On June 30, Senators Susan Collins (R-ME), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), and 44 other senators sent a bipartisan letter to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy, Department of Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz and Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack urging recognition of forest biomass as carbon neutral in forthcoming policy. On July 31, Representatives Reid Ribble (R-WI) and Sanford Bishop (D-GA) sent a similar bipartisan letter signed by 154 Members of the House of Representatives.

Tenny added: "The science on the carbon neutrality of forest biomass is extensive and well-established in support of a clear and practical policy. Yet, instead of providing the clarity so badly needed at this critical juncture, the Clean Power Plan creates more process, complexity and confusion that will only extend the uncertainty riddling the biomass community. Policy uncertainty jeopardizes existing investment in biomass and discourages new investment to build or upgrade facilities. It also keeps states guessing at the very time they need clarity to meet tight implementation deadlines."

*  The carbon benefits of renewable forest biomass are well-established.

*  One hundred nationally recognized forest scientists sent a letter to EPA on Nov. 6, 2014, reaffirming the long-term carbon benefits of forest bioenergy.

*  Regularly collected USDA data show that U.S. timberlands are growing at more than twice the rate of harvests. The total volume of trees in U.S. forests has increased 50 percent in the past 60 years.

*  Scientists and carbon experts at the U.S. Department of Agriculture conclude that strong markets improve the long-term carbon benefits of biomass energy.

*  Biomass markets, like other forest products markets, enable private forests to afford forest management that sustains carbon benefits over the long term. EPA data show that carbon storage in U.S. forests offset 15 percent of total U.S. CO2 emissions annually.