Responsible Solar Massachusetts is a grassroots group focused on solar siting issues in Massachusetts. Our goal is to build a network and share information with individuals and other groups who are concerned about what is happening in our communities, in the state, and beyond. Working together, we can navigate this quickly-changing area and ensure that solar siting is done appropriately and with a positive result for climate, the environment and human health and safety.
We invite you to:
1) Explore our website and join our mailing list for occasional news updates and invitations to educational
forums. https://www.responsiblesolarma.org/contact. Spread the word!
2) Provide input on how we can work effectively/efficiently by completing this brief survey. Let us know what’s useful to you and how you want to be engaged,3) Join our google group, an email group for sharing information, asking questions, and encouraging action around responsible solar concerns. To join, complete question 1 of the survey.4) Take legislative action: Urge your representative to co-sponsor house bill H 2312, which protects communities from inappropriately sited solar. This bill was filed again this session by Representative Paul McMurtry to strike the "solar exemption" language from the Dover Amendment that was written before there was such a thing as large scale solar. That means rescinding Chapter 40A Section 3, paragraph 9, the 40-year-old law that is being used by the Attorney General and the courts to interfere with municipalities' regulation of solar and lithium-ion batteries. Updating this law is very important and your letter really makes a difference. It takes about 3 minutes!
Stay tuned for information about our upcoming May 8th event, where we’ll provide legislative updates and hear from legal experts about strategies that are being used to fight exploitative corporate practices.
LOSING GROUND
Over 4,000 acres have been clear-cut for solar. The state is calling for another 100,000 acres.[Forest clear cuts are often in core habitat and critical natural landscapes. We need intact forests, not clear cuts, to protect our water and native biodiversity at a time when plants and animals are going extinct right here in Massachusetts.
https://www.massaudubon.org/our-conservation-work/advocacy/alternative-energy/solar ; https://savethepinebarrens.org/resources-2/
OUR BEGINNINGS
Statewide Rally July 31, 2021 in the News