Southwest Washington Democrat U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez joined U.S. Reps. Barry Moore, R-Alabama, and Andrea Salinas, D-Oregon, as lead letter-writers asking the General Services Administration to expand mass timber use in federal construction.
The letter was signed by 10 members of Congress to express concern that as the administration “recently awarded $2 billion in Inflation Reduction Act funding for 150 projects, none of the funds were awarded to projects using sustainable wood products, including mass timber,” according to a news release from Gluesenkamp Perez’s office.
The letter claims that nations around the globe have made building with wood a “top priority” in climate change mitigation, but that the United States “continues to lag” in its adoption of wood product buildings.
“Utilizing wood products is critical for supporting rural jobs and reducing wildfire risk, and it is one of the most effective ways to reduce the carbon footprint of buildings,” the news release states. “These products come from renewable resources, store carbon and don’t require the same fuel-intensive manufacturing process common for other building materials.”
Across the United States, the forest products industry directly employs roughly 925,000 people and indirectly supports nearly 2 million jobs, the news release stated.
Gluesenkamp Perez’s news release calls on the federal government to “lead by example by building with home-grown wood products.” She noted that more federal wood projects could serve to bolster the Southwest Washington timber economy, wildfire prevention efforts and job development.
“It’s what’s good for rural Americans and it’s what’s good for our environment,” Gluesenkamp Perez said.
Salinas, of Tigard, Oregon, said in the release she is “deeply concerned” with the General Services Administration’s decision not to award funding for wood-using projects.
The administration is responsible for office buildings, transportation, supplies and communication used by federal agencies and employees.
“I join my colleagues in urging the administration to utilize sustainable wood products moving forward, and I will continue working to ensure Oregon’s critical mass timber industry gets the support it deserves from our federal government,” Salinas said.
The letter was also signed by U.S. Reps. Sanford Bishop D-Georgia, Jim Costa, D-California, Don Davis, D-North Carolina, John Garamendi, D-California, Derek Kilmer D-Washington, Chellie Pingree, D-Maine, and Glenn Thompson, R-Pennsylvania.
