to join CENH this year and we have put this cost into our budget request for next year. This is a very good way to access CENH insights on legislation and other energy policy in New Hampshire. (And you get two tickets to the Local Energy Solutions conference, worth $200!)

Take Action

• Join one of the Department of Energy public sessions to make federal funds available for limiting greenhouse emissions.  (Details offered above.)

• The NH Public Utilities Commission (PUC) will be considering setting a new Net Metering rate for NH residents, business, and local governments. The decision will be issued next May, June, or July. It's a way off. However, the DOE has to develop and submit a position on what that should be by December 1. 

Likely, this will be a contentious issue when the case formally begins at the PUC. The DOE/State of NH's position could be a large influence on final order. As you likely know, the Governor has been skeptical of small scale solar throughout his political career. He has shown a willingness to support it on occasion.

Ideally, letters would get to the Governor and/or DOE by Nov 27. In terms of content,

• The letters do NOT need to be perfect. It would be better to get more contacts from local governments, energy committees, or businesses than a few immaculate arguments. 

• Economic arguments (this is good for our taxpayers) may be more influential than environmental arguments (fortunately what's good for the economy/taxpayers is good for GHG emissions.

• Ideally individualized copies would be sent to both DOE and Gov. 

• DOE Commissioner: Jared Chicoine - jared.s.chicoine@energy.nh.gov

• Governor:  governorsununu@nh.gov

• For DOE consider cc'd DOE staff (pick 1?)

  • DOE DIrector of Regulatory Support: Tom Frantz - Thomas.C.Frantz@energy.nh.gov

  • Renewable Energy Division: deandra.m.perruccio@energy.nh.gov  

  • General:  energy-info@energy.nh.gov

• At a Third Act NH virtual event, Kendra Ford of 350NH / NoCoal No Gas encouraged turnout at  the Independent System Operator (ISO) New England Customer Liaison Group meeting on December 6th in Boston, beginning at 12 PM.  This meeting is open to consumers and others who are interested in the operation of the grid, via either a virtual or a live option. You need to register for the event and there is.  (Sign up options are listed above.)

Feed Your Brain

Monadnock monthly newsletter - a model for the future?

https://mailchi.mp/monadnocksustainabilityhub/novement2023?e=3852408a92

The U.S. Armed Forces are tasked with military readiness, not with climate change.  So why do they consider climate change a security risk?  And what are they doing about it?   

Watch the Nov 13 video recording at:

https://sites.google.com/view/new-hampshire-network/events#h.53pimo75iv0q. 

Plastics Working Groups minutes.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WLDb_P6EBOSGPPyx9JWmFxSS_dFiO0vf5yf9kRvbaXU/edit

Update on pollution in the Ammonoosuc River from landfill runoff.

https://groups.google.com/g/nh-environment-energy-and-climate-network/c/RINDGnAGSGY

You'll be interested in what Jackie Augustine has to say about the recent landslide at the Casella-run Ontario County landfill. She's very sharp on political and enviro issues around Geneva, NY. She co-founded a website that allowed people to complain  about landfill odors.  It marks their location in real time.   https://itstinks.org/

On the landslide -- this comes on the one-year anniversary of Casella's $500,000 fine for a host of violations at Ontario Landfill.  As Jackie suggests. There's probably much more to this story. 

Questions about the Casella disaster from Jon Swan

Maybe that press release was supposed to make it sound like this wasn't a huge issue, but this was a *huge* environmental disaster at the landfill.  Maybe you think using the word "disaster" is alarmist or unwarranted, but I'm pretty sure it's spot on.  It's not just that over three football fields of soil and trash crashed down like an avalanche on our trash mountain, like "oops...go ahead and put that anywhere," and it's not just that this raises serious concerns about the quality of engineering and environmental oversight that Casella and the county are doing when finishing what is supposed to be a "permanent" solution to a landfill cell.  And it's not just that the immediate release of toxic fumes and methane into the air is of serious concern.  It's more about the actual physics of the incident.  The internal collection and piping structure was, by Casella's own admission, "damaged" and that means (since they are going to put the best possible spin on it) that it was actually *seriously compromised.*  It's not just about replacing what was immediately exposed and damaged from the force of the sheering on that side is going to stress the whole system. How do we know that piping on the other side didn't suffer damage from unexpected pressure changes or angular shifts or just physical stress of being connected to a system yanked down the mountain?

How do we trust that the remaining system is reliable and not compromised?  And of course, most importantly, at what point in the process is Casella adding the detection odor to the methane transport system?  Methane is odorless, but industries have to add odor to it to detect leaks (just like NYSEG does).  So is that happening within the landfill collection system itself? Or is it possible that the intense smells people reported Monday night and into Tuesday were for general toxics being released but the magnitude of methane release was even higher?

Who is monitoring air quality downwind?  What is the proper radius for notifying households individually and monitoring for adverse health impacts?  Where is the list of other landfill gases previously detected and monitored on site that are now potentially released in great magnitude into the atmosphere?  Casella isn't going to want to tell you any of this but they are absolutely collecting the data because they are going to sue their contractor (do a quick google search of other landfills that had failed caps and sued their engineering contractors) but they know they could be subject to a suit as well. They are in damage control mode for their business and we need to be in damage control mode for our residents.

At the end of the day, Ontario County has more trash that it can handle, and more trash that Casella can handle.  This was not a current deposit zone. This was supposed to represent what *stable*, *long term operations*, what *closure* represents.   Their focus and investment is not in getting those things right because the money is in continued operation in current and expanded cells.  And who suffers when things go wrong?  The unsuspecting residents who have the bad fortune of living in a place where elected officials privilege dollar signs over health and would rather risk long term significant environmental damage and disaster than to shut this operation down.

We need to normalize calling this what it is--an environmental disaster. It's not just an "incident" like someone's gas tank was leaking on the roadway.  It was a significant systems failure that caused a major release of toxins and compromised existing safety and operations infrastructure.

The County's press release essentially said "this facility that is really not owned by Casella had an incident caused by a third party contractor that Casella and the DEC are going to figure out, and nothing to see here."

If 3.5 acres of lakefront park fell into the water, we wouldn't call that an "incident"...and that's flat land, not even cubic tons of off-gassing, harmful, toxic waste.

There are so many questions that need immediate, thorough, and direct answers.  And until we are convinced that every possible protection measure is being taken and that every health and environmental impact from this disaster is addressed and resolved, we cannot rest.

Overview

Perhaps the most important action item available to the Network.  Last Thursday Kent Street Coalition offered a two hour webinar on “Untipping the Judiciary.”  It included national wide organizations  Demand Justice and the American Constitution Society as well as remarks from Andru Volinsky and Cinde Warmington.  Their message:  Power lays with the federal judges, and they increasing decide elections and the most important cultural issues.  

According to the webinar, Donald Trump appointed nearly one quarter of all federal judges, and Biden has done a decent job, but there are many remaining openings.  In the last months he has sent only a handful to the Senate which appoints federal judges.  The House is not involved.  Action is simple.  Contact Senators Shaneen and Hassan, and contact them  to push forward on as many nominations within the next year.  

AND, the next NH governor will select two supreme court judges in 2026

STEERING Committee minutes:    Steering Cmte Nov 8, 7 pm

The “overview summary” will appear in your email while the body of the summary will be on the website.  Here is the link and scroll down to the most current summary.  

https://www.newhampshirenetwork.org/nh-network-news/nh-network-news-updates-2023

Meetings:

• Plastics WG Sunday, November 12   6 pm

• NH Network monthly meeting Monday, November 13 5 30 pm

• Tuesday, November 14  Concord Community Power information session

• Wednesday, November 16 Durham Public Library  Dr. Dewey speaker

• Lebanon Film Series  Thursday, November 16 6 pm   8 Billion Angels

Action:

• Energy Working Group Update

• Bill Mckibben:  Stop expansion of LPG exports

• Climate Citizen Lobby:  Grid and Tax and Dividend legislation

• SB 267 a bi-partisen bill Act before November 14th

• Contact PUC re:  NH Saves before November 19th

Feed Your Brain:

• Department of Energy funding opportunities

• Casella Applies for new landfill permit

Meetings

Sunday, November 12, 6 pm Plastics WG

We will be joined by Nora Bosworth, Staff Attorney for the Conservation Law Foundation, who will begin guiding us on legislative strategy. 

We will also review the 2023-24 Action Steps. If you cannot attend, we would love to know what actions you’re taking - feel free to add any updates to share with the group in the agenda/notes (link above).

Sunday, November 12, 6 pm

ZOOM Link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/6275609302: 

ID: 627 560 9302 

One tap mobile

+13092053325, 6275609302# US

Monday, November 13 5:30- 7pm   NH Network Monthly meeting

Learn why the U.S. Military considers climate change a serious security concern.

From its far-flung bases to its key supply lines and its significant energy consumption, the armed services must make sober and realistic assessments of climate risks. 

How are they preparing for these challenges?

~

REGISTER NOW at https://bit.ly/Military_Climate

Tuesday, November 14 6pm  

Concord Community Power forum

City Wide Community Center, Canterbury Road

https://groups.google.com/g/nh-environment-energy-and-climate-network/c/3OSAdFpxROE

Wednesday, November 15  

In-person, live at Durham Public Library, a presentation from our partners at NH Healthcare Workers for Climate Action:  

Dr. Robert Dewey is a retired cardiologist from CMC in Manchester, and a Co-Chair of the Speakers' Bureau at NH Healthcare Workers for Climate Action.  Part of their mission is to educate other healthcare workers and the public about the very serious health effects of climate change, hoping that as people learn about this they will be more willing to advocate for climate solutions.  Please take a look at their website: nhclimatehealth.org

Thursday,  November 16 6:00 PM  

Lebanon film and speaker series Kilton Library Community Room

8 BILLION ANGELS

Are There Too Many Of Us For Planet Earth?

Today, humanity’s demand for resources is vastly outpacing nature’s ability to supply them. Food, water, climate and extinction emergencies are unfolding before our eyes. 8 BILLION ANGELS tells the truth about the conflict between our human numbers and the sustainability of our planet.

The agenda is here - please email chea...@gmail.com with any additions.

Take Action

The Energy Working Group has kicked off, 

and there is a small group who will herd cats for the first six months as we decide how we want to focus our energies. We are likely to be meeting once a month on a Thursday at 4:00 - which Thursday TBD. If people want to add their name to the Energy Working Group list serve, they can email Susan Richman (susan7richman@gmail.com). The majority of people joining the first two calls have been members of local Energy Committees/Commissions, and others included elected officials and representatives of non-profit organizations. The two main areas of focus are 1) exchanging practical information about local energy initiatives and 2) engaging on legislation and policy of interest. The first substantive information exchange has been on examples of RFPs for municipal solar projects. 

The Energy Working Group portion of the NH Network website is https://www.newhampshirenetwork.org/working-groups/energy, which has meeting minutes and will eventually become a repository of this kind of useful information. 

NH Network Energy WG’s google group is https://groups.google.com/g/nh-network-energy-working-group. Members can send emails to nh-network-energy-working-group@googlegroups.com

From Bill McKibben Stop Expansion of LNG Exports

As this hottest year in human history winds towards its close, I’m writing to ask for your help with what may be the single biggest climate fight left on planet Earth. And it’s right here at home.

The US is planning to quadruple the export of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) from the Gulf of Mexico over the next few years—there are plans for 20 huge export terminals to add to the seven that already exist. If they are built, the emissions associated with them will be as large as all the emissions from every home, factory, and car in the EU. The emissions associated with them will wipe out every bit of progress the U.S. has made on reducing carbon and methane since 2005.

https://groups.google.com/g/nh-environment-energy-and-climate-network/c/_NbbTZVk6_Q

Citizens Climate Lobby:  Big Wires Act and Carbon Fee and Dividend

Support grid resilience, the next step forward for permitting reform (call Congress about the BIG WIRES Act): citizensclimatelobby.org/get-loud-take-action/big-wires

Support Carbon Fee and Dividend (email your Representative to co-sponsor the Energy Innovation Act):  citizensclimatelobby.org/get-loud-take-action/energy-innovation-act

Before Nov 14,  email/call NH House Finance Committee- Support SB267

This bill was authored by Sen. Avard, enjoyed bipartisan support, and DES endorsement last spring, but party-line votes cut it off.  This bill is a wise use of funds for necessary DES efforts to avoid combined impacts from pollution, called "Cumulative Impacts Analysis" (CIA)

CIA is already adopted in other states, and will help DES to better protect people while industries can better plan permit applications, a costly process.    

It will fund a DES staff person to examine DES permitting and find ways to avoid multiple impacts on a community; impacts that would otherwise harm health and economic vigor. 

