Earlier this week members of the Pellet Fuels Institute spent two days in our nation’s capital for a board meeting, association roundtable and Hill visit. The effort will go down as one of the association’s most aggressive efforts ever. Measuring the relative success of any effort in D.C. is difficult, something we heard time and time again during our conversations. Still, as our teams made the rounds it was clear that visiting with our elected representatives, extolling the virtues of our industry and asking for their support for a short list of policy measures is vital.

By my count we met with eight different association leaders, 16 senators and/or their staff, 20 representatives and/or their staff and one high ranking official from the Environmental Protection Agency. We talked tax credits, the BTU Act and the Wood Heater Emissions Reduction Act while in the Senate and House office buildings and had a direct conversation with Anne Idsal, the Acting Assistant Administrator for the Office of Air and Radiation as we work to finally strike the poorly conceived minimum pellet fuel requirements from the New Source Performance Standard.

Clearly, all of this is more than any one person could hope to accomplish in two days. Fortunately, a motivated roster of PFI members committed themselves to the three-day effort and together created quite a footprint for the organization.

For me personally the first half of this week represented the high point of my two-year tenure as this association’s Executive Director surpassing our annual conference earlier this year. We’ve established some great momentum, have energized our membership and are looking forward to 2020 with great optimism.

Association Representatives

Jeff Serfass, Biomass Thermal Energy Council
Peter Thompson, Biomass Thermal Energy Council
Jack Goldman, Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association
Rachel Feinstein, Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association
Brent McClendon, National Wood Pallet and Container Association
John Ackerly, Alliance for Green Heat
Cary Moon, Hardwood Federation
Dave Tenny, National Alliance of Forest Owners

Senators

Senator Angus King (I-ME)
Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR)
Senator Jim Risch (R-ID)|
Senator Pat Toomey (R-PA)
Senator Rob Portman (R-OH)
Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) 
Senator Todd Young (R-IN)
Senator Jim Risch (R-ID)
Senator Mike Crapo (R-ID)
Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA)
Senator Patty Murray (D-WA)
Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT)
Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH)
Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT)
Senator Gary Peters (D-MI)
Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)

Representatives

Rep. Alex Mooney (R-WV-2)
Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME-2)
Rep. David McKinley (R-WV-1)
Rep. Richie Neal (D-MA-1)
Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI-08)
Rep. Fred Keller (R-PA-12)
Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA-10)
Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA-16)
Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA-1)
Rep. Derek Kilmer (D-WA-06)
Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-VA-9)
Rep. Steve Stivers R-OH-15)
Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-WA-1)
Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT-2)
Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME-2)
Rep. John Larson (D-CT-1)
Rep. Steve Stivers (R-OH-15)
Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH-8)
Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-MI-2)
Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI—6)

Agency Representatives

Anne Idsal, Acting Assistant Administrator for the Office of Air and Radiation, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency