"The broad fiscal 2017 spending bill released overnight includes contentious language to require the federal government to treat emissions from forest biomass as carbon neutral.

It calls on U.S. EPA to work with the departments of Energy and Agriculture to align biomass policies that reflect "the carbon-neutrality of forest bioenergy."

Former California Democratic Rep. Henry Waxman criticized the language as an incentive for "dirty energy" that would "disadvantage truly clean renewables like wind and solar.""

Hannah Hess and Sean Reilly report for Greenwire May 1, 2017. [2]