Use the link below to email/call the 22 member committee. (10 Rep, 12 Dem) 

The New Hampshire House of Representatives (state.nh.us)

Any questions,  please email or call me, Cynthia Walter, Ph.D

412-610-4327

cawal...@gmail.com

NH Saves and the PUC   Please write a letter to the PUC (Public Utilities Commission) ASAP -- but no later than November 19.

    To help write your letter, below is  information from Cathy Corkery of the NH chapter of Sierra Club, and STE member Representative Rebecca McWilliams.    (With the current administration, NH McWilliams:   PUC seems opposed to energy efficiency methods (calling it "downshifting of costs," even though a study on the matter determined cost to ratepayers is just pennies each month) 

    This would overturn legal precedent, settled law of over 20 years.

Sierra Club

NH Saves has over 20 successful years of saving hundreds of millions of dollars in lowering energy bills for residential, commercial, and industrial customers.

• The plan up for consideration, 2024-2026, is a continuation of this successful programing in NH that 

  • Effectively adds $2.27 in benefits for every dollar spent; 

  • Supports 1,718 local jobs year round in the state;

  • Local investments build local economy - unlike fossil fuels that come from outside of the state;

  • Local government investments lower energy demands in public buildings thus lowering demand on property taxes;

  • Lower energy demand means less unhealthy pollution - avoidance of 17 tons of SO2 emissions and 175 tons of NOX emissions, both serious and dangerous air pollutants, and 2 Million Tons of CO2.

• Submit supportive comments to the NH Public Utility Commission before November 20
  NH Saves Comments To: clerks...@puc.nh.gov Subject: Public Comment in Docket 23-068 Dear PUC Clerk, I am writing in support of the NH Saves program in Docket 23-068. Then add your story.
  (If you're shy about writing, Sierra Club suggests these prompts: I am/We are... I/We value... But right now... ACTION REQUESTED...)

ENDORSEMENT OF THE PROGRAM by our 4 utility companies!!): 

https://www.puc.nh.gov/regulatory/Docketbk/2023/23-068/INITIAL%20FILING%20-%20PETITION/23-068_2023-06-30_NH_UTILITIES_EE-TRIENNAIL-PLAN.PDF 

Background

As you may recall the PUC dealt a traumatic blow to the NHSaves efficiency programs in the fall of 2021. This led to the total shutdown of the NH efficiency programs, upending residential, commercial, municipal, and industrial projects while also disrupting the work and incomes of many efficiency companies and their employees. The economic impact was likely very high and the NHSaves programs and the energy-efficiency workforce are still recovering. Another bad PUC order will be even more devastating.

Over the past year, the Chair of the PUC has shown considerable skepticism concerning the value of energy efficiency, and even with two recent bills passed by the legislature to clarify how the EE programs should be valued, there is deep concern that the PUC will issue another harmful order.

In talking with stakeholders, concerns have been raised about how DOE plans to support the NHSaves program at the PUC. At this time, as the utilities continue to restore programs and rebuild faith among their contractors it is imperative that the plan be approved. DOE's strong support will be instrumental in preventing the PUC from making a bad decision.

Feed Your Brain

Funding Notice: DOE Seeks Lead Organizations for Equitable Solar Communities of Practice

https://groups.google.com/g/nh-environment-energy-and-climate-network/c/GZhVLnzhSXk

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Solar Energy Technologies Office, under a Partnership Intermediary Agreement with ENERGYWERX, created the Equitable Solar Communities of Practice program to support the equitable distribution of the benefits of solar. 

This opportunity closes on December 8, 2023, at 5 p.m. ET. For more information on this program and to apply, visit the ENERGYWERX Equitable Solar Communities of Practice webpage.  

DOE Issues Notice of Intent to Fund Research for Waste-to-Energy Community Solutions that Advance the U.S. Bioeconomy

https://groups.google.com/g/nh-environment-energy-and-climate-network/c/bSMsLMYM5hc

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) and Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO) announced their intent to issue a funding opportunity announcement (FOA) to support the development of community planning and strategies for converting organic waste into feedstock for various clean transportation fuel products. The WASTE: Waste Analysis and Strategies for Transportation End-uses funding opportunity would help local communities develop cost-effective approaches to sustainably manage their waste stream infrastructures. It would also help municipalities and local transportation authorities meet local demand for energy that can be derived from these waste streams.

Casella Submits New Landfill Application

https://groups.google.com/g/nh-environment-energy-and-climate-network/c/xvjnYvbbZSo

Meetings

Wednesday, November 8th  7 pm  NH Network Steering Committee, NH Network  

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88391481728?pwd=OTlYeGNWb0V4bDgwZXRIY2JlVXU5QT09

Meeting ID: 883 9148 1728

Passcode: 846696

Thursday, November 9th 8:30 to 4 pm   NH Energy Symposium

 Grappone Conference Center

As we look towards the future, energy infrastructure and sources in New Hampshire will require development and modernization to lower costs and meet the demands of tomorrow with increased electrification on the horizon.

This year's symposium has expert panelists lined up for the following topics:

Online registration closes at noon on Wednesday, November 8. Walk-ins will be allowed based on availability but there is a $25 surcharge and payment is due at the door. 

Sunday, November 12, 6 pm Plastics WG

ZOOM Link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/6275609302: 

ID: 627 560 9302 

One tap mobile

+13092053325, 6275609302# US

Monday, November 13 5:30- 7pm   NH Network Monthly meeting

Learn why the U.S. Military considers climate change a serious security concern.

From its far-flung bases to its key supply lines and its significant energy consumption, the armed services must make sober and realistic assessments of climate risks. 

How are they preparing for these challenges?

~

REGISTER NOW at https://bit.ly/Military_Climate

Thursday,  November 16 6:00 PM  Lebanon film and speaker series

Kilton Library Community Room

8 BILLION  ANGELS

Are There Too Many Of Us For Planet Earth?

Today, humanity’s demand for resources is vastly outpacing nature’s ability to supply them. Food, water, climate and extinction emergencies are unfolding before our eyes. 8 BILLION ANGELS tells the truth about the conflict between our human numbers and the sustainability of our planet.

8 BILLION  ANGELS   takes us on an immersive and emotional journey into the lives of farmers, fishermen and others as they confront the economic, social and health effects of unsustainable population growth.

8 BILLION ANGELS offers solutions to our environmental crises that are practical, high-impact, and scientifically proven to heal the planet and ensure a better quality of life for all Earth's inhabitants.

Take Action

Citizens Climate Lobby:  Big Wires Act and Carbon Fee and Dividend

Support grid resilience, the next step forward for permitting reform (call Congress about the BIG WIRES Act): citizensclimatelobby.org/get-loud-take-action/big-wires

Support Carbon Fee and Dividend (email your Representative to co-sponsor the Energy Innovation Act):  citizensclimatelobby.org/get-loud-take-action/energy-innovation-act

From a Network member:

It would be nice if someone from the NH Network went to the NH Energy Symposium on Thur, Nov 9, 8:30 AM-4 PM, so we'd get an idea of how the BIA is leaning these days.  Cost is $150 for non-members/$125 for members.  Deadline to sign up is Wed noon. I see Sam Evans-Brown and Don Kreis are on the agenda.  It would be nice to know how the BIA, Michael Vose and Marc Brown, etc. are viewing "sustainability" these days.  

Feed Your Brain

Please do not hesitate to reach out if Senator Shaheen can be helpful to you and your community or organization. 

Senator Shaheen Updates: 

• Senator Shaheen recently became Chair of the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee. Senator Shaheen’s first hearing will be tomorrow, Wednesday, November 1 at 2:30 on the topic of “The Great Outdoors: Small Businesses and America’s Outdoor Recreation Economy.” New Hampshire Small Business Owner, Andrew Drummond of Ski the Whites will be one of the witnesses for the hearing. The hearing will be livestreamed on the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee website.

• NH Municipal Association and Senator Shaheen’s office held a webinar about Elective Pay, a provision of Inflation Reduction Act. Elective pay allows applicable entities, including tax-exempt and governmental entities that would otherwise be unable to claim certain credits because they do not owe federal income tax, to benefit from some clean energy tax credits. By choosing this election, the amount of the credit is treated as a payment of tax and any overpayment will result in a refund. You can re-watch the webinar and access further resources about elective pay here.

• New Hampshire Congressional Delegation Applauds Twin States Clean Energy Link’s Selection to be Part of $1.3 Billion U.S. Department of Energy Program.

• Senator Shaheen celebrated the towns of Exeter, Peterborough and Harrisville that were among only 12 projects nationwide selected for $900,000 through the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) Program. Senator Shaheen was in Exeter to discuss their project which will partner with NHSaves and Weatherization programs in the state to bring energy efficient upgrades to over 100 manufactured homes.

• Clean Energy NH was awarded $500,000 through USDA RD, Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) Technical Assistance funding that was expanded through the Inflation Reduction Act. 

• U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen, a senior member of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee that funds the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), announced with the NH delegation that $27.6 million in LIHEAP funds are being awarded to New Hampshire to assist Granite State families ahead of the winter season with fuel assistance. Granite Staters can apply for heating assistance through their local Community Action Partnership office. Please visit CAPNH.org to find an office near you.

• U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) announced an investment of nearly $3.4 Million in New Technologies for Ag Extension at the University of New Hampshire.

• New Hampshire will receive a Department of Energy (DOE) award totaling $6,619,797 to help modernize the state’s power grid. The funding will be used to invest in disadvantaged communities, bolster grid resilience for extreme weather and other disruptive events and provide additional workforce development and training opportunities. New Hampshire will hold a competitive selection process to identify projects in need of this funding. These grants were funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

• U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Susan Collins announced their bipartisan resolution to designate October 4, 2023, as “Energy Efficiency Day” passed the Senate unanimously. The resolution celebrates and promotes the economic and environmental benefits gained from investing in energy efficiency.

  Below are a couple of grants and programs that were announced last month. Please reach out if Senator Shaheen can be helpful in identifying grants or writing a letter of support for a federal grant.

• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the availability of $235 million in grants to assess and clean up polluted brownfield sites across the country. The new grants through EPA’s Brownfields Multipurpose, Assessment, and Cleanup (MAC) program will advance environmental justice and help transform what were once polluted, vacant, and abandoned properties into community assets while spurring economic revitalization in underserved communities.

• The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service is making nearly $50 million in grant funding available for proposals that support crucial links between resilient, healthy forests, strong rural economies and jobs in the forestry sector. The open funding opportunity comes through the Forest Service’s three key grant programs to support the forest products economy: Wood Innovations Grant, Community Wood Grant, and Wood Products Infrastructure Assistance Grant Programs. The agency is seeking proposals that support innovative uses of wood in the construction of low carbon buildings, as a renewable energy source, and in manufacturing and processing products. These programs also provide direct support to expand and retrofit wood energy systems and wood products manufacturing facilities nationwide.

• The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced the availability of up to $36 million through President Biden’s Investing in America agenda for fish passage projects across the nation that address outdated, unsafe or obsolete dams, culverts, levees and other barriers fragmenting our nation’s rivers and streams.

• FEMA is making $1.8 billion available for two grant programs designed to help communities increase their resilience to the impacts of climate change, including increasingly frequent and extreme weather events. The Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) annual grant program is making $1 billion available for projects that protect people and infrastructure from natural hazards and the effects of climate change. The Flood Mitigation Assistance program is making $800 million available for projects that mitigate flood risks facing homes and communities across the nation.

A report on Chemical Cycling:  What It Does and Does Not Do

…But a new report from the nonprofits Beyond Plastics and the International Pollutants Elimination Network, or IPEN, says chemical recycling is a “dangerous deception” that will only exacerbate pollution and environmental injustice while failing to address the plastics crisis.

“The landscape of chemical recycling is littered with pollution and failure,” and relying on it is an “unreliable and polluting approach” to resolve the global plastics crisis, Jennifer Congdon, Beyond Plastics’ deputy director, told journalists at a press conference on Tuesday. She and the report co-authors called on President Joe Biden to place a national moratorium on new chemical recycling operations in the U.S. and urged international negotiators to disavow the process as part of the global plastics treaty that will be discussed during a third round of negotiations in Nairobi later this month.  

Read More:  https://gizmodo.com/a-report-calls-chemical-recycling-a-dangerous-deceptio-1850989026

Advocates fear N.H. clean energy proposal would pit nuclear against solar, wind

If not designed carefully, critics say a clean energy standard that includes nuclear power could undercut the market for renewable energy credits.

Climate and clean energy advocates in New Hampshire say a pending proposal to define nuclear power as clean energy could undercut solar and wind power in the state. 

Though the details are still in the works, state Rep. Michael Vose, chair of the legislature’s science, technology, and energy committee, is drafting a bill that would allow nuclear power generators, such as New Hampshire’s Seabrook Station, to receive payments for contributing clean energy to the grid. 

Read More:  https://energynews.us/2023/11/02/advocates-fear-n-h-clean-energy-proposal-would-pit-nuclear-against-solar-wind/

What’s Happening at the NH Network!

