The New Hampshire House of Representatives, the third largest legislative body in the world, voted yesterday to end the state’s participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative cap-and-trade program. The House voted 251-108 after less than 5 minutes of debate to repeal the law under which the state joined RGGI. A number of Democrats refused to attend due to other legislation voted the same day to declare state employees to be employed at-will rather than having collective bargaining rights.
Aimed at reducing the the greenhouse gas emissions in the region, the RGGI program is a coalition of 10 northeastern US states issuing their own carbon credits under a cap and trade program. Under the program, emitters must either reduce their emissions to a specified level or purchase credits from others at auction on cap and trade markets that carry the RGGI credits. Proceeds of the auction are ostensibly used to fund energy efficiency programs, however critics have complained that electric users are funding efficiency programs that don’t directly benefit them.
Governor John Lynch, a Democrat who supports the RGGI, says repealing the law would cost the taxpayers $6 million a year, while the state forfeits $12 million a year in funding.
NH belongs to a regional power pool that dictates electric rates paid by members. If NH quites RGGI, electric rates paid by residents would still carry costs included that represent carbon credits purchased by RGGI members that belong to the pool.
New Hampshire has one of the highest levels of electric production by nuclear and renewable energy sources in the country (53.1% of Net Generated MWh):
Those wishing to support this legislative move by the state House are encouraged to contact Governor Lynch: Contact Governor Lynch: Office of the Governor State House 107 North Main Street Concord, NH 03301 (603)271-2121 (603)271-7640 (fax) |
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New Hampshire sounds great!
The amount of money that UK politicians mangage to sequester for themselves is eye-watering; reforms were attempted last year to the Parliamentary expenses system after scandalous behaviour by MPs was made public and the voters reacted furiously – some MPs have since been convicted of various financial crimes and are now imprisoned. Subsequently, the Brit MPs have whined so loudly and effectively that those reforms have now been watered down, yet no local or government authority can afford to fix the pot-holes the bad winters have caused on the roads despite the extortinate ‘road taxes’ motorists must pay – 80% of pump prices are tax, which are currently as high as £1.40 per litre, or more than £6.00 per Imperial gallon! Despite having no money to fix pot-holes, which in some cases have done extreme damage to vehicles and cyclists, the Brits are still spending billions on wind-farms!
New Hampshire seems to be very sensibly governed indeed.
The Australian government is now in all sorts of trouble with it’s proposed carbon (sic) tax. The Aust dollar is parity with the US so when reading this article there is no need for complex conversions. The news has gone down like a concrete parachute with the online commentators.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/national/pms-carbon-tax-to-cost-households-1660-a-week-treasury-figures-show/comments-e6freuzr-1226032086787
BCC,
New Hampshire was most certainly NOT “happily loyalist”. We booted Governor Wentworth out before you massholes even thought about hiding your powder in Concord. John Langdon General Sullivan raided Fort William & Mary in Portsmouth harbor on December 14th, 1774, long before you guys got off your butts, took their powder and cannon, and aimed the captured cannon at the Governors House. Wentworth and his cronies took off for the Isles of Shoals to hide out until a British Navy ship picked them up weeks later. We supplied OUR cannnons and powder to *you guys*, including NH General John Stark’s crucial defense of the north flank during the Battle of Bunker Hill.
We realize that you folks in Mass think you’ve bamboozled the world into thinking the Revolution started down there, but historians all know it started in New Hampshire, and without our help, Bunker Hill would have been a disaster for you all.
Ric Werme notes (March 31, 2011 at 10:20 pm) that the NH Bill of Rights includes:
[Art.] 10. [Right of Revolution.] Government being instituted for the common benefit, protection… etc..
Bask in what we of the rest of the world can only envy, Ric, even as we applaud the humanity and wisdom of those who created and adopted it
slip sliding away.
The braying jackass true believers are going to blame this on the tea party and the Koch family, for sure.
As a fellow granite-stater, Mike and Ric have pretty covered all that you need to know about NH politics. For those who would like to move here – it’s very beautiful and the taxes are reasonable (individuals pay mainly high property taxes and room and meals taxes), but the winters are long…
Heck, I’m sitting at home as I write this with a major snowstorm falling outside – on April 1st!! I probably won’t see grass in my backyard until May…
I wonder which state will be first to declare CO2 a non pollutant?
