January 16, 2013
Editorials, Massachusetts

Op-ed correction: Sate program, authorship misstated

January 16, 2013 | www.southcoasttoday.com

Information contained in a Jan. 4 Your View op-ed by Louise Barteau of Fairhaven (“Wind energy bylaw demands greater scrutiny,”) requires correction.

The op-ed referred to the state’s Green Communities Act by the incorrect name, and the author of the act was not, as Ms. Barteau stated, written by Fairhaven resident and Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs Commissioner Mark Sylvia.

According to Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs: “The act was passed unanimously by the state Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Deval Patrick in July 2008, at which time Sylvia was the appointed town manager for Plymouth. Sylvia did not begin service with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts until January 2009. The act was written by then-Speaker Sal DiMasi’s staff in consultation with the Joint House/Senate Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy, and the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. The act did not strip citizens or their local governments of their home-rule authority or mandate renewable energy projects in cities and towns. In fact, the act and the establishment of the Green Communities Division were focused on supporting citizens and towns in their own local clean energy decision-making. Lastly, Sylvia was appointed as the Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources in February 2010, and the Department has no authority over renewable energy projects that a municipality has approved.


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2013/01/16/op-ed-correction-sate-program-authorship-misstated/