Important Links on our Website:

Our Partners

Our Calendar with NH Network’s and Partners’ Events

Table of Contents

• Meetings

  • Climate Citizens WG  11/1, Local Energy Solutions Annual Conference 11/2,  Energy WG  11/3,  NH Association of Conservation Commissions Annual Conference  11/04,  Citizens Climate Fall Conference 11/04, Sierra Club 11/9, Plastics WG  11/12,  NH Network Monthly Webinar - Climate and Military Security  11/13

• Take Action

  •  Support the initiative to educate your local representative on climate science - intervention needed!

  •  Support limiting waste on political signage for the 2024 elections

• Feed Your Brain

  • Future Crunch Weekly Update:  GLOBAL GOOD NEWS

  • NH Network Steering Committee minutes

  • Plastic Working Group minutes

Meetings

Wednesday, November 1 — 7:00 pm  Climate Working Group

https://citizensclimate.zoom.us/my/cclnhrizoom?pwd=MTRoSmtMQ3J3bksyc0xwVk9sbEJMdz0 -         

Thursday, November 2 — 8 am to 4 pm  2023 Local Energy Solutions (LES) Conference 

The annual Local Energy Solutions (LES) Conference is New Hampshire's premier event for local energy champions, policymakers, municipal officials, town staff, regulators, and industry representatives.  

https://www.cleanenergynh.org/event-details/2023-local-energy-solutions-les-conference

Organized by Clean Energy NH, the Local Energy Solutions (LES) Conference is the state's premier energy conference and the only event of its kind that brings together the clean energy community in New Hampshire. Collectively we learn about the latest topics, listen to experts discuss innovative ideas and best practices, and experience new technologies first-hand. The LES Conference offers best of the best networking opportunities with industry partners, state policy professionals, non-profits, and municipal leaders.

Friday, November  3, 2023 — 2:30 PM Energy Working Group Meeting #2 

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81153137271?pwd=UWpkK3cxTnBmOUdZZzFVVXZrSzlBQT09

Meeting ID: 811 5313 7271

Passcode: 729616

Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kcf85L6UYD

Saturday, November 4  NH Association of Conservation Commissions Annual Conference

https://www.nhacc.org/annualmeeting

Saturday, November 4  CCL's Fall Virtual Conference,  Grassroots Rising: Leveling Up in the Climate Fight - 

https://citizensclimatelobby.org/climate-change-conferences/fall/

November 9  Sierra Club monthly meeting   

https://www.mobilize.us/climateactionnh/event/584089/

Sunday, November 12 — 6 pm Plastics Working Group

ZOOM Link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/6275609302: 

ID: 627 560 9302 

One tap mobile

+13092053325, 6275609302# US

We will be joined by Nora Bosworth, Staff Attorney for the Conservation Law Foundation, who will begin guiding us on legislative strategy.  

Monday, November 13 — 5:30- 7pm   NH Network Monthly meeting

Learn why the U.S. Military considers climate change a serious security concern.

From its far-flung bases to its key supply lines and its significant energy consumption, the armed services 

must make sober and realistic assessments of climate risks. 

How are they preparing for these challenges?

~

REGISTER NOW at https://bit.ly/Military_Climate

Take Action

From John Gage:

Thank you for the kind feedback about my Climate Science Intervention article.  I've been asked for details regarding what we can do about this together.  Here are two ideas: 

1. Contact your State Reps to tell them you read the article "NH House Needs a Climate Science Intervention" in the Concord Monitor, and you want them to contact the House Science, Technology, and Energy Committee Chairman, Rep. Michael Vose, to encourage him to hold an information-gathering hearing with the state's climate science and policy experts.  State experts include our State's Climatologist (Dr. Mary Stampone of UNH, who participated in an NH Network event last year at https://www.newhampshirenetwork.org/events#h.nnhbimu0a69j), Dr. Cameron Wake of UNH, NH DES staff, and economists at UNH and Dartmouth (such as Dr. Charles Wheelan, who participated in an NH Network event last year starting at 44:15 at https://www.newhampshirenetwork.org/events#h.nnhbimu0a69j).
   You can find your Reps' email addresses at https://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/house/members/.  Find them one by one in the "Select a Member" Roster list, or download the whole roster in a form you can load in a spreadsheet (e.g., Google Sheets will load the Microsoft 2003 version), sort by town, and you'll have easy access to all the phone numbers and email addresses.

2. Join the November NH Network Climate Working Group meeting on Wednesday, November 1, at 7:00 pm on Zoom, to brainstorm more actions.  A preliminary agenda and the connection information are here.  We hope individuals and a representative from every NH Network member organization that works on climate change will attend and bring their topics to discuss.  Email me if you want to add an item to the agenda.

And one final request:  please register for the Citizens' Climate Lobby Fall Conference.  This free, Zoom-based climate solutions conference on November 4 will bring you up to speed on climate legislative prospects in Congress, and you'll hear experts advising how citizens can have maximum impact.   In addition to all the good work you do individually and at the community and state levels, addressing climate pollution enough to hold warming below 1.5˚C requires much stronger federal policies that reach beyond our borders.  CCL exists to help citizens contribute effectively to help make that happen.  If you are new to CCL, I recommend starting with CCL's Informational Session at noon at the Conference Day.  You can register at citizensclimatelobby.org/climate-change-conferences/fall/.

From Peggy Longley:

Important LOCAL initiative on limiting plastic use for political signage.

1. I would like to see political organizations investing in more recyclable the Poly(ethelene)-bag signs that stretch over a metal frame and are recyclable through Nex-trex deposit bins*

Vs Corrugated plastic type (sturdier, slightly more expensive BUT have to go in landfill. Someone sugged NH ) but let's choose the more sustainable sign! Let's see how it goes!

Of course both signs come with metal frames/supports which can be reused or recycled.

2. Most all signage companies offer both types of signs so there should be no problem finding the Ply-bags. It is the same material as the plastic mailers we receive through the mail.

3. Retailers** in NH that have Nex Trex bins for 'film' (poly-bag) plastic. Signs can just be rolled up and placed in bins after campaign & election season:

• DeMoulas Market Basket

• Hannaford

• Whole Foods

• Shaw's

• Kohl's

• Ocean State Job Lot

• and Town of Littleton and many, many other towns.

4. Mission and Goal: 

1.   I will contact the Dem Party Headquarters this week to obtain county headquarter (includ. Republican) contact info.

2.   I will create a link to a poster that would have everything a party headquarters forward to their candidates.

3.  I will let NH Network & PWG members who are interested, know how they can help by sending this email with link out to candidates in their county. It will have all information to help candidates make a choice for recyclability for their political lawn signs and banners...AND where the plastic can be taken to be recycled after use (above list).

Time frame to be established.

This might be more info than you're looking for. Please know if I can help further.

Feed Your Brain

FUTURE CRUNCH WEEKLY UPDATE - ALL GOOD NEWS

https://futurecrunch.com/

NH Network Steering Committee meeting notes:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yailSjZWHQJnDWYnd29hKG-MkhXhO4PpoQvfsS-rOQg/edit

Plastics WG meeting notes:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vtseT5p7iVEYdKq_bPFWMutT1ezvG9KIEfynnE8Za_s/edit

The EU is fighting microplastics pollution with a ban on products that have microplastics added to them, including cosmetics, detergents, glitter, fertilisers, toys, and artificial sports surfaces. An estimated 42,000 tons of microplastics are added to products sold in the EU every year. 'This is an opportunity for the European industry to be at the forefront of the development towards more sustainability and innovation.' DW

Between 2018 and 2022, Indonesia reduced its marine plastic waste from 615,675 tonnes to 408,885. This means the country’s position among the world’s largest contributors of plastic waste has fallen from second to fifth, a trend that looks set to continue as it aims for a further 70% reduction of marine debris by 2024. Antara News

What’s Happening at the NH Network

Important Links on our Website:

Our Partners

Our Calendar with NH Network’s and Partners’ Events

Overview

Minutes:

•    Initial meeting of the Energy WG    Minutes ENERGY GROUP Oct 19, 2024

•    NH Network Climate WG NH Network Climate Working Group - Monthly Meeting Agenda / 

•    Plastics WG  Meeting Notes #52 - October 15, 2023

Meetings: 

• Inflation Reduction Act, NH Network Steering Committee, Dover Plastic Reduction Group webinar on EPR, Plastics WG, Climate WG. Local Energy Solutions Conference (LES), NH Food Alliance Cafe Series, North Country Food and Agricultural Summit

Take Action:  

•   Submit testimony on the 2024-26 Triennial Energy Efficiency Plan

•   Submit testimony on the 10 year Transportation Bill.

•   Plastics WG Mesh Bag project

•   Submit testimony on solid waste expansion

Feed Your Brain:  

• Forever Chemicals Are Eternal No More Thanks To Pollution Destroying…..

• NH House Needs a Climate Science Intervention  (John Gage)

• NH Food Alliance Series

• Great Green Wall - film opportunity in Portsmouth Public Library October 26

• NY Times:  In a Twist, Old Coal Plants can Deliver Renewable Energy

• Access to Natural Gas Keeps Our Lights On (Michael Vose, Chair STE Committee)

• NH Energy and Action  Education program:  school curriculum for clean energy

Meetings

Monday, October 23 11 am  

Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) Elective Pay Webinar.   Those working with nonprofits, churches, schools, municipalities and others that are tax-exempt and wish to consider pursuing upcoming opportunities to reduce energy efficiency, electrification or  renewable energy project costs may wish to attend this webinar, and how it may be helpful to your town or non-profit

Please Register Here

Monday, Oct 23, 2023 05:00 PM   NH NETWORK Steering Committee Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83830125629?pwd=bVZQVlowWDVlbm0wdFc2YjdtdnlKUT09

MINUTES from Last Steering Committee available at:

Minutes, Steering Committee, 10/18/2023

Thursday, October 26 7 pm  Dover Plastic Reduction Group.   

Guest speaker Peter Blair, Policy and Advocacy Director at Just Zero, a national non-profit advancing community-centered Zero Waste solutions. Peter will present information on Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), a policy approach that holds manufacturers responsible for the lifecycle of their products including handling the waste produced. Just Zero  craft a model bill that we expect to be used as the foundation for a NH bill.   On Monday of this week, the NH House EPR Study Committee voted to send forward proposed EPR legislation to be considered during the next legislative session, so this is a particularly timely topic.   To obtain the zoom link, respond to Kristine’s Baber’s email   https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/FMfcgzGwHLjpVJtNfVdHLKRJwzclsnGV

Sunday, October 29 6 pm   Plastics WG  

(Also, stop by the Mesh Bag Mamas Produce Bag Launch on Saturday, October 21, Noon - 2 pm to cheer us on. Photos of Mesh Bag Mamas in action attached, along with educational with postcard insert. To start your own Mesh Bag Mamas project to help raise awareness about reusables contact chea...@gmail.com.)

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/6275609302

Wednesday, November 1 at 7:00 pm  Climate WG

https://citizensclimate.zoom.us/my/cclnhrizoom?pwd=MTRoSmtMQ3J3bksyc0xwVk9sbEJMdz0 -         

NH Network Climate Working Group - Monthly Meeting Agenda / Minutes 

Thursday, November 2  8 am to 4 pm  2023 Local Energy Solutions (LES) Conference The annual Local Energy Solutions (LES) Conference is New Hampshire's premier event for local energy champions, policymakers, municipal officials, town staff, regulators, and industry representatives.

https://www.cleanenergynh.org/event-details/2023-local-energy-solutions-les-conference

 WHAT IS LES?

Organized by Clean Energy NH, the Local Energy Solutions (LES) Conference is the state's premier energy conference and the only event of its kind that brings together the clean energy community in New Hampshire. Collectively we learn about the latest topics, listen to experts discuss innovative ideas and best practices, and experience new technologies first-hand. The LES Conference offers best of the best networking opportunities with industry partners, state policy professionals, non-profits, and municipal leaders.

November 3 noon to 1 pm The NH Food Alliance’s 2023-2024 Network Café Series 

is exploring A Regional Approach to Food System Resilience, a four-volume report of foundational food system data commissioned and released by the New England State Food System Planners Partnership. The New England State Food System Planners Partnership is a collaboration among six state-level food system organizations and Food Solutions New England.

Register:  https://www.nhfoodalliance.org/get-involved/network-cafe-series

November 8th  2nd Annual North Country Food and Agriculture Summit is now open! 

Please register today. Registration is open until November 1st. Share this invitation with your networks, friends, and co-workers. 

 https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2nd-annual-north-country-food-and-agriculture-summit-tickets-723378252827?aff=oddtdtcreator

Take Action

Don Kreis, NH Consumer Advocate, expressed his strong support of continuing NH Saves.  The PUC has hearings Oct 25 & 31 on the upcoming triennial energy efficiency plan for 2024, 2025, and 2026.   and hearings that are coming before the PUC on Oct. 25 and 31.

