This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Congress is proposing to ignore science and rewrite reality! Thanks to the influence of heavily forested states, legislation now in conference could classify wood burning (biomass) as carbon neutral. Aside from the bad science and disastrous impact on carbon emissions, we in Utah know how bad wood burning is for air quality and public health. Such legislation promotes an approach to energy that is even dirtier than burning coal. The notion of wood fired power plants is frightening.
About 20 years ago, I removed my wood burning stove and replaced it with gas heat because I could not in good conscience accept the contribution I was making to dirty air in the Moab valley. My daughter was suffering from early signs of asthma due to the particulate emissions into the house whenever the stove was opened to add wood or tend the fire. Utah has had to adopt controls on wood burning in the Salt Lake valley to avoid making air quality problems worse during inversions.
Our representatives in Washington must do what they can to stop this terrible legislation from becoming law.
Robert Greenberg
Moab