Springfield, MA, city council votes 83% in favor of revoking biomass building permit

On Monday night, the Springfield, MA City Council voted to revoke the special permit that was issued to Palmer Renewable Energy to build a 34 MW wood burning power plant by a margin of 10-2. That's 83.3% of the vote.

Are we seeing a pattern here? The City Council's act of courage, and just plain doing the right thing, was in large part due to our counterparts in the Springfield community.

Stop Toxic Incineration in Springfield, through their valiant effort, have proved once again that a community that has a chance to hear both sides of this issue will vote against these projects by an overwhelming margin, if they have a chance to have a say. Let's congratulate this grassroots effort, and let them be an inspiration for us as we go forward.