In response to President Obama’s memorandum directing the federal government to increase procurement of biobased products, American Wood Council (AWC) President Robert Glowinski has made the following statement.
“We applaud the intent of President Obama’s memorandum to help protect and increase rural jobs by promoting the use of agricultural products. Use of sustainable, biobased products can create and protect thousands of well-paying jobs in the US and stimulate the economies of many rural areas.
“The unfortunate irony is that USDA’s regulation, referenced in the president’s memo, will exclude most wood products – which are nearly all 100% biobased – from the biobased programs. This exclusion prevents wood products manufacturing facilities around the country from participating in the USDA biobased programs. Clearly, USDA needs to recognize ‘biobased’ wood products and their impact on the rural economy.
“The wood products industry supports thousands of sustainable jobs in this country, and our products deserve to be recognised within USDA’s biobased programs.”