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Small-scale bioenergy is critical for wildfire prevention, climate resilience, and emissions reduction
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Small-scale bioenergy is critical for wildfire prevention, climate resilience, and emissions reduction
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Guest Commentary written by
Gary Bradford
Gary Bradford is Yuba County Supervisor and Board Delegate of the Rural County
Representatives of California
Re: Biomass is a money pit that won’t solve California’s energy or wildfire problems
As a Yuba County Supervisor, I strongly disagree with the call to end California’s
BioMAT program.
BioMAT is not a rogue policy; it is explicitly supported by the California Forest Carbon Plan, California Environmental Protection Agency, Natural Resources Agency, and the California Air Resource Board’s Climate Change Scoping Plan. All recognize small-scale bioenergy as a critical tool for wildfire prevention, climate resilience, and emissions reduction, and air quality regulators acknowledge the benefits of these projects as well.
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California sets aside $170 million to thin vegetation, forests to help prevent wildfires
In Yuba County, the proposed Engeman Camptonville Green Energy woody biomass
facility would remove roughly 50,000 tons of hazardous forest material annually, reduce
open burning and wildfire emissions, and generate 3 MW of renewable power. This
project would anchor decades of forest restoration work already underway through the
North Yuba Forest Partnership, which has secured over $100 million for landscape-
scale thinning and restoration.
Ending BioMAT in 2025 would undermine these investments and leave communities
without safe biomass disposal options. Instead, the CPUC should extend and
strengthen BioMAT in coordination with wildfire prevention and waste management
efforts.