Green Building

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Alliance For A Healthy Tomorrow

A major goal of the REC is to reduce the number and prevalence of toxic materials in our surroundings. As scientific evidence increasingly links chronic diseases, cancers, and neurological damage to man-made materials that have been introduced into our environment, we know that minimizing exposure to these materials will keep many of us from getting sick. The REC  has worked towards this goal on several fronts for most of this decade.  
    We have the potential to make great progress this year: legislation to make Massachusetts a safer and healthier place to live and work. REC has teamed up with about 140 organizations around the state in a coalition called Alliance for a Healthy Tomorrow (AHT). AHT’s mission is to make it our state’s public policy to embrace the use of safe and healthy materials and reduce the use of toxic ones wherever possible. The toxic materials AHT is focusing on are common in household products and find their way into our bodies through offgassing into the air, leaching into water, or shredding into the dust in our homes. AHT maintains that it is an issue of true democracy for us to have a voice in what we drink, breathe, and touch.  
    AHT is supporting three bills which have been introduced in the state legislature this session.  All of them deal with issues of reducing exposure to toxic substances. They were introduced in past years and have an excellent chance of passage this year, but none of them is a sure bet. It is citizen action that makes the difference, and that is where we come in. For summaries of all three bills, click here.

Safer Alternatives to Toxic Chemicals Bill:  H-1286 & S-553
This legislation would create a comprehensive but flexible program to replace toxic chemicals with safer alternatives in consumer products and industrial use. It initially targets ten of the worst toxic chemicals in wide use in our state; all of them are currently replaceable with feasible safer alternatives.
Accompanying this bill is a budget item to enable the Toxic Use Reduction Institute (TURI) to study safer alternatives to five of the worst toxic chemicals.

On June 24, REC board members, staff and local representatives of other AHT coalition groups met with State Senator Harriette Chandler of the 1st Worcester district, to urge her to support the three bills which are AHT's priorities for this year. Specifically, weasked her to testify in favor of An Act for Healthy Massachusetts: Safer Alternatives to Toxic Chemicals at a State House hearing on June 27. She was very receptive to our requests and did submit testimony in favor of this bill. Senator Edward Augustus, of the 2nd Worcester district, also submitted testimony in favor of this bill.

A victory for our health and environment! On Thursday July 14, 2005, both the State Senate and House of Representatives voted to override Governor Romney's veto of funds for analysis of safer alternatives to toxic chemicals. The Senate vote was unanimous, and in the House, only four representatives voted against the override. This means that the Massachusetts Fiscal Year 2006 Budget will include $250,000 for the Toxic Use Reduction Institute (TURI) to research safer alternatives for five of the worst toxic chemicals commonly used in industrial and consumer products. TURI has a fifteen year track record of assisting businesses in Massachusetts to reduce their use of toxic chemicals, and has supported many of our toxic use reduction projects here in Worcester.

PERC Free Dry-Cleaning

There has been a lot of buzz lately about the adverse effects that dry cleaning solvents used by most dry cleaners can have on your health. There are dry cleaners available, however, that are healthier for you and your family. One of these healthy cleaners is ZOOTS.

ZOOTS dry cleaning process is different from the industry norm because they do not use perchloroethylene ("perc"), the primary cleaning solvent used by over 85% of dry cleaners. 

The EPA has identified perc as a probable carcinogen and a hazardous air pollutant. It has been linked to many serious health problems including several types of cancer and birth defects.

Perc-free cleaning is healthier for you and your family and safer for the environment.

• ZOOTS uses a non-toxic, odorless cleaning process that has been thoroughly tested and proven to cause no short or long term health risks.
• Their cleaning agent is 100% biodegradable so it's completely safe for the environment.
• Their perc-free cleaning process is gentler on your clothes and leaves them without that "dry cleaning" smell.

Background: RGGI is a joint effort by nine northeast states from Maine to Delaware to jointly reduce carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions from electricity power plants. It is arguably the most important effort underway to reduce global warming pollution in the United States. It's essential that we do all we can now, as the states develop rules for RGGI, to ensure that it leads to deep pollution reductions and serves as a positive model for the rest of the country to follow.

State agency commissioners from around the region met on Sept. 28 and 29, and are very close to deciding on a draft, or "model," rule for the RGGI program. But what they are currently considering does not go far enough to create a program that significantly cuts emissions, protects consumers and creates a model for other states to follow. There a few specific aspects of the program that we need to let the Governor know must be strenghened before they issue a model rule.

Take Action Today: Please let Governor Romney know that you are supportive of the RGGI process and want to see him lead the region in cutting global warming pollution from power plants, and insist that the final RGGI rule be one that:

1) requires deep cuts in carbon dioxide emissions from power plants in the region (the current draft plan may not yield much reduction due to items 2 and 3 below*), putting us on track to meet our long-term reduction goals for all sectors of the economy.

2) strictly limits the reductions that can come from "offsets" (projects like tree planting and landfill gas capture) rather than cleaning up power plants at the smokestack.

3) prevents leakage of utilities meeting their pollution-reduction requirements in the RGGI states by simply importing more coal-fired power from states such as Pennsylvania.

4) protects consumers with the "Polluter Pays" principle: requiring that power plants pay for the right to pollute, and then using that revenue for efficiency and consumer rebates. (*See Note below for more info.)

Call the Governor's office at 617-725-4005 and ask to speak to a member of the Governor's staff or send mail to Governor Mitt Romney, State House, Boston, MA 02133. Also contact the state's top official on global warming, Chief of Commonwealth Development Douglas Foy, at ocd@massmail.state.ma.us.

Thanks, in advance, for your help on this issue. Go here for more info on RGGI.

*Note: State regulators are currently proposing to give power companies 75% of the permits ("allowances") to emit carbon pollution for free, rather than making them pay for the right to pollute. Free allowances mean the public has no way to recover the costs of higher electricity prices that result from RGGI. We're pushing the Governors to sell the allowances, and use the money for efficiency programs and consumer rebates.