As part of her proposed budget, Gov. Kelly Ayotte has requested a moratorium on new landfill projects for one year, according to an article published by the Concord Monitor.
Ayotte said to the Monitor, “I think we should take a look at projects across the board and make sure that they’re right for New Hampshire, making sure that we’re protecting the beautiful environment of New Hampshire. It’s not just about one project. Let’s take a moratorium and look at all these projects.”
One of the projects of concern, according to the Monitor, is the Forest Lake landfill project proposed by Casella near Dalton, N.H. Other concerns, cited from a previous article published by the Monitor, include statistics in a N.H. state report stating that roughly “half of the waste dumped in New Hampshire comes from out-of-state, much of it from Massachusetts.”
Supporters of the moratorium, such as Rep. Kelley Potenza, a Republican from Rochester, said to the Monitor that “she’s grateful that landfill issues are on Ayotte’s radar and hopes legislators can work with her team to address the state’s solid waste challenges.” Potenza, however, told the Monitor that she favors HB 171, which would put a moratorium on landfill projects until 2030.
I can wholly appreciate and agree with Potenza and Ayotte. N.H. has become the dumping ground for states in the region, which needs to be done away with. I would hope this comes with other trash mitigation policies, because while this is a very useful step in the right direction, it is going to take a lot more than simply blocking new landfills.
As a society we have forgotten our ‘waste not, want not’ tendencies and fully embraced the never ending supply of cheap stuff and single-use products. Not long ago could someone be seen using a handkerchief, a cloth napkin or drinking soda out of a glass bottle. We have gotten too comfortable with paper and plastic waste as a society who views everything as disposable. We have sold our souls at the capitalist altar of consumerism, with all of the vices and none of the virtues. We crave more and more stuff with no real purpose, living a life of fast food drive-thrus and paper plates and plastic utensils because we do not have the time to live a proper life anymore. Too busy being worked to the bone.
If they want to be serious about limiting human waste in N.H., they will need proper policies to not only limit or stop all new landfills but to produce less waste in the first place. Ayotte and the legislature can make regional efforts as well. They could make regional efforts to require businesses of all sizes to use recyclable or reusable packaging. There could be limits or bans on single-use plastics that have been effective in other states, such as Vermont. There could be alterations to labor laws, giving people the freedom to work shorter days and have the time to provide for themselves to a certain degree. We could pass legislation banning planned obsolescence, making companies produce replaceable parts instead of whole new products.
I am hopeful, yet have low expectations of the current government. N.H. conservatives have shown time and time again that their primary goal is to appease their base no matter the cost. With a fiscal policy that focuses on market fundamentalism, their primary goal appears to be standard operating procedure: Grandstanding on an issue and providing no real solutions.
Timothy Fitzpatrick can be contacted at
tfitzpatrick@kscequinox.com
