The Washington-based American Wood Council (AWC) and its vice president of government affairs have issued a statement in support of a recently passed amendment to a United States Senate energy bill.

The supportive statement was made regarding a biomass amendment added to Senate Bill 2012. The effort to add the amendment was led by Senators Susan Collins and Angus King of Maine and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota.

The amendment would require the Secretaries of Energy and Agriculture and the Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to jointly ensure that federal policy relating to forest bioenergy: (1) is consistent across all departments and agencies; and (2) recognizes the full benefits of the use of forest biomass for energy, conservation and responsible forest management.

“Renewable energy policies treat sustainably managed biomass energy as carbon neutral, but current policies – particularly under EPA – fail to distinguish biomass energy carbon emissions from fossil fuel emissions,” says the AWC’s Sarah Dodge. “Wood products facilities use all parts of the raw material not only in the manufacture of products used in everyday life, but also generate most of the energy needed to do so without producing CO2 that wouldn’t have otherwise been released to the atmosphere.”

Adds Dodge, “Our nation’s public policies should be aligned and recognize our industry’s unique biomass use as carbon neutral and as part of the sustainable carbon cycle. We thank Senator Collins for her leadership on this amendment.”

The AWC bills itself as the voice of North American wood products manufacturing, representing more than 75 percent of an industry that provides approximately 400,000 jobs in the U.S.