President’s Budget Asks Little for Rural Energy Programs, But Would Boost DOE Biomass Investments

In its Fiscal Year 2013 (FY13) budget request to Congress, the administration requested only $4.6 million in new budget authority for the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP), and it did not request any new funds for the other bioenergy programs in the Farm Bill. What is going on? Until now, the administration and the USDA have given strong priority to implementing Farm Bill energy programs.

Senate Agriculture Committee Holds First Farm Bill Hearing: Energy in Focus

On February 15, the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry held the first of four scheduled hearings on the Farm Bill. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and two panels of experts testified on “Energy and Economic Growth for Rural America.”

New Study Assesses Carbon Emissions Balance of Biopower in the Southeast

On February 14, the Biomass Energy Resource Center, Forest Guild, National Wildlife Federation, and the Southern Environmental Law Center announced “a new study of southeastern forests in the U.S. finds that in the long run, burning wood instead of fossil fuels to make electricity can reduce heat-trapping carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, but not soon enough to prevent worsening the conditions leading to global climate change.”

Writer: Ned Stowe

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