Hopefully, the Senate can manage a veto-proof vote in favor. There are 19 Republicans and they need 16 of them. Senate Pres. Peter Bragdon (R) of Milford was an original co-sponsor of the bill to join, and says he still supports it, saying “You don’t have to believe in global warming to believe RGGI is a good idea. It helps to encourage a diversity of fuel sources for our state, which I think long term, strategically for the state and the country, is a very important thing to do.” Senator Bob Odell (R), chairman of the Senate Energy and Nat. Resources Committee, from Lempster was also a co-sponsor of the bill to join. No indication where he stands now, but he’ll probably go along with what Bragdon does. So, it could be close.
If NH pulls out, it could cause a chain reaction, with the RGGI collapsing as a result. New Jersey is also considering pulling out, though I don’t know how that is going.
Yes, it’s about freedom.
Frank K. says:
April 1, 2011 at 4:56 am
You forgot to mention no sales tax (other than on tourists, e.g. 9% rooms & meals tax) and no income tax (except for that @ur momisugly#$! “payroll tax” that businesses but not the government has to pay). The gasoline/petrol tax is mandated by the state constitution to go to highway maintenance so it doesn’t go to the general fund to get skimmed first.
One of my more foolish coworkers already took his snow tires off his car. I’ll wait a week or two, there’s a storm next week too, but it might be rain.
“Alexander K says:
April 1, 2011 at 1:50 am
New Hampshire sounds great!”
It’s enough to make you turn green, but only in envy!
re Ric Werne above, please excuse me from breaking in on this debate about who has the biggest legislative body around. I note the comment on Biomass and thought that this item from the GWPF might be of interest.
Rgds
Peter Walsh, Dublin, Ireland
Kyodo News 15 February 2011 (and yes, we put the dates thisaway on the far side of the Atlantic!)
None of the government’s 214 biomass promotion projects — with public funding coming to ¥6.55 trillion — over the past six years has produced effective results in the struggle against global warming, according to an official report released Tuesday.
The Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry, which evaluates public works projects, urged the agriculture and five other ministries conducting biomass projects using sewage sludge, garbage and wood, to take corrective action.
The Administrative Evaluation Bureau found in a study of biomass projects through March 2009 that the cumulative budget totaled about ¥6.55 trillion.
The six ministries taking part in such projects, however, have yet to confirm the financial results for 92, or 44 percent, of the 214 projects, with one bureau official saying: “The figures tell everything. The ministries need to produce certain results because they are using taxpayers’ money.”
The Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry spent about ¥1.6 billion on a project to produce livestock feedstuff from unsold boxed lunches from convenience stores. The project was abandoned after its management firm collapsed, the report says.
The Environment Ministry and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry were subsidizing similar projects at the same time, it said.
While the six ministries have argued that 161, or 75 percent, of the 214 projects have produced some results, the bureau concluded that none has produced results that would lead to the formation of a recycling-based society, the report says.
Kyodo News, 15 February 2011
Thanks to mikelorrey and Ric.
Send those lawyers up here. Yeah, funny how the green weenies love renewables UNTIL they could get a turbine on their front lawn. ☺ Classic NIMBY, eh?
Wind farms are sprouting up like mushrooms her … gak! We have a capacity of 777 MW with over 1,000 of the big monsters here. Bah!
They must be working though .. .we’ve had snow on the ground since early November and more on the way. ☺
Anyway…good on NH!
Clive asks how we avoided wind turbines here in NH. We haven’t. About six miles north of me sits the Lempster Mt. wind farm, a small installation of 12 turbines rated at 2mw each. It takes up a couple of miles of ridgeline, and on a good day you might see all of the blades spinning. Mostly there are at least a couple just sitting there doing nothing. I would love to see it replaced with one of the “back pocket” nukes from Hyperion, (which could actually produce the 25mw the pinwheels can only dream about) and fit inside my barn, not killing birds or bats.
“…but the very same people who hug their trees and maintain their Sierra Club memberships, and believe in AGW, are also the people who have their attorneys file lawsuits against any local attempt to raise up wind turbines or cellphone towers that would despoil the view from their homes.”
My understanding is that the modern environmental movement got its start with that kind of people blocking the planned Storm King pumped storage reservoir.
Mike Lorrey says:
April 1, 2011 at 2:36 am
Thanks, Mike. I was chompin’ at the bit to correct the Massholes who love to rewrite the history. More than half of the Bunker Hill fighters were from NH. And you are right, the Battle of Portsmouth harbor (Ft. William & Mary captured) was the First Battle of the Revolution, fought by the Newmarket (NH) militia and the Green Mountain Boys militia after consultation with, you guessed it, Paul Revere.
It was a key battle, since the Brits could no longer move troops down from Portsmouth (a nice protected harbor). They never had this route again. Their ammunition and guns were moved and used throughout the war, including at Bunker Hill.