Please write to p...@puc.nh.gov, mention docket DE 23-068 in the subject line, and ask the PUC to approve the 2024-2026 triennial energy efficiency plan.  The PUC must decide by 11/30.

TALKING POINTS:  businesses and households alike need to plan their budgets, and a 3-year horizon is especially needful for business, as they decide major energy expenditures.  

When the last 3-year energy plan tottered, a swath of NH energy contractors lost business or went out of business.

Transportation - comments due Oct 26.  

At the meeting I attended, it seemed clear that priorities are road upgrade and enlargement, bridge repair, and airports.  Please write to urge development of PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION OPTIONS.  

Your input wanted -- transportation in NH

Hearings are happening now for the Draft 2025-2034 Ten Year Transportation Plan.

The hearings began 9/7 but continue to 10/25.  Here is the link to view the schedule:  

https://mm.nh.gov/files/uploads/dot/remote-docs/final-gacit-schedule.pdf

Written input additionally accepted, through Nov 3, directed to William.e.watsonjr@dot.nh.gov 

and there is a survey to fill out at  https://metroquestsurvey.com/yn8w8t (The survey is tilted toward road construction &amp; improvement – but there are open comment opportunities.)

 there's a survey for the 10 year plan: https://live.metroquestsurvey.com/?u=yn8w8t#!/?p=web&pm=dynamic&s=1&popup=WTD

HOWEVER:  The survey gives you a very narrow range of choices, mostly to do with road & bridge upgrade and road expansion.  You have to creatively use the few open-ended spaces if you want to urge more public transportation, EV charging etc.

Sample letter:

To the Commissioner of NHDOT and the Executive Councilors,

The ten year plan for transportation in NH lacks the imagination and forward look that is required to address the challenges of efficiently moving people and goods in New Hampshire in the coming decade.  While it focuses on improving our roads and bridges, the plan lacks investments in electric vehicle charging infrastructure and public transportation. We need our transportation plan to carry New Hampshire into a future where vehicles will be electrified and fast trains will carry people and goods around the state and connect with economic centers, especially to the south of us.  People in NH have been asking for the commuter rail from Boston to extend to Nashua and Manchester for years.  Now is the time to make it happen.

Every car manufacturer has recognized that electric transportation will replace gasoline vehicles over the next twenty years with benefits in lower emissions and reduced operating costs for state residents.  In order to make that happen, it is the responsibility of public officials to establish policy and economic support to make more fast chargers available in the state through a public-private partnership with the electric industry.  The State can lead the way by transitioning governmental vehicle fleets to significantly increase electric vehicle use.

Our transportation system is at a crossroads.  I encourage you to look forward, not backwards and provide funding for public transportation and electrification infrastructure so that New Hampshire can continue to be the great place we all love even as the world spins unpredictably around us.

From Cindy Heath/Plastics WG

Notes from tonight here. This is an amazing group of activists. Thank you all for getting it done in your communities and statewide.

We welcome updates from members in the updates section of the notes. Feel free to drop a line about what actions you’re taking these days.

Great investigative reporting article on the nefarious practices of chemical recycling companies, Garbage In, Toxics Out (The Intercept 9.28.23)

Stop by the Mesh Bag Mamas Produce Bag Launch on Saturday, October 21, Noon - 2 pm to cheer us on. Photos of Mesh Bag Mamas in action attached, along with educational with postcard insert. To start your own Mesh Bag Mamas project to help raise awareness about reusables contact chea...@gmail.com.

From Jon Swan.  He highlights these are his opinions and for his complete summary click on this email link.   https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/FMfcgzGwHLkxFBZFPCzJFggKwNSKvgSG

Here is part of his email:

I just wanted to share some updates, and of course, documents.  There is SO MUCH going on, but I will try to summarize and be as brief as possible.  I apologize for the attachments, but hopefully they are of interest and are informative.

First off, I have been spending a lot of time in Concord at NHDES, as a result of a 91-A Right-To-Know request for files relative to the NCES Landfill and my research into the explanations offered by Casella/Sanborn Head/NHDES for the numerous detections of PFAS and other contaminants at the numerous groundwater monitoring wells that lie outside of the lined landfill, located within the watershed and upgradient of the Ammonoosuc River.  I have had an op-ed relative to my findings printed in both the Concord Monitor and the Union Leader, attached, and linked below.  I do hope the powers that be have read my op-ed, and subsequently, Dr. Adam Finkel's, as it is my firm belief that the landfill is failing.  I continue to amass documentation that supports my conclusion that NCES is failing, primarily due to the Stage I and possibly Stage II liner systems.  The construction reports and NHDES responses make for some revealing reading!  

Jon Swan op-ed, with links:  

https://www.unionleader.com/opinion/op-eds/jon-swan-i-believe-the-nces-landfill-is-failing/article_592f824d-846a-5ef4-a141-1c57d689d2ab.html

Dr. Adam Finkel op-ed, with links:  

https://www.unionleader.com/opinion/op-eds/adam-finkel-casella-should-provide-answers/article_a1a42dd3-c5f1-550b-bbdc-b8e6578a5ee6.html

If you have not yet, please, take a moment and reach out to our elected officials and ask them to intervene at NCES. It's time to stop feeding the source of the contaminants which are being released within the watershed of the Ammonoosuc River.  Garbage going into the landfill leads to more leachate generation, which is not being contained within the landfill.  It's time to close the NCES Landfill in Bethlehem and address the contamination which is being released within the watershed of the Ammonoosuc River.

• Contact Senator Jeanne Shaheen: https://www.shaheen.senate.gov/contact/contact-jeanne

• Contact Senator Maggie Hassan: https://www.hassan.senate.gov/contact/email

• Contact Congresswoman Anne Kuster: https://kuster.house.gov/contact/

You can also send an email to the aides of Senator Shaheen, Senator Hassan, and Congresswoman Kuster:

chuck_henderson@shaheen.senate.gov

ben_belanger@hassan.senate.gov

stephanie.weiner@mail.house.gov

Feed Your Brain  

Forever Chemicals Are Eternal No More Thanks To Pollution Destroying…..

https://www.geekwire.com/2023/this-startup-has-a-weapon-of-pfas-destruction-that-fits-inside-a-10-foot-shipping-container/

NH Food Alliance

Thank you to those who attended our October Network Café, part of our 2023-2024 Network Café Series on Friday, October 6. For those who missed our October Café, we were joined by Brian Donohue, of Brandeis University, the lead researcher for the team whose research became “Volume 1: Estimating Resilient Eating Patterns” of A Regional Approach to Food System Resilience. Brian shared what the team learned in analyzing dietary patterns across major food groups to understand the food that New Englanders currently consume and how that might change by 2030, followed by a discussion of the research’s implications for New Hampshire's food system. 

What would it take for 30% of the food consumed in New England to be regionally produced by 2030? Join the NH Food Alliance network as we address this question during our 2023-2024 Network Café Series through A Regional Approach to Food System Resilience, a four-volume report of foundational food system data commissioned and released by the New England State Food System Planners Partnership. The report lays out an unprecedented compilation of the most current New England food systems data and frames the data intentionally to inspire conversation and action towards New England producing and consuming more of its own food.

During each Network Café, the lead researcher for each volume of A Regional Approach to Food System Resilience will join us to dig into the data. They will provide a short summary of the volume and answer questions, helping our network of partners utilize the report in strategic planning, fundraising, advocacy, and other work as we continue to build vibrant food systems in New Hampshire and New England.

The New England State Food System Planners Partnership is a collaboration among six state-level food system organizations and Food Solutions New England. Please note that our September Network Café will be held on the second Friday of the month to avoid the Labor Day holiday weekend. If you have questions about our 2023-2024 Network Café Series, reach out to our Communications Coordinator, Colleen Stewart, HERE

From John Gage  NH Network Climate WG:

NH House Needs a Climate Science Intervention

When my daughter and I attended a hearing of the NH House Committee on State-Federal Relations and Veterans Affairs last year, I was astonished by the disinformation we heard in the testimony of two House Science, Technology, and Energy (STE) Committee members.  In support of a House resolution that called for ignoring mainstream science and economics, they repeated long-disproven climate myths promoted by fossil fuel industry-funded front groups.  My daughter had refuted the fallacies in a Concord Monitor article before the hearing (My Turn: NH Legislature attempts to remove our best climate solution).  No citizens testified in support of the resolution, five testified in opposition to it, and it was overwhelmingly opposed in online testimony (149 to 4).  Yet the committee took the two STE members' opinions over the public input and voted HR 17 ought to pass down party lines.  The resolution later passed in a House floor vote with only Republican support.

It is the responsibility of STE Committee members to advise all House committees on scientific matters.  To establish her credibility, one of the HR 17 co-sponsors noted that she had been an STE committee member for four legislative sessions.  But her testimony led me to wonder – where did these crazy ideas come from?  Climate science denial and the “free market fundamentalist” ideology have long been refuted by experts in science and economics.  Global warming is happening, mainly due to fossil fuel pollution, and policy changes are required to address the market’s failure to account for the costs of that pollution in the price of fossil fuels.  It should not be free to pollute.  Experts recommend charging the fossil fuel industry a carbon polluters fee to reduce the pollution and giving the money collected to everyone equally to protect household purchasing power.  Most families would get more money back than they would spend in trickle-down higher costs. This is the kind of solution HR 17 resolved NOT to do.

What do we tell our children – students who get top marks in science classes and are concerned about climate pollution – when House STE Committee members disregard mainstream science and our state’s own experts?  Adding insult to injury, the other STE member called those who disagreed with his opinion “environmental crusaders” three times in his testimony – while my daughter and I waited to share what we knew about climate science from NASA, NOAA, and UNH, and climate policy from our state’s economic experts.

HR 17 was not a sensible, conservative resolution.  It was a Koch-inspired statement designed to delay legislation to address Koch Industries' pollution. 

Charles Koch accrued his wealth from fossil fuel businesses.  The Koch Network is a group of billionaires who fund out-of-state polluter-friendly legislative initiatives via dozens of front groups, including DonorsTrust, Americans for Prosperity, Heartland Institute, American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), and the State Policy Network (of which the Josiah Bartlett Center is the New Hampshire node and the DonorsTrust “dark-money ATM” a heavy funder).  These groups produce and promote disinformation about what we know through science, push polluting industries' policies, and delay energy efficiency, electrification, and clean energy progress across the country. They have power in the Concord State House, but they don’t represent New Hampshire businesses, citizens, or our children’s interests.

The Koch infiltration runs high and deep in New Hampshire.  Governor Chris Sununu’s connection to the Josiah Bartlett Center goes back to his father, John Sununu, emeritus board member.  His brother James is also on the board.  One of the STE committee members who sponsored and testified for HR 17, NH House Republican Whip Jeanine Notter, has attended Heartland, ALEC, and similar groups’ conferences in California, Texas, and Florida on all-expenses-paid trips courtesy of Koch-funded front groups valued over $11,500 in the last five years.  She distributes their pamphlets and pushes their polluter priorities in legislation.  State Legislators’ mailboxes are periodically stuffed with Koch front-group propaganda pushing climate opinions not supported by any scientific organization.

When New Hampshire leaders are guided by out-of-state fossil fuel industry-funded groups rather than by Climate Assessment Reports from our state's official climatologist and information from the NH Department of Environmental Services (des.nh.gov/climate-and-sustainability/climate-change), New Hampshire citizens pay the consequences.  Our state lags behind our neighbors in solar installations, EV adoption, charging station deployments, and energy efficiency.  We suffered far more than our neighbors when gas, oil, and electricity prices shot up due to the recent Saudi market manipulation and boycott of Russian gas.

How can we demonstrate to our children that our democratic system works for us?  We must help our state leaders break their blind allegiance to out-of-state fossil fuel industry interests.  The NH House STE Committee leadership needs a climate science intervention.

The Chairman of the STE Committee, Representative Michael Vose of Epping, can not be pleased when two of his committee members promote climate science misinformation as representatives of his committee.  He should invite state climate science and economic experts to an STE committee Q&A hearing to clear up their confusion.  None of the Democrats on the STE committee suffer from those delusions.  But until something changes, the STE Republican majority will continue leading the NH Legislature astray on climate and energy policy, misguided by ideology and out-of-state polluters’ interests.

The first step to addressing a problem is admitting you have one.  There are beneficial bipartisan solutions such as Carbon Fee and Dividend, and our state should use them to prepare for major global policy and climate changes that are headed our way.

We wanted to make sure you were aware of our upcoming documentary film screening and community conversation, scheduled for next Tuesday, October 24th. WACNH will screen the film "The Great Green Wall", which follows the journey of Malian Musician, Inna Modja, as she travels the length of this ambitious continent-wide project to prevent the further desertification of the Sahel region. By creating a 9 mile wide living barrier, communities from Senegal to Djibouti are banding together to protect their lands and continue the fight against climate change.

