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August 14, 2015
USDA Announces $63 Million for Renewable Energy, Energy Efficiency in Rural Communities
On August 7, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that 264 renewable energy and energy efficiency projects have been awarded $63 million in grants and loans through the Rural Energy For America Program (REAP). The agency expects that this most recent batch of REAP funding will generate and/or save a combined 207.8 million kilowatt hours of energy. According to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, “This funding will have far-reaching economic and environmental impacts nationwide, particularly in rural communities.”
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For First Time Ever, Majority of Forest Service Budget Spent on Wildfire Suppression
On August 4, the U.S. Forest Service reported that it had reached an unfortunate milestone. The agency tasked with managing federal forests and grasslands has become a de-facto firefighting agency. For the first time in its 100-plus year history, the Forest Service has spent a majority of its congressionally appropriated budget on fighting wildfires. Fire suppression has ballooned from 16 percent of the agency’s annual budget 20 years ago, to more than 50 percent in 2015. According to the agency, if wildfire management and funding are not addressed in a systematic manner, wildfire suppression costs are expected to rise to 67 percent of the agency’s total budget by 2025. How did the agency get into this vicious cycle of rising wildfire costs and decreased spending on forestry management practices?
Headlines:
1. Florida Company Announces Plans to Open 56 Cellulosic Ethanol Refineries in United States & Abroad
2. Department of Energy Video on State of U.S. Biofuel Refiners, Farmers, R&D
3. New Holland Debuts Renewable Natural Gas Powered Tractor
4. Opinion: Low-risk Bioenergy Can Be a Critical Climate Solution
5. RFA Asks, 10 Years After RFS Passage, What’s Changed?
To Contact the Editor: Jessie Stolark at eesi@eesi.org
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