Also on today’s menu:
Consul-General: Heightened Border Patrols Unnecessary
Trump’s Quest For Power Undermines Democracy
The inevitable result of Governor Chris Sununu’s veto of a bipartisan bill that would have relieved Burgess BioPower of $71 million in debt has forced the state’s largest generator of renewable energy to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and terminate its contract to sell power to Eversource.
Berlin Mayor Paul Grenier said of the news, “It’s a vital piece of Berlin’s economy that that plant continues operation, and it’s a vital piece of the wood basket economy in all of New Hampshire, but particularly in Coös County. This is kind of a stake in the heart to the economy of Coös County.”
The 70-megawatt-capacity plant in Berlin burns low-grade forest products to generate steam that turns the turbines. A 2019 report commissioned by Burgess BioPower found that, if the plant were to close, more than 100 people in the forest and wood products industries would lose their jobs. However, because its contract with Eversource set a limit of $100 million in above-market rates for the electricity it produces — costs that Eversource customers must pay — Eversource said it started “reducing payments” to recover the $71 million in over-market costs it has paid to Burgess over the past three years. Eversource responded to the bankruptcy news by rejecting the termination of the contract, saying the utility will pursue mediation.
Discussion: Demand for electricity will be increasing as the push for electric vehicles increases, making it important to incorporate as many sources of power as possible. While biomass plants are more expensive to operate, their power is an important part of ensuring resiliency if other sources fail, such as a shutdown at Seabrook Station. Beyond that consideration, there is the economic impact to the wood industry and to effective forest management. Timber-cutting leaves behind low-grade wood that would pose a fire threat as well as being unsightly if not for the role of biomass plants in providing economic incentives to clean up the mess. In short, closure of biomass plants — and most of those in New Hampshire already have closed due to unfavorable market conditions — is not good for the state, the economy, or employment.
Consul-General: Heightened Border Patrols Unnecessary
Bernadette Jordan, the Canadian consul-general for New England, told the New Hampshire House of Representatives that cooperation in trade, security, and border enforcement are working well, but that efforts to increase border patrols and enact stricter regulations on cross-border travel can have a negative impact.
Jordan, who was appointed to the post in the Boston consulate in December, said, “I guess my fear would be that if we put more stringent measures in, how it impacts all of the other things that we have for that border. You know, whether it’s tourism, whether it’s trade, whether it’s people visiting families. We can’t impede that. But we still have to make sure that what we’re doing is still working. It does seem to be working.”
Last year, Governor Chris Sununu put $1.4 million into the state budget to create a Northern Border Alliance Task Force comprising state police, forest rangers, Fish-and-Game enforcement, and local law officers to patrol an area within 25 miles of the Canadian border. The American Civil Liberties Union of New Hampshire questioned that use of taxpayer funds when it released data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection that showed just 21 apprehensions at the border over 15 months.
Discussion: The promotion of fear about border security is a way to distract Americans from the real threats facing the nation. (Read on.) In New Hampshire’s case, especially, the short length of its border with Canada does not merit the kind of spending that Sununu has promoted.
Trump’s Quest For Power Undermines Democracy
Former president Donald Trump is escalating his assault on democracy, saying over the weekend that the United States would not protect NATO allies from foreign adversaries and even encourage Russia to attack any member nation that did not meet the alliance’s funding target of 2 percent of its gross domestic product. He again disparaged the United States military by suggesting that Republican rival Nikki Haley’s husband, who is serving overseas, was doing so only to avoid seeing her lose her primary challenge. He sought to strengthen his hold over the Republican National Committee by proposing that his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, and Michael Whatley, who supported his baseless claims of election fraud in 2020, replace Ronna McDaniel, who plans to step down on February 24 after Trump targeted her for not being loyal enough.
NATO Chief Jens Stoltenberg said that Trump’s remarks supporting Russian President Vladimir Putin over the European alliance “undermines all of our security” and puts both US and European troops at greater risk.
Trump, who avoided serving in the military, has long shown contempt for the sacrifices of servicemen and -women, and is taking advantage of the fact that few of those who fought fascism in World War II are alive today to refute his claims that he alone represents America.
His efforts to place loyalists — and family members — at the head of the RNC are another way of solidifying his stranglehold on the former Grand Old Party. He already persuaded Republicans to reject the border security measures they had been asking for in order to make sure it remains an issue during this election year, and his lackey, House Speaker Mike Johnson, promises to keep the $95 billion emergency defense spending bill that passed the Senate from a floor vote because it doesn’t contain the border provisions his party asked for and then rejected.
Discussion: Trump’s reality-TV approach to life, building alliances he hopes will serve his own interests at the expense of everyone else, is turning the Grand Old Party into a Poor Old Party and weakening the United States’ ability to govern itself, let alone serve as an inspiration to the rest of the world.
Café Chatter
On ‘Finding The Music’: Interesting… I am picking up harmonica in my old age…
— Edward Hatch