AWC Statement on Trillion Trees Act
Leesburg, VA. – American Wood Council (AWC) President and CEO Jackson Morrill issued a statement after the reintroduction of Rep. Westerman’s Trillion Trees Act.
“When taken together, sustainably managed forests and the wood products harvested from them can be a carbon sink and a renewable resource. Increasing wood use to the maximum extent feasible in construction could result in a carbon benefit that’s equivalent to taking 4.4 million automobiles off the road indefinitely.
“There are well-established and successful precedents for using tax credits to drive down costs and stimulate demand for new climate-friendly technologies. While there are already over 1,000 mass timber projects constructed or in the design phase in the United States, builder tax credits like the one in the Trillion Trees Act would help de-risk investments in natural climate solutions that depend on new technologies, such as mass timber, and ultimately spur demand for these products across the private sector.
“AWC applauds Congressman Westerman’s continued efforts to expand markets for wood products. His home state of Arkansas is the perfect example of demand driving supply. Walmart announced it would build a new headquarters using mass timber, and then a new manufacturing facility was announced in the state to produce the mass timber using local trees.”
The American Wood Council (AWC) is the voice of North American wood products manufacturing, an industry that over 450,000 men and women in the United States with family-wage jobs. AWC represents 86 percent of the structural wood products industry, and members make products that are essential to everyday life from a renewable resource that absorbs and sequesters carbon. Staff experts develop state-of-the-art engineering data, technology, and standards for wood products to assure their safe and efficient design, as well as provide information on wood design, green building, and environmental regulations. AWC also advocates for balanced government policies that affect wood products.
Media Contact:
Heather Stegner
Vice President
Communications
202-463-4756
hstegner@awc.org
