Walden stresses role of healthy forests in combating atmospheric carbon at Energy Independence and Global Warming panel hearing

April 18, 2007 - WASHINGTON, D.C. -
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Congressman Greg Walden today spoke at a Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming hearing on how Oregon's Second Congressional District is working to make America more energy independent and how Oregon’s forests can combat atmospheric carbon. The hearing topic was "Geopolitical Implications of Rising Oil Dependence and Global Warming." Congressman Walden recently completed a 13-county, 1,500 mile, and 39 event visit which primarily focused on the progress of renewable energy development in the Second District.

Congressman Walden serves on both the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming and the Committee on Energy and Commerce. Combined, these two committees are in the lead on the oversight and legislative duties concerning energy independence and climate change issues.

“One forest in Oregon that burned in 2003 — the B&B Fire — in a matter of a couple of weeks put twice as much carbon into the atmosphere as the entire state of Oregon emits in a year combined,” Walden said. “And yet there are those who are advocating for us to do everything we can to address this issue of global warming and climate change. And I think there are a lot of things we can do and I am actually excited about some of the opportunities. But they are also the very people who don’t want us to do anything to manage our forests. Overseas, we read in the Washington Post, illegal logging is eliminating the forests in China and Indonesia and other Asian countries so we can import that wood here, at a time that we have forests that are overstocked, overgrown, subject to catastrophic fire, and emitting enormous loads of carbon and other greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere. We refuse to do anything about it.”

The Congressman's full statement follows:

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate the opportunity to hear from our witnesses today. I spent most of the April break touring around my district meeting with people who are developing alternative energy, a lot of which was prompted by passage and enactment of the 2005 Energy Policy Act, which is spurring development of wind energy.

I toured a 100 megawatt wind energy facility out of North Powder, Oregon that is set to go online.

I toured a 40 million gallon-a-year ethanol plant that should open this July at the Port of Morrow in Boardman, Oregon.

I met with the Pendleton Grain Growers and talked about their ability to produce biodiesel fuels. And I’m a big advocate of alternative energy.

But I grow somewhat perplexed by those who say we have become so reliant on foreign oil — and I frankly agree with them, it’s a bad thing for our nation’s security and economy at times — but also do everything to stop us from developing our own sources available here in the United States, whether that’s oil or natural gas.

I spent a lot of time in this Congress over the last few years chairing the Subcommittee on Forests and Forest Health. I worked closely with my colleague from South Dakota, Representative Herseth, on legislation to try and clean up her forests.

One forest in Oregon that burned in 2003 — the B&B Fire — in a matter of a couple of weeks put twice as much carbon into the atmosphere as the entire state of Oregon emits in a year combined.

And yet there are those who are advocating for us to do everything we can to address this issue of global warming and climate change. And I think there are a lot of things we can do and I am actually excited about some of the opportunities. But they are also the very people who don’t want us to do anything to manage our forests. Overseas, we read in the Washington Post, illegal logging is eliminating the forests in China and Indonesia and other Asian countries so we can import that wood here, at a time that we have forests that are overstocked, overgrown, subject to catastrophic fire, and emitting enormous loads of carbon and other greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere. We refuse to do anything about it.

So I think there are opportunities here to improve management of our federal forestlands, to encourage and incent development of renewable and low-polluting sources of energy, to encourage conservation efforts and more efficiencies. I look forward to our hearings and the testimony from our witnesses.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Congressman Walden is in his fifth term representing the people of Oregon’s Second Congressional District, which is comprised of 20 counties in eastern, central and southern Oregon. He is a Deputy Whip in the House Leadership Structure and a member of both the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming.