S5220 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE June 22, 2010 mom, an immigrant to this country, That is what we believe in on the know what the facts say. They know and my dad, from a farm family, never Democratic side of the aisle. The Re- the history. I hope they do not embrace borrowed money, scared to death of publicans say: Oh, deficit spending. the Republican approach which will debt, because they saw the Great De- Stop. We cannot do that. Then what drive us further into unemployment pression and they saw it destroy peo- happens? The business fails. The jobs and recession. ple. Franklin Roosevelt came in as are lost. The people draw unemploy- I yield the floor. President in those days. He came in in ment and, in desperation, wait for The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- March of 1933. He said, we are going to something to happen. pore. The Senator from Maryland. change this. We are going to get Amer- You know what the Republicans are f ica back on its feet. You have nothing up to now? Last week we asked them: KAGAN NOMINATION to fear but fear itself. We are going to Would you please extend unemploy- put people back to work. We are going ment benefits for these millions of Mr. CARDIN. Madam President, this to give them government jobs if we Americans who are out of work. In my Monday the Senate Judiciary Com- cannot find them jobs in the private State the unemployment rate is 10.8 mittee will begin the confirmation sector. We are going to tell our farm- percent. It has been around that for hearings for Elena Kagan to be an As- ers, you are going to survive because several months now. Boone County, sociate Justice of the Supreme Court. we are going to basically stand behind 16.6 percent; Pulaski County, way down These confirmation hearings will pro- you through the tough years. Whether south, 12 percent; western edge of our vide an opportunity to the public to see it is a drought or a flood, we are going State, Hancock County, 11.8 percent; firsthand how important Supreme to be around to help you get through to and in Clark County, in the south- Court decisions are in their ordinary the next year. We are going to make eastern end of our State, 13.7 percent. lives. There are many examples we sure that banks do not fail. We are There are 717,000 people in Illinois offi- could give, from schools to consumer going to inject government into this cially unemployed. issues to personal lives, privacy, reli- economy and get America back on its The Republicans say: Cut off their gious protections, helping the environ- feet. unemployment benefits. That is what ment, the workplace. At that time the unemployment rate they voted for last Thursday. And In recent years, by a sharply divided in America was 25 percent. When the 80,000 of those 717,000 unemployed will Court, they have reversed precedent New Deal got started, they brought it lose their unemployment benefits. and congressional intent and ruled on down 13 percent, cut it in half because What happens to the unemployment the side of big business over individual of government investment in this econ- check? It is the most quickly spent rights. This is judicial activism, not ju- omy. People went back to work. They government check ever sent out. Des- dicial restraint. I hope all my col- left the long lines waiting for soup and perate people out of work take that leagues will agree that the next Su- bread and started earning some money. check and turn it into groceries and preme Court Justice should be on the They built highways. They built clothes and shoes and gas in the car side of individual Americans, following bridges. They built stadiums. They and utility bills and rent and mortgage legal precedent and congressional in- built parts of America we still use payments as quickly as they receive it. tent. today. It was an investment by the It is money right back into the econ- I wish to give an example—I know government in our economy to bring us omy. They want to cut it off because my colleagues will give others—about out of the worst depression we had ever we have a deficit. workplace fairness in Ledbetter v. faced. I understand this deficit. I am on the Goodyear Tire. Let me provide a little Then, after a few years what hap- Deficit Commission, and I understand background. Lilly Ledbetter worked pened? Republican critics came for- taking it seriously. But let’s take seri- for 19 years at Goodyear Tire. During ward and said, wait a minute. This is ously putting America back to work. that period, she was paid $15,000 a year deficit spending. We are spending This Republican approach of cutting less than her male counterparts doing money we do not have. We have got to the unemployment compensation for the same work. This type of discrimi- stop. And they prevailed, just as Sen- people who lost their jobs through no nation is prohibited by congressional ator MCCONNELL wants to prevail fault of their own is a strategy that statute under the Civil Rights Act of today. Hit the brakes. Stop spending. failed in the 1930s and is going to fail 1964. Within that legislation, title VII You know what happened? They pre- us now. was