Energy Policy Modernization Act of 2015

Floor Speech

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Mr. KING. Mr. President, as usual, my senior colleague from Maine has outlined this issue exceptionally well and covered the important points. I wish to add and amplify a few.

The first thing I would say is that I yield to no person in this body in terms of their commitment to the environment, their commitment to ending our dependence upon fossil fuel, and our facing of the challenge of climate change. This biomass discussion is a way of helping with that problem rather than hindering it. The important term in all of this discussion is the word ``fossil.''

The issue we are facing now with climate change and with increased CO2 in the atmosphere is because we are releasing CO2. We are releasing carbon that has been trapped in the Earth's crust for millions of years, and we are adding to the carbon budget of the atmosphere.

Biomass is carbon that is already here. It is already in the environment. It is in the trees. It is simply being circulated, and there is no net addition of carbon to the atmosphere because of the use of biomass. I have been in the renewable energy business now for more than 30 years and have worked in hydro, biomass, energy conservation on a large scale and wind power. So I have some background in this. A biomass plant typically burns fuel that would not otherwise enter into the economic stream of timber. It is often bark, mill waste, ends of logs, branches--the kind of thing that otherwise lies on the forest floor, dies and decays and releases carbon. There is no net addition of carbon.

To be intellectually honest, you have to say that burning it releases that carbon so much sooner than it would otherwise be released, but in the overall term we are talking about a renewable resource.

In New England and I suspect around the country--I know in Maine-- there are substantially more trees in the forest today than there were 150 years ago because of the number of farms that have been returned to their natural state of forestry. That has given us an opportunity to develop an energy source that is a lot more safe and supportive of the environment than the other fossil fuel elements we have seen that have contributed to the CO2 problem in this country.

I think this is a commonsense amendment. It basically tries to get the Federal Government on the same page on this issue consistently across the agencies. It makes the point that as long as we are talking about sustainable management, we are talking about what amounts to a continuous renewable resource. We are not adding to the carbon burden of the atmosphere, and therefore I think this is a commonsense amendment that will not set back our efforts with regard to climate change but will actually advance them.

I am happy to support this amendment, to support my colleague from Maine. I think this is the kind of commonsense amendment that actually belongs. It is a very important part of this bill. It strengthens it considerably, in my view. I want to again thank my senior colleague for bringing this bill forward.

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