New study shows EPA’s attack on biomass puts jobs, investment at risk

At PTP, we have covered the EPA’s arbitrarily changing approach toward regulating the biomass industry as it has evolved (see here and here). Now, with the release of a new study outlining the very real impact these policies will have on private-sector investment in energy, green job growth, and ability to meet renewable energy benchmarks for Maine and dozens of other states.

The study was commissioned by the National Alliance of Forest Owners (NAFO), a non-profit whose members own over 75 million acres of forests in 47 states. The group tapped Forisk Consulting, a well-known firm in the energy research sector, to conduct the research for the study. The study’s purpose was to analyze the expected economic impact on the woody biomass industry if the EPA’s proposed “Tailoring Rule” is allowed to go into effect in January 2011 as planned. What they found was pretty grim, particularly for heavily forested states like Maine.

According to the report, over 130 individual renewable energy projects would be in danger of shutting down, between 2011 and 2021. Other impact-related findings are:

• 5,384 fewer MW of renewable electricity generation in the US;

• 11,844 to 26,380 fewer renewable energy jobs;

• $18.0 billion fewer dollars of capital investment in renewable electricity generation; and

• 53.4 million tons of wood biomass per year removed from the renewable energy marketplace.

• Up to 30 states will not meet a national renewable electricity standard of 15% because of the Tailoring Rule; up from 19 states under the status quo.

Yes, you read that right. $18 billion less in renewable energy investment. Private sector investment is especially key in states like Maine with state governments that have extremely limited resources to invest on their own.

The impending EPA regulations don’t just kill green jobs, they actually manage to undermine the EPA’s own renewable energy targets. The EPA has set a renewable energy standard of 15% for all states by 2021. The NAFO study projects that if the Tailoring Rule is implemented, between 19 and 30 states will not be able to meet this goal – Maine, of course, makes the short list.

The NAFO study comes on the heels of research recently conducted by the University of Washington, which found that the EPA’s Tailoring Rule would result in a continued reliance on fossil fuels and an overall increase in greenhouse gas emissions, which is precisely what the rule is designed to prevent. EPA bureaucrats need a reality check, and one can only hope that the release of these studies gives them pause. The middle of a recession is no time to do a policy 180 when it comes to the definition of “renewable” energy, particularly one that disproportionately impacts poor, rural states like Maine and West Virginia that are already hurting in this economy. The EPA’s complex web of regulations is actually undermining its own goals of promoting renewable energy, creating growth in green industries and jobs, and protecting our environment for future generations.