Action | Reduce and Cap Carbon Dioxide from Fossil Fuel Fired Electric Power Generating Facilities (Rev. C17) |
Stage | Proposed |
Comment Period | Ended on 4/9/2018 |
I work in the forest products industry in Virginia and sit on the Virginia Forestry Association Board. I feel joining the RGGI would be detrimental to the forest products industry for the several reasons. First, paper and wood mills rely on biomass residuals from the manufacturing process to power their operations and sell electricity onto the grid. The proposed regulation of these utilities would potentially call into question the status of emissions from paper and wood product facilities. Second, there is a strong consensus that using residuals and bio-wastes for energy actually has significant GHG reduction benefits. Third, biogenic carbon dioxide emissions from forest-derived bioenergy do not contribute to the build-up of GHG in atmosphere. Finally, the carbon profile of biomass is not altered when co-fired with other fuels. Please consider this input as you weigh your deicison to join the RGGI