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PPRC members bring concerns to Washington decision makers during annual fly-in

Feb. 16, 2018 – American workers employed in the U.S. forest products industry descended on Washington, D.C., this week and made over 485 visits with members of Congress and administration officials. Their goal was to educate officials on the impacts of legislative and regulatory decisions on the environment as well as the families and communities that depend on forest products manufacturing for their livelihood.

The group of workers were from The Pulp & Paperworkers’ Resource Council (PPRC), a grassroots organization of hourly employees in the forest products industry who educate about issues affecting American manufacturing jobs in their industry.  

“The good-paying jobs that forest products manufacturing provides is vital to our economy,” said David Wise, PPRC chairman. “The PPRC believes that our elected and government officials need to help protect the environment and not support regulations and legislation that hurts U.S. workers. It’s imperative that we ensure a competitive playing field for the American forest products industry in the global market.”

Seventy members from the PPRC discussed several issues, including:

• The carbon neutrality of biomass
The carbon neutrality of biomass harvested from sustainably managed forests has been recognized repeatedly by agencies and institutions around the world. Forest products industry manufacturers use biomass residuals to produce energy, displacing fossil fuel use and providing significant carbon reduction benefits to the environment. The PPRC urges policymakers to continue to recognize the industry’s use of biomass for energy as carbon neutral.

• Cumulative regulatory burden
The EPA should examine the effect of its regulatory program on the sustainability of the paper industry, balancing the social, environmental and economic impacts of its decisions. All future regulations need to embrace a balanced, sustainable approach to protect the public’s health while preserving family wage manufacturing jobs.

• Transportation efficiency
The forest products industry is currently facing a nationwide shortage of transportation capacity and inefficiencies. Moving raw materials to mills and moving products to customers is increasingly difficult and costly. The PPRC supports the addition of a sixth axle and additional breaks to increase, capacity, efficiency and safety.