After the film, the audience will break into facilitator lead conversations to further understanding of the themes of the film. These will be lead by community leaders from Education for All Children, Rain for the Sahel and Sahara, and the League of Conservation Voters. 

Join us at 6:00 pm on October 24th at the Portsmouth Public Library for this free community event. Advanced registration is requested, as space is limited.

From Catherine Corkery/Sierra Club:

I wanted to share this oped from the Republican State House Committee Chair, Michael Vose, about the necessity of natural gas. 

While it has some misinformation and stretches the truth, it is instructional. My hope is to replace the power plants on these industrial sites with clean energy, like solar and battery storage. I attached the recent NYT article on projects just like that. This is the clean energy future we could replicate in NH!!

NY Times:  In a Twist, Old Coal Plants can Deliver Renewable Energy

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/15/climate/coal-plants-renewable-energy.html

NH Union Leader – October 17, 2023

Access to natural gas keeps our lights on

Rep. Michael Vose

PROPANE and natural gas get a bad rap. Together, they heat 39% of Granite State homes. Both burn far cleaner than conventional heating fuels, which lowers heating system maintenance costs and reduces carbon emissions. The 60% fewer emissions from natural gas also make it far better than oil and coal for generating electricity. With these positive attributes, what gives gas a sour smell? Critics rail against it for not being renewable (even though renewable gas exists) and for being in high demand worldwide, leading to periods of price volatility. Add to that the possibility that pipelines may become a stranded

cost in a future clean energy grid and natural gas comes out looking like a loser.

But far from being a loser, natural gas has allowed the U.S. to lower its emissions more than any other region over the past 15 years, including the European Union. It has helped keep per capita emissions in the Granite State lower than most other states in the country even though we heat 42% of our homes with fuel oil and kerosene. Replacing coal and oil with gas in the generation of electricity has not just lowered emissions nationally but also lowered its cost. Except in New England. The Northeast has the country’s highest electricity costs due to a shortage of natural gas during periods of peak demand.

Getting this high-value fuel to our borders remains difficult due to limited pipeline capacity. Vast reserves of natural gas reside just a couple of hundred miles to our west. But states like New York discourage building pipelines that cross their borders.

Pipelines symbolize our industrialized past in a gleaming modern world. Even though they lie invisible, buried alongside our highways and beneath our city streets, evidenced only by the occasional compressor station, they inspire an intense notin- my-backyard (NIMBY) response from some citizens and localities. These attitudes have consequences. Last winter saw New England burning oil to make 30% to 40% of its electricity during multiple cold snaps that drew away natural gas to heat homes and businesses. There was simply not enough gas to do both. The region also had to depend on its last remaining coal plant during those periods, increasing both emissions and costs.

Such events will only increase in the winters ahead should natural gas generation continue to be subject to fuel scarcity. A recent bid to the regional grid operator by the coal plant in Bow was not low enough to qualify for ISO-NE capacity payments in 2026, which likely means it will shutter its doors soon. Equally troubling, the Mystic Station natural gas plant near Boston has signaled that it plans to close at the end of 2024. Since the plant uses liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Trinidad/ Tobago delivered to the nearby Everett LNG terminal, a shutdown would likely force the closure of that LNG port. This LNG helps support the pressure in the gas pipeline that runs from Boston to the Canadian eastern provinces and its loss could further reduce gas supply from the north.

In a region that needs more natural gas electricity generation, plant closures can only mean trouble. The region came close to rolling blackouts this past winter and will be even more vulnerable if gas supplies get even tighter. Help surfaced recently with news that Enbridge, the owner of the Algonquin natural gas pipeline, has announced an expansion effort it calls Project Maple. This expansion will replace existing smaller diameter pipe with larger-diameter pipe, increasing total capacity by 25%. While it will not be complete until 2029, Project Maple’s design will allow more natural gas from the plentiful

Utica/Marcellus shale deposits in New York and Pennsylvania to reach New England.

Our regional dependence on natural gas for generating electricity stems in part from the need toprovide reliable backup for renewable energy, which operates intermittently. Gas-fired plants can ramp up and down quickly to provide power when the sun goes down and winds subside. Such ramping guarantees that the lights always come on when you flick the switch. People rely on that dependable power. As the parade of presidential candidates marches through New Hampshire this fall, they need to outline how they will address our nation’s energy future. Natural gas has been a boon to the nation in 

the past decade and can serve us well in the decades to come.

Rep. Michael Vose (R-Epping) serves as chairman of the House Science, Technology, and Energy Committee.

From NH Energy Education and Action Program  (Aubrey Nelson www.nheep.org  603.493.7225)

We are keen to continue to bring energy and climate learning and awareness of green energy careers into classrooms across the state, and we've also started offering programs for adults and families by partnering with community groups, so we’d love for the opportunity to collaborate with you!

NHEEP has traditionally offered hands-on, engaging, NGSS-aligned programs to support energy and climate science/technical learning for students and teachers. Our programs come in a variety of formats: 

• Hands-on curricular resource and equipment kits (which you can borrow for no or low-cost).

•  Co-taught workshops (including, but not limited to Green Energy Careers, Electricity & the Environment and Heat Transfer, all of which are free)

•  Professional development for teachers (there are several free NGSS Toolkit trainings coming up in November in Manchester, Plymouth or online, and these are also free for educators)

• Support for teachers and students interested in planning and implementing energy action projects.

• High school team action support: Youth Climate Leader’s Academy, which is an engaging year long program to support high school student teams in planning and implementing action projects.

You can visit our website to learn more about our offerings, or call or email me directly. Several of our equipment kits and our co-taught workshops are free thanks to our partnership with NHSaves, so we can discuss what makes the most sense!

Overview - What’s Happening at the NH Network!

Meetings

• Plastics WG (tonight),  NH Businesses for Social Responsibility series, NH Healthcare Climate Action dinner, Bird Dog training, 2nd Annual North Country Food Summit.

• Thursday, 10/19 at 6pm, will be the initial meeting of an Energy Group bringing together members of statewide Energy Committees and individuals hoping to influence NH's energy future. 

Take Action

• Study Extended Producer Responsibility  Monday, Oct.16 starting at 10:00 AM -   

watch and/or submit testimony.   

•  Submit testimony on the 10 year Transportation Bill.

Feed Your Brain

• Duplicity of corporations about their efforts at sustainability

• NH Energy Educator and Action Offers educational, career and resource programs for Schools.  Editorial: 

• E Waste Anxiety is not warranted.

• Editorial:  Why NCES Landfill is Failing.

More From Us and Our Partners

New Hampshire Businesses for Social Responsibility

Find out more and register for this free program which just launched today and runs through December 8th ... www.nhbsr.org/climate

Meetings

 October 15  6 pm  Plastics Working Group.      Rev. Rob Grabill (UCC @ Dartmouth) will provide an update on UCC plastic reduction efforts

Join Zoom Meeting  https://us02web.zoom.us/j/6275609302

October 18  5 to 8 pm  NH Healthcare Workers for Climate Action in person dinner and meeting.

Join us to celebrate the accomplishments of the organization over the past year, and hold a strategic planning session for our future.

Healthcare website  https://www.nhclimatehealth.org/our-events  (Numerous other events are offered.)

Thursday, 10/19 at 6pm, will be the initial meeting of an Energy Group bringing together members of statewide Energy Committees and individuals hoping to influence NH's energy future.  Concerns you have voiced so far include:  

• availability of funding for projects in your towns and sharing the effort of finding & applying, 

• supporting greater energy efficiency measures, 

• status of Community Power in different towns, 

• decarbonization in the built sector (while maintaining air quality), 

• impacting NH energy policy and legislation, 

• and determining the state's future energy goals.  

The proposed agenda for this first meeting:

• identifying ourselves, the successes and concerns of the groups we represent, and the hopes we have for this new gathering. 

• prioritizing goals, and/or setting up subcommittees to pursue different goals

• determining the frequency for meeting and a leadership model (rotating leaders?)

Feel free to share this invitation with others.  Zoom link below.   BTW, please don't hit "reply all".   (Send any comments to Susan Richmond, and she will reserve them for this new group's email list.)

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89973064386?pwd=T2tOUmhMa1NWckdiQlAwbXNvWjJyUT09

Meeting ID: 899 7306 4386

Passcode: 673583

Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kcaC4WjPPB

Thursday, October 19 7 to 8 pm.  Union of Concerned Scientists 

NH Bird Dog Training: How to Ask Candidates Questions on Climate 

(Details posted in the Take Action section)
 

Please register today for our skills-building workshop on birddogging and we hope to see you on October 19.  

Register for the skills-building training today.  

November 8th  2nd Annual North Country Food and Agriculture Summit is now open! 

Please register today. Registration is open until November 1st. Share this invitation with your networks, friends, and co-workers. 

 https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2nd-annual-north-country-food-and-agriculture-summit-tickets-723378252827?aff=oddtdtcreator

Take Action

The next hearing of the NH Committee to Study Extended Producer Responsibility is this Monday, Oct.16 starting at 10:00 AM. 

Want talking points? View EXCELLENT TESTIMONY on behalf of EPR

at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bh9csDIvafo

(Our own Kristine Baber is brilliant, and spokesperson for American Beverages also firmly supports EPR!)   

PLEASE HELP make this bill a possibility.  Take action by following the instructions/talking points on the NH Network's Take Action webpage. Even a brief email to the 4 committee members will help move this effort forward and not let it die in committee.

Please try to attend in person or by using this YouTube link:  https://www.youtube.com/live/en1FT41qJHA?si=fHtUoAeFglEJu4G6

Transportation Input

Your input wanted -- transportation in NH

Hearings are happening now for the Draft 2025-2034 Ten Year Transportation Plan.

The hearings began 9/7 but continue to 10/25.  Here is the link to view the schedule:  

https://mm.nh.gov/files/uploads/dot/remote-docs/final-gacit-schedule.pdf

PLEASE FIND ONE YOU CAN ATTEND. At the hearing in Durham, the members of the Governor&#39;s Advisory Commission on Intermodal Transportation (GACIT) spoke mostly about expanding and repairing roads, repairing bridges 

Written input additionally accepted, through Nov 3, directed to William.e.watsonjr@dot.nh.gov 

and there is a survey to fill out at  https://metroquestsurvey.com/yn8w8t (The survey is tilted toward road construction &amp; improvement – but there are open comment opportunities.)

AND IF YOU CAN:  give oral testimony this Monday the 2nd or Monday the 16th. Both will be in LOB 302 starting at 10:00 and be streamed as well.

Feed Your Brain

This explains the duplicity we get fed from corporations about their efforts at “sustainability.” At least California has pierced the veil.

https://open.substack.com/pub/popularinformation/p/california-cracks-down-on-corporate?r=1r9uea&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email

From NH Energy Education and Action Program  (Aubrey Nelson www.nheep.org  603.493.7225)

We are keen to continue to bring energy and climate learning and awareness of green energy careers into classrooms across the state, and we've also started offering programs for adults and families by partnering with community groups, so we’d love for the opportunity to collaborate with you!

NHEEP has traditionally offered hands-on, engaging, NGSS-aligned programs to support energy and climate science/technical learning for students and teachers. Our programs come in a variety of formats: 

• Hands-on curricular resource and equipment kits (which you can borrow for no or low-cost).

•  Co-taught workshops (including, but not limited to Green Energy Careers, Electricity & the Environment and Heat Transfer, all of which are free)

•  Professional development for teachers (there are several free NGSS Toolkit trainings coming up in November in Manchester, Plymouth or online, and these are also free for educators)

• Support for teachers and students interested in planning and implementing energy action projects.

• High school team action support: Youth Climate Leader’s Academy, which is an engaging year long program to support high school student teams in planning and implementing action projects.

You can visit our website to learn more about our offerings, or call or email me directly. Several of our equipment kits and our co-taught workshops are free thanks to our partnership with NHSaves, so we can discuss what makes the most sense!

From Reinmar

There is considerable public anxiety about a perceived possible or actual wave of e-waste associated with solar panels and their chemical contents. How justified is this really?

Here's a good & very short summary of the research in a new opinion essay published in the journal Nature Physics. And here's a summary by Dan Gearino in Inside Climate News: https://insideclimatenews.org/news/12102023/inside-clean-energy-reality-check-solar-panel-waste/.

Spoiler alert: Anxiety is NOT justified. 

• The waste produced by other forms of energy generation (not to speak of other petrochemical-related waste such as plastics) is HUNDREDS OF TIMES more problematic. 

• Solar panels do NOT contain dangerous toxic substances, despite some outdated info on certain US gov't websites.  

• Commercial solar developers -- unlike producers of plastics and other future waste products -- are legally responsible for the decommissioning process, so they are working to extend the lifetimes of the panels they use, and to reuse the materials in them.