I am sure there were some competent fighters in MA. Surely Adams and Hancock literally stuck their necks out big time. But the most dedicated fighters were the White Mountain and Green Mountain militias. It is sad to see the depths to which Vermont has plummeted, because they were some of the best. Maybe Lexington & Concord (MA) was the “Shot Heard ‘Round the World” because Boston had the newspapers? So what else is new? I guess battles where one loses are more memorable, I don’t know…
To finish out our NH pride orations, NH was:
° First state to have a constitution
° First state to elect a black man (1768). Speaking of William Wentworth, the pohmmie-lover that was kicked out on his butt, this famous first black patriot was named Wentworth Cheswell. He served elected office continuously from 1768 to his death in 1817 (50 years). He was elected selectman, representative to the state’s constitutional convention, coroner, judge, historian, school superintendent, archaeologist and founder of the first library. He rode the militia alerts, alongside Paul Revere, that the “British are Coming”.He fought in the Light Horse Cavalry under Langdon at the Battle of Saratoga in 1777 (yes, another victory).
This is just to demonstrate that NH is a pacesetter and vanguard not to be dismissed. I hope this sets the tone. The big thing that proponents of RGGI are citing is the loss of a few million in federal funds. You know what the feds can do with their filthy lucre? What they don’t mention is that us NH energy ratepayers are paying a surtax on our electric bills to cover the boondoggle.
It would appear that some sense is beginning to perculate the brains of the great and the good.
Keep on poking them Antony.
Expect the warmists to shop this to one of their hand picked liberal judges, who will enjoin the state from taking action regarding RGGI and then beat it out of town.
While we are getting our facts straight:
– Yes, the Fort William & Mary happened earlier than Lexington/Concord (but after e.g. the tea party), and I also agree that it’s largely overlooked outside NH. But does it count as a proper battle if you overwhelm a force of, what, 6 men? The British force that retreated from Concord, MA under fire was ~1700 men. And what happened in Portsmouth when the Scarborough sailed into harbor? Didn’t colonists only take over the fort for good after the British bailed out August 1775?
– My loyalist comment was driven by e.g. Wentworth, 1770: “[o]ur province is quiet yet, and the only one, but will, I fear, soon enter. If they do, they’ll exceed all the rest in zeal.” Which proved right. Just late-starters.
– “It is an unshakable, but probably mistaken, Granite State tradition that the powder taken from Fort William and Mary in December of 1774 was transported in bulk by Major John Demeritt to the New Hampshire militia in Massachusetts in time for use against the King’s troops at Bunker Hill. ” – Thomas Kehr
– Careful on the timing. Wentworth fled his home permanently in June 1775, after Lexington/Concord.
– What’s striking about those days was the amount of cooperation between MA/NH. I think it’s poor sport to keep sniping at each other. My snark (I plead guilty) was motivated in response to Ms. Bachmann’s errors re: Concord, MA, my hometown. Where, contrary to her assertion, we are still quite proud of our Revolutionary history. I hope that y’all will come down for the Patriots’ Day festivities.
– I respect NH a lot for walking the walk, as well as talking the talk. Your state+local tax burden is 8.0% if income, rank 44, while MA is 10.0%, rank 11. (source PDF) . I don’t know that 2 cents on the dollar really spells the difference between “live free” and “Taxachusetts”, but it’s a discernible gap.
Bruce Cobb says:
April 1, 2011 at 5:43 am
This is a part of the letter I wrote to Chairman Bob Odell:
This time, I implore you to vote to overturn the RGGI.
I know at the time that you co-sponsored it. To me at the time, as a scientist, it seemed like a good thing also. The benefit of retrospective analysis has shown me unequivocally that the premises that undergirded the original RGGI bill were fallacious. The RGGI was part of a major power grab, and so-called disinterested scientists advocating it have shown themselves to be the ones to profit with status and grants monies from it.
We had no way to know all the facts at the time. Now we can see the unintended consequences. Our taxpayers have become burdened with energy surtaxes from the RGGI. This will have to be addressed next. More of our Seabrook grid energy has become additionally siphoned into Massachusetts. The promise that we would benefit from off shore wind farm energy? It will never happen—it was a false predicate. NIMBY is a strong animal! Even so, the ratio of Seabrook existing output to putative wind energy, even if it were to come to fruition, is paltry. Also, the residents of NH next to Seabrook, who entertain the risks inherent in nuclear power, should reap the benefits, and have the lowest rates. Next all of NH ratepayers. Salisbury and Amesbury, MA, likewise. But not the entire grid.
