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To: SAF Members
From: Erica Rhoad, Director of Forest Policy, SAF
Regarding: Renewable Electricity Standard and woody biomass definition—YOUR HELP NEEDED!
***PLEASE DO NOT CUT AND PASTE THIS TEXT AND SEND IT TO HILL STAFF***
Why your help is needed: The U.S. House of Representatives will be passing legislation soon that will impact foresters and the management of forests in the United States for decades. A great deal of woody biomass could be excluded from counting as “renewable” under a Renewable Energy Standard.
Background: Specifically, a cap & trade and renewable energy bill (known as the Waxman-Markey cap & trade bill) has been approved by the House Committee on Energy & Commerce. This bill will likely go to the House Floor for a vote before the 4 th of July congressional recess. Currently a restrictive definition of woody biomass will limit the contribution of woody biomass to renewable energy mandates. Further, producers of biomass energy that do not use “renewable” biomass (as defined in the bill), will be treated the same as a coal-fired power plant and would actually be penalized for their clean energy production. It is crucial this definition is written correctly. To see the definition, please go to http://energycommerce.house.gov/Press_111/20090609/hr2454_committeereport.pdf or see the definition at the bottom of this page.
Action: Please CALL your US Representatives this week (June 15 th-19 th) (we are only targeting the House right now, not the Senate) and:
1.) Ask for the staff person that handles natural resources/forestry issues (they will likely ask you your name and who you are with—you should feel free to say, “Society of American Foresters”)
2.) Let them know the biomass definition in the Waxman-Markey cap & trade bill will needlessly exclude many sources of woody biomass that will limit renewable energy production (see talking points below)
3.) Ask them if they want further information and forward them SAF’s letter to the Energy & Commerce Committee (below) or your individual chapter’s letter.
4.) If they are not available, leave them a message stating your name, number and your concern about the woody biomass definition in the Waxman-Markey Cap & Trade bill.
To find the contact info for your US Rep go to: http://www.house.gov/house/MemberWWW_by_State.shtml
Talking Points:
- Wood is necessary to meet a renewable energy standard : If as a nation we are to truly meet renewable energy goals—whether electricity or biofuels—wood must be allowed to make its full contribution. Renewable forest biomass could account for up to 1/3 of the energy needed to meet the RES.
- We should promote rather than discourage the use of renewable forest biomass . Limiting renewable forest biomass harms conservation, consumers, and the climate. Foresters have the expertise to help landowners sustainably manage forests for wood products and biomass energy while still conserving the environment.
- Federal lands must be included: Many Federal forests desperately need treatments to improve forest health, control insects and disease and prevent catastrophic wildfire. Biomass removal in these forests could help to create renewable energy while also improving forest health and allowing forests to act as climate ‘sinks’ rather than ‘emitters’ (through insect & disease infestation and catastrophic wildfire).
- Support HR 1190, sponsored by Rep. Herseth Sandlin, to fix the Renewable Fuels Standard biomass definition, replacing it with a broader definition of forest biomass that could be used to meet the Standard.
The current Definition would NOT count biomass used to produce biomass energy from:
- ‘plantations’ established after the enactment of the Act UNLESS they are planted for the purposes of restoring ‘native forest types’
- Forests identified by a State Natural Heritage Program as rare, imperiled, or critically imperiled
- Old growth or late successional forests as identified by the State Forestry Department
- Most federal land (including old growth or mature forest stands, inventoried Roadless areas, National andscape Conservation System lands, Primitive areas, National Monuments, National Conservation Areas, Wild & Scenic River Corridors, Wilderness Study Areas and Wilderness areas.
Additional KEY POINTS (Feel free to use these points or your own):
- Different regions of the country contribute different strengths to renewable energy generation . For instance, some states have more wood than wind. Limiting forest biomass hamstrings some states from meeting mandates, thereby increasing costs to consumers and creating regional disparities in economic development.
- Green jobs – Biomass energy plants create 4.9 jobs for each MW of installed capacity . One plant can inject $150 million in upfront construction investment with $20 million spent in the local economy each year. Definitions of eligible biomass feedstock should put working forests on an even playing field with other renewable energy sources.
- Sustainable forest biomass reduces greenhouse gases (GHG) because it is carbon neutral
To read SAF’s recent letter to the House Energy & Commerce Committee click here: http://www.eforester.org/fp/documents/waxmanletter_5-19-09.pdf
Current Definition from Waxman Markey Bill:
RENEWABLE BIOMASS.—the term renewable biomass means any of the following:
- Trees, brush, slash, residues, or any other vegetative matter removed from within 600 feet of any building, campground, or route designated for evacuation by a public official with responsibility for emergency preparedness, or from within 300 feet of a paved road, electric transmission line, utility tower, or water supply line;
- Residues from or byproducts of milled logs;
- Any of the following removed from forested land that is not Federal and is not high conservation priority land:
- Trees, brush, slash, residues, interplanted energy crops, or any other vegetative matter removed from an actively managed tree plantation established—
- prior to the date of enactment of this section; or
- on land that, as of the date of enactment of this sections, was cultivated or fallow and non-forested.
- Trees, logging residue, thinnings, cull trees, pulpwood, and brush removed from naturally-regenerated forests or other non-plantation forests, including for the purposes of hazardous fuel reduction or preventative treatment for reducing or containing insect or disease infestation.
- Logging residue, thinnings, cull trees, pulpwood, brush and species that are non-native and noxious, from stands that were planted and managed after the date of enactment of this section to restore or maintain native forest types.
- Dead or severely damaged trees removed within 5 years of fire, blowdown, or other natural disaster, and badly infested trees;
- Materials, pre-commercial thinnings, or removed invasive species from National Forest System land and public lands (as defined in section 103 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702)), including those that are byproducts of preventative treatments (such as trees, wood, brush, thinnings, chips, and slash), that are removed as part of a federally recognized timber sale, or that are removed to reduce hazardous fuels, to reduce or contain disease or insect infestation, or to restore ecosystem health, and that are—
- not from components of the National Wilderness Preservation System, Wilderness Study Areas, Inventoried Roadless Areas, old growth or mature forest stands, components of the National Landscape Conservation System, National Monuments, National Conservation Areas, Designated Primitive Areas, or Wild and Scenic Rivers corridors;
- harvested in environmentally sustainable quantities, as determined by the appropriate Federal land manager; and
- harvested in accordance with Federal and State law and applicable land management plans.
HIGH CONSERVATION PRIORITY LAND—the term ‘high conservation priority land’ means land that is not Federal and—
(A)globally or State ranked as critically imperiled or imperiled under a State Natural Heritage Program; or
(B) old-growth or late-successional forest, as identified by the office of the relevant State Forester or relevant State agency with regulatory jurisdiction over forestry activities.
THANK YOU in advance for your assistance and please contact me with any questions (rhoade@safnet.org )