The critical consideration here is that waste streams should ALWAYS be considered upfront in ANY technology. But at this point in history, we must weigh potential problems against each other. The toxic legacy of fossil fuel energy systems is far, far more severe than the relatively manageable challenges of solar panel waste. 

Here is the graphic from the Nature Physics paper, which compares different kinds of waste streams over time under "Business As Usual" (that is, if we don't switch away from fossil fuel use) with the possible waste stream from solar energy development:   (Unfortunately,  this graph cannot be copied into this summary.  If you would like to review it then visit the initial email on this thread.  https://groups.google.com/g/nh-environment-energy-and-climate-network/c/43A6KYHAghE

Jon Swan editorial: I believe the NCES Landfill is Failing

I HAVE bad news to share with my fellow Granite Staters. Based on my analysis of groundwater monitoring reports and the historical record, I believe we are witnessing the failure of the controversial NCES Landfill in Bethlehem.

Toxic “forever chemicals” known as PFAS were detected in groundwater at 11 of 19 monitoring wells tested, according to the July, 2023, Tri-Annual Groundwater Monitoring Report, which was submitted to NHDES by Sanborn, Head and Associates (SHA) on behalf of Casella Waste Systems and the NCES Landfill.

Of particular concern is the detection and high level of PFOA, which the EPA is proposing to designate as a hazardous substance under the Superfund law, which would help hold polluters accountable for cleaning up their contamination.

According to the July report, new maximum concentrations of PFOA contaminants were detected in groundwater at two monitoring wells closest to and upgradient of the Ammonoosuc River, which is a mere 550 and 400 feet away.

I’ve analyzed lab results from 2018-2023 for NCES landfill leachate, also known as “garbage juice,” which is trucked in daily by tankers to the City of Concord wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) and the NHDES-operated Franklin WWTP.

Top PFAS compounds present in NCES Landfill leachate also have been consistently detected in groundwater at their various monitoring wells. It appears that the NCES Landfill is failing to contain the leachate it generates, based on the data from both the NCES groundwater monitoring well reports and NCES leachate lab results.

Like DNA in an episode of CSI, the landfill’s leachate seems to match the evidence left behind at the scene, which lies within the watershed of the downgradient Ammonoosuc River.

Unfortunately, the numerous detections of PFAS contaminants in groundwater at NCES have been downplayed in the reports submitted to NHDES since at least 2017, when PFAS testing became a requirement. I believe a false narrative has been relied upon by all parties, to dispel any concerns that the landfill may actually be leaking. Blame is consistently placed on the former Sanco unlined landfill, like an alibi, to explain the presence of contaminants in groundwater at the various monitoring wells outside of the lined landfill. A search of the July 2023 report finds “unlined landfill” comes up 52 times!

The problem with that narrative is that the old Sanco unlined landfill was actually excavated by Casella Construction in the fall of 1993. The waste was relocated to Stage I of the “state-of-the-art”, double-lined landfill, as Casella Waste Systems boasted in Aug. 25, 1993. Ironically, on Nov. 5, 1993, Paul Sanborn, president of Sanborn, Head and Associates (yes, the same company pointing to the “unlined landfill” today), wrote to NHDES to inform them of the completion of the waste-relocation project. He stated residual contamination was not present in the soils in the excavation area, thus clearing the way for NHDES approval for the development of the Stage II landfill expansion over the unlined landfill site.

On Dec. 9, 1993, James Berg of NHDES wrote of the department’s “concurrence” that “no further excavation to remove additional soils is necessary.” In other words, the unlined landfill was excavated of all trash and deemed free of contamination by both SHA and NHDES!

So which is a more plausible source of PFAS and other contaminants: the unlined landfill — excavated 30 years ago and given a clean bill of health by the same engineering firm and NHDES — or are we witnessing the failure of the 36-year old “state-of-the-art” double-liner system of Stage I?

Regardless of cause, the data does not lie. There is a steady release of PFAS and other contaminants from the NCES Landfill into groundwater, all within the watershed of the Ammonoosuc River. Will the EPA investigate? I’ve sent numerous requests, since NHDES appears unconcerned.

Will the Town of Bethlehem become home to a new Superfund site? I don’t see how it doesn’t. The fears and concerns of so many Bethlehem residents over years of contention at growth of this landfill now seem justified, and, sadly, realized.

NHDES failed its mission to protect the environment (and the citizens of Bethlehem). Will Casella be held responsible for the expense of PFAS cleanup and remediation? We shall see; their track record of accepting responsibility is shaky.

It would be irresponsible for NHDES to allow the NCES Landfill to continue to operate, ensuring the continued generation of millions of gallons of leachate annually, which monitoring reports confirm is not being contained. It’s time for NHDES to do its job and close this controversial dump, and potential Superfund site, once and for all.

More from Us and Our Partners

New Hampshire Businesses for Social Responsibility

Find out more and register for this free program which just launched today and runs through December 8th ... www.nhbsr.org/climate

Live Zoom Webinars

October 19, 12:00 - 1:00 PM, Transitioning to Clean Energy and Community Power: Learn the various tax incentives and options.

November 9, 12:00 - 1:00 PM, Resilient and Energy Efficient Buildings: Ask the experts your questions and learn about various new building and existing building strategies. 

November 30, 12:00 - 1:00 PM, Hypertherm Associates Panel: Learn how the company integrates its climate strategy through the Green Teams, focuses its climate goals, and its efforts with customers. 

December 7, 12:00 - 1:00 PM, Addressing Transportation: EV charging, EV options and strategies for scope 3, NHDES' EMPOWER program. 

Topics To Be Discussed: 

• Week 1: The Business Imperative for Climate Action

• Week 2: Assessing Your Business's Climate Footprint and Goal-Setting

• Week 3: Energy Efficiency and Transitioning to Clean Sources

• Week 4: Industry and Materials

• Week 5: Transportation and Mobility Solutions

• Week 6: Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

• Week 7: Business Resilience and Emergency Management

• Week 8: Advocacy and  Employee Engagement

What’s Happening at the NH Network!

Important message from Reinmar Seidler

Folks,

We should all print out this document (linked below) & hang it in a conspicuous place to remind ourselves: Science is in NO CONFLICT with Spirituality, with History, with Tradition, or with Community. 

On the contrary -- all of these good things will be protected and maintained if we can use Science as a creative tool to help us fully imagine, and then construct, the future we want & need. 

Science is essentially just a collection of ways to extend our senses -- starting with microscopes and telescopes, and continuing on to global networks of meteorological stations that allow us to collectively observe & measure changes in average temperatures and in the carbon content of the atmosphere. 

These things help us get to know our lovely Earth better, and make us aware of large-scale changes and trends otherwise invisible to us. 

What possible Deity could object to that?

https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/apost_exhortations/documents/20231004-laudate-deum.html

Overview/Table of Contents

Meetings and Events

• Energy Expos,  Plastics Working Group,  Healthcare Alliance annual meeting and dinner, Nottingham Community Climate meeting.

Take Action

• Bird Dog opportunities and Bird Dog training from Union of Concerned Scientists.

• Network Volunteers Needed:  See Take Action Section

Feed Your Brain

Meetings and Events

Oct 14 -  9 AM to 2:30 PM - Bow/Dunbarton/Weare Home Energy Expo.

• Noyes Community Center (Dunbarton Elementary School)

• 20 Robert Rogers Rd, Dunbarton, NH.  Just off Dunbarton Town Center & Rt. 13

• Come learn how to save energy costs and improve the comfort of your home or business.

• Heat Pumps for High Efficiency Heating and Cooling, High Efficiency Water Heaters, Rebate Programs and Incentives, Electric Vehicles and E-Bikes, Community Power and other Local Energy Initiatives, Energy Policy,  Composting, Water Testing, and more!

Oct 14  - 9 AM – Noon - Nottingham People and Planet Healing Summit

• Nottingham Community Church

• For more information contact Peter White 603-895-3857.

Oct 15 - 6 PM  Plastics Working Group

• Join Zoom Meeting

• https://us02web.zoom.us/j/6275609302

Oct 18 -  5  to 8 pm  - NH Healthcare Workers for Climate Action in person dinner and meeting.

• Join us to celebrate the accomplishments of the organization over the past year, and hold a strategic planning session for our future.

• Healthcare website  https://www.nhclimatehealth.org/our-events  (Numerous other events are offered.)

Oct 19 - Thursday, 7 to 8 PM.  Union of Concerned Scientists 

Nov 8 -   2nd Annual North Country Food and Agriculture Summit is now open! Please register today. Registration is open until November 1st. Share this invitation with your networks, friends, and co-workers. 

 https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2nd-annual-north-country-food-and-agriculture-summit-tickets-723378252827?

Oct 19 - NH Bird Dog Training: How to Ask Candidates Questions on Climate 

• Please register today for our skills-building workshop on birddogging and we hope to see you on October 19.  

• Register for the skills-building training today.  

• More details below in the Take Action Section

Take Action
As we approach the third anniversary of the Network’s creation, new opportunities and challenges arise.  Please review this excerpt from the most recent Steering Committee, and perhaps find an opportunity to participate.

NHN Steering Committee Minutes Sept 27, 9:00-10:30

1. Volunteers needed!  A number of valuable suggestions have been offered for improving the current work and providing more services for the Network members.  Help from members is needed in order to be able to do this.  What can you do to help in these areas?

   1. Calendar updates on our website

   2. Legislation tracking:  need folks to have ongoing relationships with Reps & Senators, to be able to give weekly reports on:

      • Plastics (PWG working towards this); 

      • Solid Waste: lots of LSRs, Jon Swan will hold a meeting of an “Environmental Working Group” to watch legislation of solid waste, water/PFAS.  Need a co-leader.  

      • Climate: first Wed of month.  Oct 4 Climate WG.  Bringing in folks from other organizations!   Looking for a liaison to inform the group on pending legislation.    Email John Gage if interested.

   3. Energy Working Group:  The Network has not formally had an Energy WG up to now. Bill Coder announced that Third Act is trying to communicate with the PUC, admiring  Community Power as NH’s best solution, more democratic.  Need volunteer to track energy legislation.

   4. Legislative Working Group:  will continue to coordinate the webpage; follow a more manageable number of bills, and be able to track them across the legislative season.

      • Asking each WG to follow the bills in their own sector, rather than ask one person to do it all.

      • Our legislative tracking sheet and weekly emails have been successful in getting folks to testify in person/on-line.  

      • Coordinate with recommendations of other groups.

      • PLEASE HELP TRACK LEGISLATION if you have contacts in the Legislature.

2. Funding requests update:  A private donor is giving us funds to hire a Communications Assistant for 2 months!!  

   1. We’ll need $500 for funding after those 2 months - would welcome another generous private donor.  

   2. Thanks to NH Healthcare Workers for Climate Action for acting as Fiscal Agent.

   3. Steering Committee members had been personally funding the Communications Assistant this summer.

   4. Have applied for funding from a New England organization; should hear back in December.

Presidential candidate schedules through October 16th. 

• When possible, attend and pose climate questions.

• https://birddognh.org/events-new-hampshire

From the Union of Concerned Scientists October 19th Training Details

The New Hampshire presidential primary season is gaining momentum. Candidates are also vying for positions in the governorship, House of Representatives, and various local and state offices.  

In this season, climate disinformation abounds. It's crucial for the people of New Hampshire move through the myths and fabrications (not only on climate change… but also what we’re seeing about solutions!) . Each person has the power to promote awareness and make climate and science central to the conversation by posing thoughtful questions to candidates as they traverse the Granite State. 

The Union of Concerned Scientists invites you to join a virtual skills-building workshop on how to “birddog” candidates on climate issues. Birddogging is the art of asking a candidate a question at a town hall, in a diner, or on the street, and capturing their response. Join Jake Roche, Roger Stephenson, other UCS organizers, and fellow supporters to learn how you can be an advocate for science and get candidates on record:  

In this workshop, we will cover tangible, real-world instances of birddogging success. You will gain an understanding of why birddogging holds such significance in shaping the dialogue in New Hampshire and how it genuinely drives change. We will explore a range of tactics, from employing the buddy system to help secure the opportunity to be called upon during candidate events. 

Please register today for our skills-building workshop on birddogging and we hope to see you on October 19.  

Considering acting locally.  An email exchange about the deluge of political signs that are forthcoming.  Consider checking with your towns and/or candidates.

Political Yard Sign Discussion

Viewpoint #1

Hello gang,

    After every election season, we dutiful volunteers collect the corrugated plastic yard signs (and after saving a few to reuse out of the hundreds) we always feel the ravages of the plastic travesty that it is. But off to the trash they go filling up our landfill.

    A much better option to the corrugated plastic is the film plastic (like mailer plastic) which stretches over a metal frame and which can be recycled (metal too). This choice alone saves enormous amounts of plastic from landfill. Many yard sign companies offer this alternative but many don't. The film plastic signs are cheaper but not as durable in extreme weather.

