Support of clean energy from state 14-Apr-10 03:39 am Coos County Democrat
National energy bill could mean North Country jobs
by Kayti BurtApril 14, 2010
WHITEFIELD — Heralded as a jobs bill that could help bring employment rates back up through the creation of jobs in the alternative energy markets, the national climate and energy bill set to be introduced to the U.S. Senate in the next couple of weeks could have positive effects on the North Country economy. The exact details of legislation are still being hammered out by tri-partisan drafters of the bill — Senators John Kerry of Massachusetts (Democrat), Lindsey Graham of South Carolina (Republican), and Joe Lieberman of Connecticut (Independent) — as they try to garner as much support from senators as possible. It is in these details that the economic fate of the North Country could lie.
.
.
.
.
.
Wood biomass plants, such as the ones being proposed by Clean Power Development and Laidlaw in Berlin, represent an energy source derived something other than fossil fuels as well as a way to revitalize the North Country's struggling economy, says North Country RC&D Coordinator for Natural Resources Conservation Service Rick Demark.
"The diminishment of the paper mills has created a void in the low-grade wood market," said Mr. Demark via phone interview. "Actively pursuing wood biomass energy is a way to rebuild that wood-based economy.
.