specifically enacted to protect vailed with that argument. You know We have to believe in America and a American workers from undue dis- what happened with the unemployment better day when people are back to crimination, including gender discrimi- rate? It went from 13 percent back to 19 work and this economy is moving for- nation. When Mrs. Ledbetter found out percent, and the sick economy contin- ward. We will deal with this deficit she was being discriminated against, ued for years until the war came along, with a strong economy, with Ameri- she did the right thing: she brought a World War II, and we had a massive in- cans working, not by quaking and quiv- claim against her employer. vestment in our Nation to protect our ering and saying we cannot put money The only reason Mrs. Ledbetter knew Nation, to give our troops what they back into the hands of those who are she was being paid less than her male needed, and we put people back to out of work. That is one of the fun- counterparts was because a colleague work. damentals in this government. It is the finally told her. This is not unusual. In Now we are about to repeat history. way we take this great free market fact, in most employment discrimina- The Republicans come to us now and system of ours, when it falls on hard tion cases, employees are unaware of say, we have got to stop putting money times, and move it forward again. discrimination until an unexpected back into the economy. It creates def- All of the speeches we will hear from event occurs or undisclosed informa- icit. Yes, it does. But if you do not get the other side of the aisle about defi- tion finally comes to light. the 14 million unemployed Americans cits are going to overlook the obvious. Mrs. Ledbetter went to court, stated back to work, the deficit will get Were it not for the failed economic her claim, and won. After multiple ap- worse. They will not be paying taxes, policies of the Bush administration, we peals, the case reached the Supreme they will be drawing on government would not be where we are today. Were Court. The Supreme Court, by a 5-to-4 services. it not for the doubling of the national decision, denied her claim. The Court We want them back to work. And it debt under the last Republican Presi- said Mrs. Ledbetter had to file her case means making sure we make invest- dent, we would not be where we are within 180 days after the beginning of ments in America that count—helping today. the discrimination, and since she did small businesses; tax credits and tax It seems that those on the other side not do that, her claim was barred by deductions for small businesses; credit of the aisle have, I guess, an extreme the statute of limitations. This defies for small businesses; government ac- sensitivity to deficits when there is a logic. How can a person bring a claim tively moving forward to give small Democratic President, and are obliv- when they don’t know they are being businesses a chance to keep their em- ious to them when there is a Repub- discriminated against? It makes no ployees and hire more. lican President. The American people sense.

VerDate Mar 15 2010 23:52 Jun 22, 2010 Jkt 089060 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G22JN6.002 S22JNPT1 rfrederick on DSK8KYBLC1PROD with SENATE June 22, 2010 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S5221 This decision appalled me and many stands the appropriate role of the Su- porations. They actually have a duty, a of our colleagues. Whose side is the Su- preme Court. legal duty to their shareholders to preme Court on? What happened to pro- I yield the floor. maximize their economic self-interest. tecting American workers and not big The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- It is what they do. It is why they were business? What happened to following pore. The Senator from Rhode Island. set up. It makes them a very important legal precedent? What happened to fol- Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Madam Presi- economic engine for society. But it lowing congressional intent? What hap- dent, let me thank the Senator from does mean we have to control that mo- pened to judicial restraint from a ma- Maryland for his comments about the tivation through the law. One of the jority of the Court that professes that Ledbetter decision. ways we control that motivation is what they believe is right? If an em- What we are gathering on the floor through the law is with punitive dam- ployee is being discriminated against, today to discuss is whether American ages—punitive damages assessed there should be effective remedy. If corporations are getting something through the jury. they don’t know they were discrimi- more than a fair shake from Repub- Let me say a quick word about the nated against, it doesn’t make the lican appointees on the Supreme Court, jury. The jury is an American institu- error any less wrong when they find whether there is a bit of a systemic tion of government. It is mentioned out about it. The Court is clearly out lean in favor of corporate interests on three times in the Constitution and of touch with the impact they have on the part of those judges to the point Bill of Rights. It is there for a reason. everyday Americans. where we really now need to call that It is there for a very important reason. This case is a perfect example of out because it is beyond what statistics When de Tocqueville wrote ‘‘Democ- hurting female workers. As of 2009, could possibly justify. racy in America,’’ he wrote about the women comprised 46.8 percent of the Certainly, the Ledbetter decision jury that it is ‘‘an institution of the U.S. labor force. As of 2009, 66 million helps prove that point. We have at a sovereignty of the people.’’ He wrote women were employed in the United company a woman who does not know that in a chapter whose heading was States; 74 percent were employed full she is being discriminated against; that about protecting against the tyranny time; 26 percent, part time. Equal pay for the same work as her male col- of the majority. has been U.S. law for more than four leagues, she is being paid less. She has The Founding Fathers saw it that decades. But on average, women today no way to know that. She does not way because they saw corrupt colonial still make just 78 cents for every dollar know that. The fact that she does not Governors. They saw legislatures that made by a man in an equivalent posi- know that is held against her rather had panicked in that period between tion. Women of color are in an even than against the company which dis- independence and the Constitution. Re- worse position. The average earnings criminated against her. The company member Thomas Jefferson talking for African-American women were 68 was able to get off scot-free for all about the Virginia Legislature, saying: percent of a male’s earnings, while those months and years of discrimina- We have turned out 1 tyrant, and now Latinos earn just 58 percent of a male’s tion before she found out what they we have 270 tyrants—or whatever the earnings. The Supreme Court ruled were doing to her. The law did not re- number was—of the Virginia Assembly. against precedent and actually made it quire that particular answer. As the They had to go back, and Madison had more difficult for women to bridge this dissenting Justices pointed out, it was, to rethink the balance of powers. They gap. That is not what we want from the in fact, the wrong answer. But it cer- adopted what is now the American sys- Supreme Court of the United States. tainly served the interests of corpora- tem of government. They had an expe- That is not what we want as far as the tions across America to limit their li- rience that there needed to be a place activism of the Supreme Court is con- ability when they discriminate against where one could go to get a clean deci- cerned. their employees. sion from a jury of one’s peers. And it When the Court turned the law com- The case I wish to talk about is the didn’t matter who the Governor was, pletely on its head and circumvented Exxon decision where the Supreme who the general assembly was, what congressional intent, Congress stepped Court threw out a jury verdict after the power structure was; there was in. I am proud to say that my senior the Exxon Valdez oilspill, a jury ver- some place in American Government Senator, Ms. MIKULSKI, introduced the dict for punitive damages in the where power did not count, where the Lilly Ledbetter Equal Pay Act, which I amount of $5 billion. Sounds like a lot powerful and the powerless had the cosponsored. This legislation had 54 of money. It is a lot of money, but at same shot. That is why it is in the Con- Senate cosponsors and passed the Sen- the time, it was just 1 year of profits stitution. That is why it is described as ate by a vote of 61 to 36. The House of for Exxon. a mode of the sovereignty of the peo- Representatives passed the bill by a Remember what they did in this case. ple. vote of 255 to 177. On January 29, 2009, They took this gigantic tanker, the When the Supreme Court takes away President Obama signed his first bill Exxon Valdez, and they allowed the from the jury what seems to me to be into law, the Lilly Ledbetter Equal captain, a known alcoholic, to get on a reasonable punitive damage assess- Pay Act. board drunk, to continue drinking ment—if they had really been whacked Under our system of checks and bal- heavily while on board, and to steer for $5 billion, who knows what message ances, each branch of government has a the Valdez aground in Prince William that might have sent through the oil responsibility to keep the other in Sound, creating what was then, in 1989, industry. Conceivably, it might have check. But we all should be on the side the biggest oilspill in American his- prevented the oilspill in the gulf if it of the American people and workers. tory. really rattled their cages enough. But, As the Judiciary Committee and the Prince William Sound is still recov- no, it interfered with the predictability Senate convene next week to consider ering from that. Our colleagues from corporations want. So the Supreme the nomination of Elena Kagan, we Alaska will tell us that one can still Court threw out the $5 billion punitive need to remember whose side we are pick up rocks on the seashore and see damage assessment—just 1 