This letter was submitted to the Boston Globe on April 21, 2022, but was not published.
To the Editor:
In his Earth Day “Fireside Chat” with the Globe’s Sabrina Shankman, Governor Baker emphasized his awareness of the climate emergency. When Baker signed the Climate Roadmap Bill last year, the Commonwealth committed to a phaseout of fossil fuels in electricity generation. How can Baker support a new fossil plant?
Project 2015A, called the “Peabody Peaker Plant,” would supply electricity to meet peak demand using gas and oil. The Governor told Ms. Shankman that “the peaker plant replaces an old and wildly polluting system that was in place previously.” We are not aware of any actual plan to close the two existing plants in Peabody.
Construction of this peaker plant will not “dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions.” At a time when fossil plants are being phased out, reducing emissions is better met with reliable, safe, renewable energy and battery storage.
All the best,
Jerry Halberstadt Member, Breathe Clean North Shore; Coordinator, CleanPowerCoalition.org
Mary Jane Else, S. Hadley
Carolyn Britt, Ipswich
Sue Donaldson, Northampton
Lynn Nadeau, Marblehead, for HealthLink
Nathan Phillips, Newton
Kent Wittenburg, Charlestown, King’s Chapel Environmental Action Initiative
Diane Fine, Stoughton
Mireille Bejjani, Greenfield, Community Action Works
Judith Black, Marblehead, 350 Mass, Sustainable Marblehead, Rotarian
Amanda Nash, Northampton
Adrienne Allen, MD, MPH, Belmont
Jim Mulloy, Salem, 350 Mass-North Shore
Patricia A. Gozemba, Salem