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"As the Maryland state legislature prepares for a new session in early January, environmental activists want lawmakers to cut the crap — out of the state’s renewable portfolio standards.
Under Maryland’s current renewable portfolio standards, chicken manure — a byproduct of the state’s booming poultry industry — is classified as a “tier one” renewable resource, the same designation offered to things like wind, solar, and geothermal.
To some, the move is a smart compromise that allows Maryland to meet its renewable energy goals while dealing with the millions of tons of chicken waste produced each year by poultry farms. But to others, the rule gives factory farms a convenient pass for their pollution at the expense of public health.
“Burning chicken poop is not clean,” Taylor Billings, a field organizer with Food & Water Watch, a national group that opposes industrial-scale agriculture, told ThinkProgress. “It’s really toxic. It emits any chemical you can think of from carbon monoxide to sulfur dioxide.”
Over the next week, Food & Water Watch has planned a suite of events around Maryland to denounce the classification of chicken manure as clean energy.
On Tuesday, activists delivered over 1,000 petitions to Maryland State Delegate Joseline Peña-Melnyk (D), who represents counties outside of Washington, D.C. and Annapolis. Following Tuesday’s event, Food & Water Watch plans to deliver more petitions to state legislators on Wednesday and next Tuesday.".....>
"As the Maryland state legislature prepares for a new session in early January, environmental activists want lawmakers to cut the crap — out of the state’s renewable portfolio standards.
Under Maryland’s current renewable portfolio standards, chicken manure — a byproduct of the state’s booming poultry industry — is classified as a “tier one” renewable resource, the same designation offered to things like wind, solar, and geothermal.
To some, the move is a smart compromise that allows Maryland to meet its renewable energy goals while dealing with the millions of tons of chicken waste produced each year by poultry farms. But to others, the rule gives factory farms a convenient pass for their pollution at the expense of public health.
“Burning chicken poop is not clean,” Taylor Billings, a field organizer with Food & Water Watch, a national group that opposes industrial-scale agriculture, told ThinkProgress. “It’s really toxic. It emits any chemical you can think of from carbon monoxide to sulfur dioxide.”
Over the next week, Food & Water Watch has planned a suite of events around Maryland to denounce the classification of chicken manure as clean energy.
On Tuesday, activists delivered over 1,000 petitions to Maryland State Delegate Joseline Peña-Melnyk (D), who represents counties outside of Washington, D.C. and Annapolis. Following Tuesday’s event, Food & Water Watch plans to deliver more petitions to state legislators on Wednesday and next Tuesday.".....>