Assemblyman Brian Dahle has been named 2014 Legislator of the Year by the California Biomass Energy Alliance, honoring his ‘outstanding leadership and contributions to the biomass industry of California.’
Dahle sponsored and won passage of a the law which requires the California Public Utilities Commission to calculate and consider the cost of integrating weather-dependent renewable energy sources — especially wind and solar — into the power grid when it reviews utilities’ procurement plans.
“Biomass power is green power,” Dahle said, “but even as the state pushes for greater use of renewables, biomass plants have been closing because of tax breaks and other subsidies granted to wind and solar. AB 2363 will bring fairness to the energy market and reduce hidden burdens on consumers.”
According to Dahle the increased use of forest-based biomass energy is also a critical tool for reducing fuel loads on California’s overstocked forests and keeping communities and watersheds safe from catastrophic wildfires.
“If the state is serious about reducing greenhouse-gas emissions, it needs to focus on forests,” Dahle said. “Ever-larger wildfires in the Sierra Nevada and elsewhere release millions of tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. If we can burn those fuels in a modern power plant instead, it creates local jobs, improves regional forest health, and helps the planet.”
Brian Dahle represents California’s 1st Assembly District, which includes all of Lassen, Modoc, Nevada, Plumas, Shasta, Sierra and Siskiyou counties, and portions of Butte and Plumas counties.