    Some of you may have figured out other alternatives. In our Democratic group, someone suggested white poster paint and then hand paint a colorful message. This is great for a neighborhood or town that wishes to do this (& the signs would undoubtedly be better  noticed) but on a state level this would be impractical and can't be adopted.

     I'm wondering if the Plastics Working Group could join me in contacting both the NH Democratic and Republican Party head Quarters to seeing if we could convince them to get word out to all the candidates to use the 'film' plastic signage (over corrugated) in this new pre-election season and do their part for the environment.

    I just wrote (below in italix) to a sign company and think we should do this on a much larger scale by contacting the consumers who will be ordering the signs.

    What do people think about joining me in coming up with a convincing letter to the 2 parties?

Dear owner/manger,

I am very interested in non-corrugated plastic signage for the coming year's political candidate advertising. I haven't seen the thin ‘film’ plastic alternative on your website.
Have you ever thoughtof what happens to your signs after a few weeks of usage?  They fill our landfills and as you state, are durable which means they can take up to 1000 years to break down, becoming microplastics that absorb toxins and continue to pollute the environment. '
Neic.gov.

Please consider using 'film' plastic, which stretches over a metal frame, and which can be recycled and fill this need for those who need to advertise but want to do less damage to our environment.

 Advertising it as recyclable (like mailer plastic) can only help your sales I would think. There are a lot of us out there!

Thanks so much for your time.

Viewpoint #2

Hello Everyone,

I have had the opposite experience. I was unable to recycle the plastic film signs from the last election. If anyone knows who will accept this type of signage, please let me know. 

On the other hand, UNH Dept. of Occupational Therapy will reuse the corrugated signs. Two years ago I gave them close to 100 signs and they were very grateful.

Feed Your Brain

Read Laudate Deum

https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/apost_exhortations/documents/20231004-laudate-deum.html

It has been mentioned before, but check out Future Crunch for global good news.  Here is the most recent weekly update.  

https://futurecrunch.com/good-news-net-zero-rhinos-africa-maternal-asia/?ref=future-crunch-newsletter

This is a long summary due to a bevy of opportunities which, in turn, include detailed actions plans.  

THERE ARE A LOT OF UPCOMING MEETINGS AND ACTION OPTIONS.   To make the “take action” section more user friendly, here is a brief list of action items.  Please note, submissions are all time sensitive.  (In depth details offered below.)

-Offer input on the ten year transportation plan

-Encourage NH DES to take action on EV charger stations

-Legislative Extender Producer Responsibility - seeking testimony and input to create a bill for the upcoming session

-Request from Cindy Walter

"I need help for a presentation to NH town officials called 'Hazardous Industries: How Can Municipalities Protect Themselves?’.  As a newcomer to NH, I need cases in NH history of problems and successes in managing hazardous industries.  So far I have 2 problems: St. Gobain and Groveton’s plastic to fuel plant, and 1 success: Oil refinery that did not locate on Great Bay due to public pressure. Any more?

Meetings

October 3 6:30 pm  Climate Cafe in Keene

https://groups.google.com/g/nh-environment-energy-and-climate-network/c/ynQnKJ_U6E0

October 3 and November 11  6 pm Study opportunity to employ community power within Concord

https://17938795747767988963.googlegroups.com/attach/30994830dbc5e/CP%20Public%20Input.pdf?part=0.1&view=1&vt=ANaJVrGkIPnpswe6z2vXbefx-v0rRZ1BF9tizx8YpvGhtT1aWM32x7nLD5VFa59IhXd4Ov4aLGJ7mhH4LcM7HvZ1COz-zJIwYRpzeyGLxa2-nNSPTLkGyLs

Saturday October 7, 2023 from 10AM-2PM during the Casella "Open House"  (from Jon Swan)

Bring a sign, bring your friends and family and  join me in a peaceful protest outside of the NCES Landfill at 581 Trudeau Road in Bethlehem, NH  We must stand tall to protect our environment and natural resources, and call upon those tasked with protecting both and demand that they do their job!

The landfill is leaking #PFAS and other contaminants, like 1,4-Dioxane, into the watershed of the Ammonoosuc River. Please call NHDES Commissioner Robert Scott and EPA Administrator Michael Regan, and ask them what they are going to do about the PFOA and other "forever chemicals" being released from the landfill via groundwater, as detected by the numerous groundwater monitoring wells at the NCES Landfill site...all of which lies within the watershed of the Ammonoosuc River. Of course, this is merely my opinion, based on my extensive research and the data, as reported by the engineering firm Sanborn, Head and Associates, in the groundwater monitoring reports submitted to NHDES. All of this information is on my website, http://www.SaveForestLake.com

Call NHDES and EPA and ask them what they are going to do about the PFAS contaminants that are leaking from the landfill within the watershed of the Ammonoosic River:

NHDES Commissioner Robert Scott: (603) 271-3503 Email:  robert....@des.nh.gov

EPA Administrator Michael Regan: (202) 564-4700 Email:  Regan....@epa.gov

Oct 14  9 am to 2:30 pm Bow/Dunbarton/Weare Home Energy Expo.

Noyes Community Center (Dunbarton Elementary School)

20 Robert Rogers Rd, Dunbarton, NH.  Just off Dunbarton Town Center & Rt. 13
Come learn how to save energy costs and improve the comfort of your home or business.

Heat Pumps for High Efficiency Heating and Cooling, High Efficiency Water Heaters, Rebate Programs and Incentives, Electric Vehicles and E-Bikes, Community Power and other Local Energy Initiatives, Energy Policy,  Composting, Water Testing, and more!

October 6, 12-1PM   NH Food Alliance’s 2023-2024 Network Café Series: A Regional Approach to Food System Resilience.    -Estimating Resilient Eating Patterns

 | Register here

Volume 1 of A Regional Approach to Food System Resilience examines the question “If we ate in a healthier, more resilient way, could more of our food be supplied by regional production?” Our October Network Café features Brian Donohue of Brandeis University, the leader of the team who researched the answer to this question. The team’s primary work was to analyze dietary patterns across major food groups to better understand the food that New Englanders currently consume—and how that might change by 2030. Join us for an overview of “Volume 1: Estimating Resilient Eating Patterns” with Brian to find out what the team learned and to discuss the research’s implications for New Hampshire's food system. 

The NH Food Alliance’s 2023-2024 Network Café Series will explore A Regional Approach to Food System Resilience, a four-volume report of foundational food system data commissioned and released by the New England State Food System Planners Partnership. The New England State Food System Planners Partnership is a collaboration among six state-level food system organizations and Food Solutions New England. The report lays out an unprecedented compilation of the most current New England food systems data and frames the data intentionally to inspire conversation and action towards New England producing and consuming more of its own food.

OCTOBER 14 9:00 AM – NOON  NOTTINGHAM COMMUNITY CHURCH

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT PETER WHITE 603-895-3857.

October 15 6 pm  Plastics Working Group

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/6275609302

October 18 5 to 8 pm  NH Healthcare Workers for Climate Action in person dinner and meeting.

Join us to celebrate the accomplishments of the organization over the past year, and hold a strategic planning session for our future.

Healthcare website  https://www.nhclimatehealth.org/our-events  (Numerous other events are offered.)

Become a Member for more information and to attend!

November 8th  2nd Annual North Country Food and Agriculture Summit is now open! 

Please register today. Registration is open until November 1st. Share this invitation with your networks, friends, and co-workers. 

  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2nd-annual-north-country-food-and-agriculture-summit-tickets-723378252827?aff=oddtdtcreator

NEWS UPDATE

We’ll let you know when/how/where input will be accepted on an updated state climate action plan.  The Executive Council awarded the UNH Survey Center the contract to arrange for public input.  Here’s a bit of news from NH Bulletin and NHPR: https://www.nhpr.org/nh-news/2023-09-25/with-march-2024-federal-deadline-nh-will-soon-embark-on-climate-plan-outreach   (Thanks to Bill Coder for this news.)

DETAILED PLANS FOR ACTION 

1. TWO opportunities for input on transportation in NH (do these now!)

ONE:  Hearings are happening now for the Draft 2025-2034 Ten Year Transportation Plan.

The hearings began 9/7 but continue to 10/25.  Here is the link to view the schedule:  

https://mm.nh.gov/files/uploads/dot/remote-docs/final-gacit-schedule.pdf

PLEASE FIND ONE YOU CAN ATTEND.   At the hearing in Durham this week, the members of the Governor's Advisory Commission on Intermodal Transportation (GACIT) spoke mostly about expanding and repairing roads, repairing bridges – and, oh yes, airports!   Public comments (that included me) talked about needing rail, bus, EV charging, bike paths.  

Written input additionally accepted, through Nov 3, directed to Wiliam.e...@dot.nh.gov 

and there is a survey to fill out at  https://metroquestsurvey.com/yn8w8t  (The survey is tilted toward road construction & improvement – but there are open comment opportunities.)

TWO:  BEST BY OCTOBER 2

NHDES wants input on the development of a new electric vehicle (EV) charging grant program!
“We want to hear from as many interested parties as possible and are especially interested in hearing from residents of and businesses located in disadvantaged communities, including rural and low-income areas, to learn how we can structure a program that results in those communities benefiting from this investment. Please forward this survey to organizations and individuals that represent such communities as well as others that may be interested in sharing their ideas.”

About the funding:  NHDES has applied to the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) discretionary Charging and Fueling Infrastructure (CFI) program for community-based electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE). If awarded, NHDES plans to release a funding opportunity aimed at installing EV charging stations within communities.

Public comment opportunities:  We will be hosting two virtual listening sessions on October 4, 2023 to receive input from the public, one at noon and one at 7:00 PM (Eastern). The listening sessions will be recorded and posted to our webpage. We will also consolidate comments and post them in a document for reference, including our responses if applicable. We invite community organizations to help get input to us from your community members and businesses on how to design a program to enable and support their participation.

How to comment:  This is your chance to help shape the program! We welcome comments and input submitted via this form. Comments received by October 2nd will be prioritized and may be directly addressed during the October 4th listening sessions. If time allows, there may also be an opportunity for new comments during the sessions. This form will close on October 6th at 11pm.

Do not suggest a specific site. We will not entertain suggestions of particular places, towns, or businesses. Do not list places we should or shouldn’t consider.  Additionally, please do not ask questions about the program. We will not be answering questions about our program or our priorities, as the program is still in development and contingent upon NHDES receiving an award.

Before you comment:

·       Please familiarize yourself with NHDES’ VW-funded RFP for EV charging. This may inform development of this RFP.

·       Please familiarize yourself with the basics of the NEVI CFI Community program and NEVI Standards and Requirements, including:

o All sites must be able to charge 4 vehicles simultaneously using Level 2, Direct Current Fast Charging (DCFC), or a mix of both;

o DCFC ports must deliver ≥150 kW of charging;

o DCFC ports must have at least a CCS1 connector (can include others too);

o The goal is to serve downtown communities, multi-unit dwellings, rural locations, transit hubs, and tourist attractions.

Register for the October 4th listening sessions:

·       12pm session

·       7pm session 

From the Plastics WG ( two parts)

LESS WASTE for our municipalities to deal with:  Please write or give oral testimony to the study committee hoping to create a bill for this year on "Extended Producer Responsibility."   EPR would cut down on unnecessary packaging because it asks producers to pay for its end-of-life.  There are EPR programs in some US states and the EU.  It would spare municipalities from the expense of dealing with this waste, it would diminish plastic in our landfills.

Want talking points? View EXCELLENT TESTIMONY on behalf of EPR at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bh9csDIvafo

(Our own Kristine Baber is brilliant, and spokesperson for American Beverages also firmly supports EPR!)   

PLEASE HELP make this bill a possibility - email testimony to 

Lucius....@leg.state.nh.us 

AND IF YOU CAN:  give oral testimony this Monday the 2nd or Monday the 16th. Both will be in LOB 302 starting at 10:00 and be streamed as well.

EPR Study Committee Meeting - Monday, October 2, 10 am   (Fascinating discussion - nothing is simple, and hopefully you can see a recording)

Watch live here. DES will be testifying. Rep. Parshall (Chair) reports that public testimony is welcome at the upcoming October 16 meeting.

Hidden Brain Podcast - “The Secret to Great Teams"

From 350 NH

The Governor’s Advisory Commission on Intermodal Transportation (GACIT), which is made up of the five Executive Councilors and the Commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Transportation (NHDOT), has scheduled public hearings throughout the state, starting tomorrow in Salem and running through October (Link to the schedule) to talk about their Ten Year Plan. 

The Ten Year Plan includes infrastructure funding - for bridges, roads, rail trails, and airports. What this plan DOESN'T include is public transportation investment or electric vehicle infrastructure. With the climate crisis worsening, we need every facet of our state government to include climate action in their long term planning. 