It is always difficult to reverse a position. As a scientist, when I develop an hypothesis, and later evidence disproves it, I have to move on. I don’t even think about it, knowing that I can’t out think Nature. It is not a reversal, but a reformulation based on new facts.
I am convinced the warm-earth hypothesis, that mankind is responsible, is fatally flawed. Man’s incremental culpability is small compared with other causality.
I am all for alternate energy, especially natural gas and nuclear. But these should stand on its own merits, or not stand at all. NH has a great and proud history of being first to stand against the establishment when the powers-that-be were oppressive, beginning with the Battle of Portsmouth and lasting to the present day. New Hampshirites will appreciate your vote to repeal the RGGI initiative.
BCC says:
April 1, 2011 at 10:54 am
Well said.
That is why I said that NH was the vanguard, not the lion’s share of the fight. Wentworth was a benevolent despot, but when he was given a chance to repent and did not, he was driven out.
Paul Revere and Cheswell did ride up and down the borders, drumming up and alerting response. The militiamen from NH and VT were poor dirt farmers, not the ones like Hancock with the wealth to drive a proper battle engine.
The Fort was lightly defended at the time, ’tis true, but that was a result of good scouting and intelligence. Thanks to revere and the lot, no controversy there.
Our taxes burden mostly the property holder. Renters do quite well, and there are a lot of beneficiaries in nursing homes, and students here that benefit. The tax increase was huge in the past 8 years or so, under Democrat control, mostly due to the mandatory kindergarten law enacted under Shaheen. This was done even though NH students routinely tested higher than neighboring states, and still do. This had a domino effect on the state deficit, and property taxes went soaring. It was not thought through to the unintended consequences.
In the interests of disclosure, I am one of the original members of the Free State Project, and helped in the campaign for NH to win the vote by its members to choose their destination. Already we have nearly 1000 members moved here to NH, getting active in politics to help restore our full measure of constitutional liberties to the citizens of this great state. Freestateproject.org was featured last week on John Stossels live show on FOX Business channel. There are over 10,800 members currently, when we reach 20,000, this will trigger the official migration, where members pledge to move to NH within 5 years of that event. Without the active involvement every day of FSP members in the political process in Concord, the Republican Liberty Alliance would not have been so successful not only in winning veto-proof majorities in both houses of the legislature, but in keeping their members fully informed on bills, proposing bills to them. If you think great things are now happening here in NH with just 1000 liberty activists, just imagine what will happen when we have 20,000 here. History has repeated, as the Second American Revolution (a peaceful one) begins in New Hampshire…
While the claim was obscure, I’m fascinated by your ability to blockquote while editing out the work “third”. Pick nits all you want, but at least get it right. It’s not like the rest of us didn’t read the article as well.
[Nah, thats how I originally wrote it, my fault for not fact checking enough, thanks to commenters who were sharper… MikeL]
Bruce Cobb says:
April 1, 2011 at 5:43 am
Indeed – Also two other senators.
http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20110301-NEWS-103010335 lists four republican senators who are in favor of RGGI:
I’ll contact my senator, see where he stands and contact some or all of the others.
I attended http://www.cleanair-coolplanet.org/les2011/ yesterday (it was in walking distance). It’s an annual conference put on by an organization that has received RGGI funds for things like the first conference they put on. One of the most vocal RGGI supporters (and RGGI fund recipient) was there, see http://lightec.net/R_G_G_I.html . I talked with a PSNH representative who will get me in contact with someone who knows how they came up with their monthly cost estimates to their ratepayers. [There are two estimates I’ve heard, one is $0.065 per month, the other is $0.36. I think they try to include the benefits due to RGGI projects. From a simple estimate based on RGGI disbursement to NH divided by the number of households, I get $20 per year, which is $1.67 per month.]
Other notes, taken from my FaceBook status:
Just came back from the Local Energy Solutions Conference at Merrimack Valley High School, see http://www.cleanair-coolplanet.org/les2011/ I was there in part because it’s close, might be interesting, and I might learn something about what that crowd has to say about RGGI, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative that NH is considering withdrawing from.
I listened to one person who may be the most vocal supporter in the state (his business got $316,000 in RGGI funded work, which may certainly help). However, there were a couple people I talked to who agree we should get out of RGGI. The organization that put on the event received RGGI funds for the first event two years ago. Don’t know about this one.
Some interesting vendors, the talks weren’t that interesting. The school’s wood chip heating plant (which has received RGGI funds) was interesting.
I also talked with some folks who’ve never received RGGI funds, but I’m sure it was one of the biggest assemblies of NH RGGI recipients ever gathered.