Biomass Busters-Newsletter

Biomass Busters
June 2010

From the Editors:
Meg Sheehan & Josh Schlossberg


The ground has been shifting under the biomass industry since the publication of our first issue of Biomass Busters last month! A few significant developments include: the EPA’s decision not to exempt biomass emissions from its greenhouse gas regulations; a letter from ninety scientists to Congress urging our Legislature to close the “biomass loophole;” and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s suspension of the Biomass Crop Assistance Program, following pressure from forest advocates.

Scientists and medical doctors continue to be galvanized by the public health and climate change threats from biomass incinerators, communities across the country keep fighting against incinerators proposed for their towns, and a national grassroots campaign is bringing together biomass opponents from sea to shining sea. Read on to find out more!

For submissions and feedback contact us at stopspewingcarbon@gmail.com.
Biomass Busters is a project of the Biomass Accountability Project, Inc., Energy Justice Network, Biofuelwatch, Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives, and Save America’s Forests.

From: http://www.mce3.org/BiomassBustersJune2010.pdf
Biomass Busters
June 2010-Newsletter

More from newsletter below...

American Lung Association vs. Biomass

The American Lung Association is a leading voice on the health impacts of biomass incineration. In 2009, the Association wrote to Congress: The Lung Association urges that the legislation not promote the combustion of biomass. Burning biomass could lead to significant increases in emissions of nitrogen oxides, particulate matter and sulfur dioxide and have severe impacts on the health of children, older adults, and people with lung diseases.

Doctor’s Orders

The Massachusetts Medical Society, publisher of the New England Journal of Medicine, insists that “biomass power plants pose an unacceptable risk to the public’s health by increasing air pollution.” Jefferson Dickey, M.D., internist at the Community Health Center of Franklin County, states that air pollution from biomass is associated with an increased risk of a broad range of medical problems, from asthma attacks and decreased lung growth in children to increased lung disease exacerbations, emergency room use, hospitalization rates, heart attacks, and death rates in adults.

Check out...http://www.mce3.org/BiomassBustersJune2010.pdf