The Environmental Protection Agency recently gave the borough $70,000 to start a program that will allow people to trade in a cord of wet wood for a cord of cleaner-burning dry wood.
It’s part of a slate of voluntary programs the borough has put together to tackle the area’s persistent winter smoke, said Mayor Luke Hopkins. It comes at a time when regulations, such as the failed Proposition 2, have fallen flat with the voters.
“I’ve been talking about it for a while to help with the emissions,” Hopkins said.
Hopkins proposed the EPA help fund a wide-scale program with a price tag of about $500,000 earlier this year. It was a long-shot request because the EPA typically doesn’t fund such projects. With a little help from the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, the EPA granted $70,000 to begin the program.
Details of the program remain unfinished.
Hopkins said he envisions the exchange program as a way to get problem polluters to clean up their acts without unpopular fines or costly nuisance lawsuits.
“The most constructive thing is to offer an exchange for dry firewood,” Hopkins said.
The assembly has yet to approve an ordinance to accept the funds. Hopkins said he hopes to have something for it to vote upon by December.
If the program is popular, Hopkins said, it could lay the groundwork for more exchanges as wood becomes available through forest-clearing projects.
“Anything that works to lowering our area emissions is what we need to do,” Hopkins said. “Our emissions are just getting higher — last year’s emissions were higher than the year before. We need to start solving the problem, and this is one more piece.”
70,000 would pay my heating bill for 20 years! If the Borough is willimg to pay for wood heat, the Borough can pay for my oil heat!!
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People don't understand these programs are started by the people they vote for.
why does borough want to disturb/interfere with the free market.
Let’s see we will need:
Administration: Director, Assistant Director, Support Clerks, Accounting staff, not to mention an office with furniture for say 6-8 people....
Who is going to supply the dry firewood and do the maintenance of the dry wood stockpiles?
Superintendent, Foreman, few laborers, Equipment Operators, Truck drivers, mechanics, (all union of course)....
What equipment will be needed?
Logging trucks, chainsaws, forklifts, flatbed, a few pickups....
Where are the stock piles of dry and wet wood going to be stored?
Need at least a few acres of cleared land with several heated storage garages for all the equipment, and lunch room for the field workers...
Anything else? Oh sure, insurance, bonding, workmen Compensation, retirement plans, paid leave, holidays....
Did I miss anything???
OR why you'er passing off natural gas heating stove and auto exhaust as wood smoke,
OR explain how a 2.5 in downtown FBX makes people go to the hosp who live 40 miles away in Salcha,
OR how a camp fire 2.5 travels 8 miles through the forest and over hills (by suspending gravity?),
OR why we are safe from a 2.5 in our homes from a forest fire's wood smoke in the summer but NOT in the winter,
OR why were'nt all killed when the forest fire's smoke cuts visibility to 250' or less and the 2.5s are over 1,000 in the summer vs 35 in the winter.
NOR, have you explained: how a 2.5 in downtown Fairbanks causes me to get up in the middle of the night-when I drink a glass of water before going to bed.
~~Inquiring sane minds all want to know. ~~
This would cut my heating bill by $3,000 and elec by $1200/ year.
Sheep shearing the taxpayers has gone on for years.
"More money has been stolen with a pen, than has ever been stolen with a gun."
We consistently elect people to office who use their position to steal us blind. Next year is an election year, ask your legislators. What they did to cut the price of fuel oil since they have been in office and what are they going to do about it? Someone called representative Kawasaki on problem corner and ask if the above question. After he gave a 15 min. ambiguous statement- I therefore concluded his answer was nothing.
Don't worry, be happy the government will take care of you. After it steals you blind.
Recently, I have been having difficulty wiping my rear end after …well… you know what. Could you find some government dollars to help me with that too?
President 0bama recently told the crowd at an SF fundraiser that if he is not re-elected, it could lead to a new era of self-reliance in America. I guess he doesn’t have to worry about a disaster like that happening in the FNSB!
I am curious, last year, I recall they spent $3,000,000 on replacing wood stoves. Question: how many wood stoves were replaced? What was the average cost per replacement?
What, I think we should do is use the EPA's budget to refund the royalty oil tax hidden in the crude oil's wholesale price to the refinery --$2.50 per gallon plus 50 cents for pain and suffering.
This would reduce fuel oil prices to what they should be and cut your electric bill in half because GVEA burns fuel oil to keep the power on.
Why do, people whine and complain about corporate and banker greed but not about the greedy the State of Alaska?