Renewable biomass energy significantly reduces overall greenhouse gas emissions
WASHINGTON, DC – David P. Tenny, President and CEO of the National Alliance of Forest Owners, issued the following statement today on EPA’s Call for Information on Greenhouse Gas Emissions Associated with Bioenergy and Other Biogenic Sources:
“The EPA’s response to the requests of key stakeholders and the admonitions of Congress is welcome. However the announced action is a very modest step forward and does not convey a sense of urgency. We continue to call upon EPA to suspend application of the regulation to greenhouse gas emissions from biomass facilities while developing its policy, as many stakeholders and members of Congress have requested.
“We are at a critical juncture at which both policy makers and the marketplace are considering our nation’s path forward on renewable energy. EPA must act quickly to clarify the treatment of biomass energy under the Tailoring Rule and remove the confusion resulting from their sudden and significant shift in policy. Each moment of delay jeopardizes existing and future investments in low carbon biomass energy that are essential to meeting our national renewable energy goals and reducing our dependence on high carbon emitting fossil fuels.
“References by the EPA to greenhouse gas inventories and international conventions and protocols acknowledged by experts as the most accepted approaches to accounting for carbon emissions from biomass energy is appropriate. These set as a baseline the internationally accepted position that accounting for carbon emissions from forests for all uses, including energy production, is most appropriately done at the national scale rather than through site-by-site analyses that can easily create a distorted picture of the forest carbon cycle.
“NAFO looks forward to contributing to the already significant body of information demonstrating the carbon benefits of biomass energy. NAFO also looks forward to the earnest engagement of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which is well positioned to vigorously represent the contributions of agriculture and forestry to produce renewable energy that significantly reduces overall greenhouse gas emissions. It will be critical for EPA and USDA to work together and to work quickly. Our nation’s renewable energy future is waiting.”
###
Tags: biomass
