Kudos to Katy Eiseman for her call to end public subsidies in Massachusetts for wood-burning power plants [“Must stop subsidizing wood-fired energy,” Recorder, April 4]. Even if woody biomass-burning power plants did not release large amounts of planet-warming C02, the particulate air pollution they spew into our breathing air creates a widespread health hazard that we can prevent by sticking with cleaner sources of energy. Eiseman is right — air pollution particles contribute to lung disease, heart disease, and adverse birth outcomes. The majority of Americans want to breathe cleaner air, and choosing not to burn wood for electricity supports that goal. And of course, burning wood releases the stored C02 into the global atmosphere, hastening the worst effects of global climate change for everyone on the planet. Gov. Maura Healey has already endorsed removing wood from the Massachusetts Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard. Now is the time for all our state legislators to stop using our tax dollars to subsidize this form of dirty energy.

William Beckett

Watertown