year’s prof- on. We need to remember that big busi- the oil on the underside of the rocks. it for that company—and knocked it ness can and will fend for itself, but it We all remember the images we first down 90 percent. They adopted a rule is individuals who look to the Court saw there—and are now seeing trag- that it couldn’t be more than one-to- and to Congress to uphold the law and ically echoed in the gulf—of birds, ma- one with damages. It is not in the Con- the protections it delivers. rine mammals covered in oil, poisoned stitution. It is not statutory. They just Elena Kagan will be the fourth by oil, dying on the shores and beaches decided that the interests of corpora- woman to serve on the Nation’s highest or, if they can be found, being recov- tions in predictability were so impor- Court, and this will be the first time in ered by human volunteers who try to tant that paying back Alaskans for the history we will have three women serv- clean them up and save their lives. It damage done and putting a punitive as- ing on the Court at the same time. was a very significant error by Exxon. sessment on top of it that would pre- Elena Kagan’s record as Solicitor Gen- Everybody knows corporations are vent this from happening again was eral and her broad legal background all about their bottom line. That is not less important. Predictability was give me confidence that she under- me saying that; that is the law of cor- more important; deterring misconduct

VerDate Mar 15 2010 23:52 Jun 22, 2010 Jkt 089060 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G22JN6.003 S22JNPT1 rfrederick on DSK8KYBLC1PROD with SENATE S5222 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE June 22, 2010 was less important. That is a value should not forget that fact as we look justice in another 5–4 decision, this one judgment. It is a value judgment these at a nominee who will hold the strike called Rent-A-Center v. Jackson. Justices bring to this Court. zone the same; who won’t give that On one side of the courtroom in this Jeffrey Toobin is an authoritative benefit any longer to the corporations case was Rent-A-Center, a corporation writer about the Supreme Court. He that now, apparently, are beginning to that runs over 3,000 furniture and elec- studies it carefully. He tracks it care- feel they are entitled to at the U.S. Su- tronics rent-to-own stores across North fully. Here is what he wrote last year preme Court. America, with 21,000 employees and about our Chief Justice: I yield the floor. hundreds of millions of dollars in an- In every major case since he became the The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- nual profits. On the other side stood nation’s seventeenth Chief Justice, Roberts pore. The Senator from Minnesota. Antonio Jackson, an African-American has sided with the prosecution over the de- Mr. FRANKEN. Madam President, I account manager in Nevada who fendant, the state over the condemned, the couldn’t agree more with my colleague sought to bring a civil rights claim executive branch over the legislative, and from Rhode Island and his eloquent against his employer. Jackson claims the corporate defendant over the individual statement, as well as my colleague plaintiff. Even more than Scalia, who has that Rent-A-Center repeatedly passed embodied judicial conservatism during a from Maryland. I think we are going to him over for promotions and promoted generation of service on the Supreme Court, be hearing a lot about this Roberts non-African-American employees with Roberts has served the interests and re- Court as we head into and during the less experience. flected the values of the contemporary Re- Kagan hearings. Although Jackson signed an employ- publican Party. I rise today to talk about Americans’ ment contract agreeing to arbitrate all Remember, this is the one who, when basic right to have their day in court. employment claims, he also knew the being confirmed, said he was only The Supreme Court has always been a contract was unfair, so he challenged it going to call balls and strikes, as if towering institution, both physically in court. But yesterday the Supreme that was even an apt metaphor. Well, it and metaphorically. Until recently, as Court sided with Rent-A-Center, ruling seems that the strike zone for indi- visitors walked up the steep steps of that an arbitrator, not a court, should vidual plaintiffs is a lot smaller in this the Supreme Court’s front doors, they decide whether an arbitration clause is Court than the strike zone for the big entered underneath a mantle inscribed valid. Let me say that again. The arbi- corporations. I will pick out a part of ‘‘Equal Justice Under Law.’’ Now those trator gets to decide whether an arbi- the sentence: bronze doors are closed to the public. tration clause is valid. Let me repeat In every major case since he became the That may have been because of secu- that. The arbitrator gets to decide Nation’s seventeenth Chief Justice, Roberts rity concerns, but it is hard to imagine whether the arbitration clause is valid. has sided with the corporate defendant over a better metaphor for what has been That is just one step away from letting the individual plaintiff. happening to our Court. The Roberts the corporation itself decide whether a That is as of May 25, 2009. Court has consistently denied hard- contract is fair. If you take a look at the decision working people their day in court, In doing so, the Supreme Court made that came down today in Rent-A-Cen- blocking them from their entrance to it even harder for ordinary people to ter v. Jackson, an employee challenges the courtroom. protect their rights at work. Justice a contract saying, Wait a minute. I Many of my colleagues remember me Stevens, not surprisingly, wrote the should not have to be a party to that speaking on the Senate floor about dissent. As he did in Gross, Stevens contract because the circumstances Jamie Leigh Jones. As a 20-year-old, notes that the Supreme Court, yet that caused me to enter into that con- she went to Iraq as a contractor for again, decided this case along lines tract were unconscionable. I should be KBR, then a Halliburton subsidy. She ‘‘neither briefed by the parties nor re- protected from that contract because it complained about sexual harassment lied upon by the Court of Appeals.’’ In was unconscionable to force me to sign almost immediately. She was put in a other words, the Supreme Court went it. The contract requires that you go barracks with 400 men and a handful of out of its way to close those bronze and arbitrate instead of having access women. When she complained to KBR, doors—and keep them closed. Clearly, to—guess what—the jury. they not only ignored her, they this is a ruling that Congress needs to The Supreme Court said the decision mocked her. They told her, Oh, go fix, and I look forward to working with over whether it is unconscionable spend the day in the spa. Four days my colleagues to do so. should go to the arbitrator. You later, she was drugged and brutally Sometimes it is easy to forget that wouldn’t even be at the arbitrator if gang raped by her coworkers and then the Supreme Court matters to average the contract weren’t valid. It is topsy- locked in a shipping container with no people—to our neighbors and our kids. turvy logic. But, once again, it reflects contact with the outside world. Some have tried to convince us that the fact that the strike zone for cor- What happened to Jamie Leigh in Supreme Court rulings only matter if porations is a lot bigger with the Re- Iraq was bad enough, but because of you want to burn a flag or sell pornog- publican appointees of this Court than the Supreme Court’s decision in Circuit raphy or commit some horrendous the strike zone for regular people. City Stores v. Adams, KBR had been crime. But as Jamie Leigh Jones and I see Senator FRANKEN from Min- able to force Jamie to sign an employ- Antonio Jackson show us, the Supreme nesota here waiting to speak, and I will ment contract that required her to ar- Court is about much more than that. It yield the floor so he may do so. bitrate all job disputes rather than is about whether you have a right to a As we face this question of Elena bringing them to a court of law. So workplace where you won’t get raped Kagan’s nomination to the Supreme Jamie, now a teacher in a Christian and whether you can defend those Court, we need to be clear that when school in Texas, was forced to spend rights in court before a jury after- the opponents talk about rule of law, the next 4 years fighting to get her day wards. It is about whether corporations when they talk about not having activ- in court after being gang raped on the will continue to have inordinate power ist judges, when they talk about mak- job. She has had two reconstructive to control your life with their armies ing sure corporations get a fair shake, surgeries since this happened. Let me of lawyers and their contracts filled there is actually a little bit more going say this again. She was brutally gang with fine print. It is about whether on here. There is a little bit more going raped on the job and still had to fight they can force you to sign away your on here, and what is going on here is to get her day in court. rights in an unfair employment con- that over and over and over again the I am proud the Senate passed my tract so you never see the inside of a Republican appointees to the U.S. Su- amendment to give victims such as courtroom. It is, quite frankly, about preme Court, when they have the Jamie Leigh Jones a chance for justice the kind of society we want to live in. chance, will rule in favor of the cor- and I was proud to see it signed into Next week, the Judiciary Committee poration and against the individual de- law. But, sadly, we are about to see a will hold hearings on the nomination of fendant. It is not surprising, since the lot more Jamie Leighs denied their day Elena Kagan to the U.S. Supreme Republicans are the party of the cor- in court. Just yesterday, as Senator Court. Those hearings provide a good porations, that the judges they appoint WHITEHOUSE noted, the Court erected opportunity for us to examine the leg- want to help the corporations. We yet another hurdle for people seeking acy of the Roberts Court and talk

