Tuesday was voting day for town and school district meetings. Communities with traditional system will be having meetings throughout the next week, and a couple do it in April and May. Here are a few tidbits of GraniteGeek interst:

A non-binding push for carbon fees won on a number of town ballots on town meeting day.

Called the Carbon Cash-Back Coalition, it put petitioned warrant articles in front of town meeting voters asking them to support the federal or state government establishing a “fee to be paid by vendors of carbon-based fuels based on their emissions,” with the money divvied among all state households under what they call a “carbon fee and dividend” approach. I wrote about it in January.

As of Wednesday morning, the group says the petition passed in seven towns and failed in one. It was on the ballot in 38 towns, so there are lots of results still to compile. From the group’s statement this morning:

Where does the C3 go from here? Towns will be voting through May, and cities have a different process and schedule. The Board of Selectmen or town council of towns that voted Yes will notify their State Representatives, Governor Sununu, their Members of Congress, and President Trump of their request for cash-back carbon pricing legislation. We have a goal of getting on 200 town warrants next year. Other states are interested too. 

SOLAR STUFF

• The town of Pittsfield supported the idea of leasing land to New England Solar Gardens for a community array.

• The town of Henniker put new constraints on ground-mounted solar, requiring it to get a conditional use permit from the Planning Board. Part of the reason: “to preserve Henniker’s scenic vistas”.