We need your help to turn people out to the hearings to let the EC know what is missing in the current plan and what should be included! People should attend the hearing that is in their Executive Council district. We have also set up a letter-writing campaign HERE.

Plastics WG Opportunity

An Invitation to Participate in a Craftivism Project to Promote Reusable Produce Bags:

Mesh Bag Mama kits are available for anyone who would like to sew a few mesh produce bags to get to 1,000 bags to deliver to the Lebanon Co-op for installation on October 21 as a reusable choice instead of single use plastic bags in the produce section. Email chea...@gmail.com. An educational postcard will be inserted into each bag.

To become involved in assembling the kits (no sewing skills required), the Mesh Bag Mama pop up studio will be open on Mondays and Thursdays, September 11, 14, 18, 21 from 10 am - Noon at the former Cornish General Store on Route 120 in Lebanon. No experience necessary to prepare the kits.

Special thanks to Patsy and Mary for hosting a sewing event on September 29 in Nelson and to the Cornish Quilters, Sustainable Lebanon (sponsor), and St. Paul’s Church sewers for working on the project. 

Feed your Brain:  Recording of Network OffShore Wind and Fish Sustainability

We regret that due to technical difficulties the recording of the first half  of the event is unavailable.  We've posted the available recording and presentations at

https://www.newhampshirenetwork.org/events

For our initial presentation on Offshore Wind, you can access the recording of our June 5 event, "Clearing the Fog," which is also available at 

https://www.newhampshirenetwork.org/events

Lots of opportunities to attend meetings, take action, sew mesh bags(!) and more.

Meetings

September 17 6 pm  Plastics Working Group

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81275611544?pwd=dU5uRGwvSHh6KzQ4M2RETVB4RkMwQT09

Meeting ID: 812 7561 1544 Passcode: 201544, One tap mobile +17193594580

Monday, September 18  5:30 to 7 pm  NH Network:  Offshore Wind and Fisheries  (details below)

Saturday September 23 and 30th  National Drive Electric Month(details below))

Saturday, September 30, 10am - 2pm  First Monadnock Clean Energy at the Peterborough Community Center!   (details below)

Take Action (from Jennifer Dube)

The Governor’s Advisory Commission on Intermodal Transportation (GACIT), which is made up of the five Executive Councilors and the Commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Transportation (NHDOT), has scheduled public hearings throughout the state, starting tomorrow in Salem and running through October (Link to the schedule) to talk about their Ten Year Plan. 

The Ten Year Plan includes infrastructure funding - for bridges, roads, rail trails, and airports. What this plan DOESN'T include is public transportation investment or electric vehicle infrastructure. With the climate crisis worsening, we need every facet of our state government to include climate action in their long term planning. 

We need your help to turn people out to the hearings to let the EC know what is missing in the current plan and what should be included! People should attend the hearing that is in their Executive Council district. We have also set up a letter-writing campaign HERE.

Plastics Working Group Opportunity

An Invitation to Participate in a Craftivism Project to Promote Reusable Produce Bags:

Mesh Bag Mama kits are available for anyone who would like to sew a few mesh produce bags to get to 1,000 bags to deliver to the Lebanon Co-op for installation on October 21 as a reusable choice instead of single use plastic bags in the produce section. Email chea...@gmail.com. An educational postcard will be inserted into each bag.

To become involved in assembling the kits (no sewing skills required), the Mesh Bag Mama pop up studio will be open on Mondays and Thursdays, September 11, 14, 18, 21 from 10 am - Noon at the former Cornish General Store on Route 120 in Lebanon. No experience necessary to prepare the kits.

Special thanks to Patsy and Mary for hosting a sewing event on September 29 in Nelson and to the Cornish Quilters, Sustainable Lebanon (sponsor), and St. Paul’s Church sewers for working on the project. 

Meeting Details

September 18th:  Planning for Off Shore Wind and Sustainable Fisheries

Offshore wind is said to be New England’s greatest untapped energy resource. Realizing that potential, however, is no simple exercise. The Gulf of Maine is one of the most productive marine environments – and richest fishing grounds – in the world. Today, it is also one of the fastest-warming water bodies on the planet. Are offshore wind and fishing industries compatible in New England? 

The answer to that kind of question is almost always “It depends!” Join us at this Zoom event to find out what it depends on, and how sustainable fisheries and sustainable energy systems can coexist. 

Guest speaker panel:  Lisa Methratta, NOAA, Cheri Patterson, NH Fish & Game, David Goethel, Center for Sustainable Fisheries,Tiffany Smythe, URI & USCGA 

Drive Electric Month (click on dates for more information)

September is the month of electric car shows and demos. There are events in Concord, Exeter, Peterborough and Lebanon on the map so far and there may be more when you see this! More and more new models are popping into the scene so you know there is something new every year.

>>>Saturdays on September 23rd and 30th<<<

There will be Zero Motorcycles at numerous events!! Bring your friends and family to these free fun events. #DriveElectric2023

Monadnock Energy Fair

The Energy Fair is a free event and will feature exhibits by regional businesses specializing in heat pumps, weatherization, solar panels, ADUs (accessory dwelling units) and more. 

Outside, at the Drive Electric Expo (11am-2pm), attendees can check out electric vehicles (EVs), e-bikes, and e-equipment, talk to their owners, and even go for a spin. 

For those who want to learn more about making home energy upgrades and how to pay for them, the Fair will offer 2 free workshops, one on heat pumps and one on energy-related rebates, discounts, and tax credits.

Kids will have fun driving the kid-size EV and at the face painting booth and everyone can enjoy Frisky Cow Gelato! We hope to see you there!

Full fair schedule on Monadnock Sustainability Hub website.

Feed Your Brain

From Roger W. Stephenson Union of Concerned Scientists

In a newly launched blog series, colleagues at the Union of Concerned Scientists are looking at how gas-powered electricity performs under the pressure of extreme weather.

TLDR; they are finding that gas is expensive, dirty, and not always reliable:

Extreme Summer Weather Threatens Gas Power Plants. Here’s How. 

By Paul Arbaje, energy analyst at UCS 

“When heat waves are extreme and persistent enough, gas plants can be “derated”—or reduced in capacity—beyond what’s expected in the grid planning process. Or worse yet, they even can be forced completely offline unexpectedly. Some U.S. grid operators account for these so-called ‘forced outages’ at power plants, but not in a very sophisticated way that reflects the possibility of many plants losing capacity or going offline at the same time. 

“… using warmer water makes gas plants operate less efficiently, but when plants don’t have an adequate water supply due to drought, they can’t operate at all. Water is key to the power-producing mechanisms of both combined cycle and gas steam plants.”

More information on how extreme heat has impacted costs, reliability, and pollution more broadly can be found here.  

How Reliable Are Gas Power Plants? What ICAP, UCAP, and ELCC Tell Us. 

By Mark Specht, senior energy analyst at UCS 

“With climate change leading to increasingly extreme weather events that strain the power grid, it is critical to get capacity accreditation right to ensure that we have enough resources to keep the lights on. Recent failures have clearly demonstrated that gas plants aren’t always able to deliver on their grid reliability promises.” 

Too Many Gas Power Plants Are the Problem, Not the Solution 

By Vivian Yang, energy analyst at UCS 

“As of 2022, there were approximately 2,000 gas power plants with a combined capacity of 500 gigawatts on the grid. Gas power plants account for about 43% of utility-scale electricity capacity, slightly higher than the 40% of electricity generated from gas in 2022 … Despite the economics increasingly favoring renewables, an additional 21.8 gigawatts of capacity from gas plants are planned to go online from 2023 to 2026.” 

Danger Season—the time roughly from May through October in the Northern Hemisphere when climate change impacts in the United States are at their peak and increasingly likely to coincide with one another—has left almost no one untouched. According to the UCS Danger Season map, 96% of people in the United States have faced at least one extreme weather alert since May 1. In a time when keeping people safe from dangerous climate impacts is becoming increasingly more important and challenging, it is critical that decisionmakers understand what energy sources are falling short and preventing us from a healthy and safe future for all. 

Submit a comment by August 30th to protect the White Mountain National Forest! 

The Forest Service is proposing 650 acres of logging in the southern Sandwich Range in the "Sandwich Vegetation Management Project." The logging will occur in mature forests that border many popular trails accessing the Sandwich Range Wilderness. Some of the logging will go right up to the Wilderness boundary. I'm linking to and attaching a "comment writing guide" to help you submit something unique and personal. Short is okay! Even just a paragraph or two will go a long way. Please let me know if I can help.

Bird Dog Opportunities (Keep them coming, Susan)

Mon 09/04/20235:00pm No BS BBQMike Pence Churchill's on RyeRye View

Thu 09/07/20235:30pm No BS BBQTim Scott Churchill's on RyeRye View

On a personal note, a podcast with Don Kries 

(our champion in the Office of Consumer Advocate)  and his daughter, Rose, exploring their journey of navigating Cystic Fibrosis  (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNqdJkebZ9A)

Meetings

Sunday, September 10 6 pm  Plastics WG Update and next meeting

Here are the notes from the 8/20 meeting.

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81275611544?pwd=dU5uRGwvSHh6KzQ4M2RETVB4RkMwQT09

Meeting ID: 812 7561 1544 Passcode: 201544, One tap mobile +17193594580

Thursday, Sept. 14 at 5:30 pm to learn about how you can make solar on your home a reality. 

GO SOLAR:   (Please note that this is not specifically targeted for NH, but is applicable and NH Saves has funding.

This hour-long webinar will include information on recently announced tax benefits and what homeowners need to know to see their solar dreams come true! It will also include a 30-minute Q&A session to make sure all of your questions are answered. Don’t miss out on this great opportunity that will help you on your energy efficiency journey!

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask by replying to this email. We hope to see you on Thursday, September 14!

Register for the Eastern Old Growth Forest Conference in Moultonborough, NH this September 21-23. This will be a fun and fascinating event exploring the many benefits of older forests, and - hopefully - how we can put more forests on a path to old-growth! Experts from across New England and North America will be in attendance. 

RSVP Today!

September 30 10 am to 2 pm   Monadnock Clear Energy Fair/Peterborough Community Center  (workshops covering topics from heat pumps to electric cars, solar panels - and rebates!)

Take Action

Informative link and article on Zero Waste (from Cindy Heath)

Ready to go on your own Zero Waste journey?

Here is the Zero Waste page (downloadable as a PDF - thank you Patsy!) on the Ten Towns, Ten Actions Toolkit - it includes the history of the movement, a Zero Waste Hierarchy, Zero Waste U.S. principles, many links to more info, and individual actions we can take to strive toward our own Zero Waste lifestyles.

Speaking from experience, it’s not easy, but totally doable with a little effort.

Go to Zero Waste U.S. to learn about the upcoming national conference in October (virtual), and other educational resources for municipalities, individuals, and organizations.

Stay tuned for an October NH Network event focused on Zero Waste and efforts by legislators and community organizations in NH to address waste reduction efforts in our state

Carbon Reduction (from John Gage - many, many thanks for his persistence.  I am unable to copy and paste John’s graphs so the google link for his email is listed below.  

Dear NH Network,

Inspired to action by Roger Stevenson's wonderful recent article and by the numerous AGW-denier responses I received in response to my recent "climate science intervention" request to them, I sent the below email to every NH state legislator (in 5 batches to work around a Gmail limit).  Please consider giving your State Representatives and Senator a call to tell them addressing global warming is important to you and ask them to check their email for an invitation from me for a climate science Q&A this Friday (unfortunately this was 8/25, BUT calls still HELP) and to consider going if they have any doubts that we have a problem or questions about what we can do at the state level that matters.

You can find the names and phone numbers for your town at https://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/house/members/. 

https://groups.google.com/g/nh-environment-energy-and-climate-network/c/x4reIZYDUqw

New Hampshire Eats Local  (https://nheatslocal.com/)  is completing it August drive to eat local.  Their webpage, however, offers town by town enterprises to support throughout the year.)

Feed Your Brain

Excellent summation of August 12th Summit (hints to act locally)

https://www.nhbr.com/enviro-advocates-mull-ways-to-nurture-support/

Climate: A Cautionary Tale of Three New Hampshire Commissioners

https://blog.ucsusa.org/roger-stephenson/climate-and-a-cautionary-tale-of-three-new-hampshire-commissioners/

Project 2025 and the Environment - My Turn Editorial  (partisan, but important environmental observations)

https://www.concordmonitor.com/My-Turn-Project-2025-and-the-environment-52026

I hoped to pass along only the article, but alas it also contains the email thread.  Important piece on decarbonization

https://groups.google.com/g/nh-environment-energy-and-climate-network/c/DxR_n1Qs4_4

Update

Kuster Discusses Solar Energy, Housing Development with Local Leaders in Bethlehem

• Aug 25, 2023