VerDate Mar 15 2010 23:52 Jun 22, 2010 Jkt 089060 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G22JN6.004 S22JNPT1 rfrederick on DSK8KYBLC1PROD with SENATE June 22, 2010 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S5223 about what it would mean to have a bon dioxide into the atmosphere just as coal ‘‘There’s a tremendous deficit of trust that is Court that instead cares about hard- does, but point out that trees and plants also really inhibiting things.’’ working Americans. absorb the gas. If done carefully, and with- In the United States, biomass power plants burn a variety of feedstocks, including rice Solicitor General Kagan is nomi- out overharvesting, they say, the damage to the climate can be offset. hulls in Louisiana and sugar cane residues, nated to fill the seat currently occu- But opponents say achieving that sort of called bagasse, in parts of Florida and Ha- pied by Justice Stevens who wrote the balance is almost impossible, and carbon-ab- waii. A vast majority, though, some 90 per- impassioned dissent in yesterday’s sorbing forests will ultimately be destroyed cent, use woody residue as a feedstock, ac- Rent-A-Center ruling. I hope General to feed a voracious biomass industry fueled cording to the Biomass Power Association. Kagan has learned from Justice Ste- inappropriately by clean-energy subsidies. About 75 percent of biomass electricity vens and takes his words to heart. I They also argue that, like any incinerating comes from the paper and pulp companies, look forward to questioning her during operation, biomass plants generate all sorts which collect their residues and burn them of other pollution, including particulate to generate power for themselves. these hearings. I want to make sure matter. State and federal regulators are now But more than 80 operations in 20 states she understands that Supreme Court puzzling over these arguments. are grid-connected and generate power for cases impact all of our lives—and that Last month, in outlining its plans to regu- sale to local utilities and distribution to res- she will be the kind of Justice who be- late greenhouse gases, the Environmental idential and commercial customers, a $1 bil- lieves in equal justice under the law. Protection Agency declined to exempt emis- lion industry, according to the association. Thank you, Madam President. I yield sions from ‘‘biogenic’’ sources like biomass The increasing availability of subsidies and the floor. power plants. That dismayed the biomass tax incentives has put dozens of new projects The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- and forest products industries, which typi- in the development pipeline. cally describe biomass as ‘‘carbon neutral.’’ The problem with all this biomass, critics pore. The Senator from Tennessee. The agency said more deliberation was argue, is that wood can actually churn out Mr. ALEXANDER. Madam President, needed. more greenhouse gases than coal. New trees how much time do I have? Meanwhile, plans for several biomass might well cancel that out, but they do not The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- plants around the country have been dropped grow overnight. That means the low-carbon pore. The Republicans have 60 minutes, because of stiff community opposition. attributes of biomass are often realized too and individual Senators are limited to In March, a $250 million biomass power slowly to be particularly useful for com- 10 minutes. project planned for Gretna, Fla., was aban- bating climate change. doned after residents complained that it Supporters of the technology say those Mr. ALEXANDER. Would the Chair threatened air quality. Two planned plants limitations can be overcome with tight regu- please let me know when 9 minutes in Indiana have faced similar grass-roots op- lation of what materials are burned and how have expired. position. they are harvested. ‘‘The key question is the The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- In April, an association of family physi- rate of use,’’ said Ben Larson of the Union of pore. We will. cians in North Carolina told state regulators Concerned Scientists, an environmental Mr. ALEXANDER. Thank you, that biomass power plants there, like other group based in Cambridge, Mass., that sup- Madam President. plants and factories that pollute the air, ports the sensible use of biomass power. ‘‘We could ‘‘increase the risk of premature death, need to consider which sources are used, and f asthma, chronic bronchitis and heart dis- how the land is taken care of over the long ENERGY DEBATE ease.’’ haul.’’ In Massachusetts, fierce opposition to a But critics maintain that ‘‘sustainable’’ Mr. ALEXANDER. Madam President, handful of projects in the western part of the biomass power is an oxymoron, and that no- last week the New York Times ran a state, including Mr. Wolfe’s, prompted offi- where near enough residual material exists story, and I ask unanimous consent to cials to order a moratorium on new permits to feed a large-scale industry. Plant owners, have it printed in the RECORD at this last December, and to commission a sci- they say, will inevitably be forced to seek time. entific review of the environmental creden- out less beneficial fuels, including whole There being no objection, the mate- tials of biomass power. trees harvested from tracts of land that That study, released last week, concluded rial was ordered to be printed in the never would have been logged otherwise. that, at least in Massachusetts, power plants Those trees, critics say, would do far more to RECORD, as follows: using woody material as fuel would probably absorb planet-warming gases if they were [From the New York Times, June 18, 2010] prove worse for the climate than existing simply let alone. NET BENEFITS OF BIOMASS POWER UNDER coal plants over the next several decades. ‘‘The fact is, you might get six or seven SCRUTINY Plants that generate both heat and power, megawatts of power from residues in Massa- displacing not just coal but also oil and gas, chusetts,’’ said Chris Matera, the founder of (By Tom Zeller, Jr.) could yield dividends faster, the report said. Massachusetts Forest Watch. ‘‘They’re plan- GREENFIELD, MA.—Matthew Wolfe, an en- But in every case, the study found, much de- ning on building about 200 megawatts. So it’s ergy developer with plans to turn tree pends on what is burned, how it is burned, a red herring. It’s not about burning waste branches and other woody debris into elec- how forests are managed and how the indus- wood. This is about burning trees.’’ tric power, sees himself as a positive force in try is regulated. Whether or not that is true, biomass power the effort to wean his state off of planet- Ian A. Bowles, the secretary of the Massa- is also coming under attack simply for the warming fossil fuels. chusetts Office of Energy and Environmental ordinary air pollution it produces. Web sites ‘‘It’s way better than coal,’’ Mr. Wolfe Affairs, said that biomass power and sustain- like No Biomass Burn, based in the Pacific said, ‘‘if you look at it over its life cycle.’’ able forest management were not mutually Northwest, liken biomass emissions to ciga- Not everyone agrees, as evidenced by lawn exclusive. But he also said that the logical rette smoke. Duff Badgley, the coordinator signs in this northwestern Massachusetts conclusion from the study was that biomass of the site, says a proposed plant in Mason town reading ‘‘Biomass? No Thanks.’’ plants that generated electricity alone prob- County, Washington, would ‘‘rain toxic pol- In fact, power generated by burning wood, ably should not be eligible for incentives for lutants’’ on residents there. And the Amer- plants and other organic material, which renewable energy. ican Lung Association has asked Congress to makes up 50 percent of all renewable energy ‘‘That would represent a significant change exclude subsidies for biomass from any new produced in the United States, according to in policy,’’ Mr. Bowles said. energy bill, citing potentially ‘‘severe im- federal statistics, is facing increased scru- The biomass industry argues that studies pacts’’ on health. tiny and opposition. like the one in Massachusetts do not make a Nathaniel Greene, the director of renew- That, critics say, is because it is not as cli- clear distinction between wood harvested able energy policy for the Natural Resources mate-friendly as once thought, and the pol- specifically for energy production and the Defense Council, said that while such con- lution it causes in the short run may out- more common, and desirable, practice of cerns were not unfounded, air pollution weigh its long-term benefits. burning wood and plant scraps left from agri- could be controlled. ‘‘It involves technology The opposition to biomass power threatens culture and logging operations. that we’re really good at,’’ Mr. Greene said. its viability as a renewable energy source The Biomass Power Association, a trade For opponents like Mr. Matera, the tradeoffs when the country is looking to diversify its group based in Maine, said in a statement are not worth it. energy portfolio, urged on by President last week that it was ‘‘not aware of any fa- ‘‘We’ve got huge problems,’’ Mr. Matera Obama in an address to the nation Tuesday. cilities that use whole trees for energy.’’ said. ‘‘And there’s no easy answer. But bio- It also underscores the difficult and complex During a recent visit to an old gravel pit mass doesn’t do it. It’s a false solution that choices state and local governments face in outside of town where he hopes to build his has enormous impacts.’’ pursuing clean-energy goals. 47-megawatt Pioneer Renewable Energy Mr. Wolfe says that is shortsighted. Wind Biomass proponents say it is a simple and project, Mr. Wolfe said the plant would be power and solar power are not ready to scale proved renewable technology based on nat- capable of generating heat and power, and up technologically and economically, he ural cycles. They acknowledge that burning would use only woody residues as a feed- said, particularly in this corner of Massachu- wood and other organic matter releases car- stock. ‘‘It’s really frustrating,’’ he said. setts. Biomass, by contrast, is proven and

VerDate Mar 15 2010 23:52 Jun 22, 2010 Jkt 089060 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G22JN6.005 S22JNPT1 rfrederick on DSK8KYBLC1PROD with SENATE