Chris Wright Asked About Cooperation With Agriculture Department On Converting Timber Into Biofuel

Added: 2026-05-12

[00:00:00]uh, in this vote, the chair recognizes the gentleman from, uh, Oregon's second district for 5 minutes for questions.

[00:00:09]Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you for being here. Um, I've been working with your team uh, on the Bonneville Power Administration in the Northwest and we need a new administrator uh, and we're we're um, we're extremely interested in finding someone who can assist in in in taking advantage of the numerous asset that the BPA is for the Northwest. I do not know how up to speed you are on this, but I'm guessing you're up to speed cuz you're from that part of the world, but can you share with us what your thoughts are when it comes to Bonneville Power?

[00:00:43]Yeah, Bonneville Power is a critical utility and power asset in the Northwest. It's a huge power marketer.

[00:00:51]It controls huge utility infrastructure, transmission infrastructure. It is very important. We need as strong as possible a leader of that organization as we can get. We have some requirements from government uh, uh, salary limitations that have made it harder to recruit people from with existing utility executives in other areas, which is what I would like to do.

[00:01:16]Um, but but yes, we are focused on that.

[00:01:19]We need to find someone good who has the skills, who can manage that asset for the better for for the best interests of the people and businesses in that area.

[00:01:27]It's a very important job. I share your concern. Yes, well, so I'm happy to hear you're enthused about trying to actually pay the new administrator what that job requires to attract a a pool.

[00:01:38]>> It massively help us get a great a leader. Right, and I have introduced a bill doing exactly that and giving you the authority to adjust the salary to meet the need for that space. So, good news, it was introduced just dropped 2 weeks ago. So, we'll we'll be pushing that bill through, I hope. Uh, Thank you.

[00:02:00]Thank you. That would be huge. As I'm going to shift for a moment from Bonneville Power to biomass. Um, we have a terrific challenge in the West with with fires and we've had the inability to to remove fuel from the woods because for many many reasons. But part of the problem is the sheer scale of the problem. We have 30 million acres of trees just in Oregon. I think it's 35 million acres of trees in California and 32 in Washington State. So, no one understands how much wood is there. It's an enormous challenge. It's also a challenge because of environmental issues and other things, but one of the newest things that's happening is the possibility of converting some of that biomass into fuel. And in in into uh, the type of thing we now are getting from corn and hooray for that. The cost is is significant and but it's being driven down as as people get better at uh, turning cellulose into into a fuel.

[00:03:00]The reason this is so important is because we need some added value to the uh, biomass that we're removing from the forests. In this In other words, if we can get the biomass out of the forest, we will drive down fire suppression costs. Yes. What I What I would be asking is is the Department of Energy working with the Department of Ag to coordinate and say, "Look, uh, this is we can get together on this. There There are a bunch of hurdles we have to overcome, but I see this as a huge solution on both sides of the equation.

[00:03:30]More fuel uh, in in the form of well, I think a lot of airlines are very very interested in in using this. What's your thought? So, I I need to look into that.

[00:03:40]I'm not aware of existing efforts right now, but I am very aware of that problem. As I've written in the past about wildfires in the West, when we stopped wildfires from the '20s, the Smokey the Bear campaign, we dramatically reduced fires in the West.

[00:03:55]It was very successful program and then we stopped the ability to thin and control the forest otherwise. So, there's more than 30% more fuel per acre in Western fires today than there was 40 years ago. Right. Which make wildfires burn so much hotter and so much bigger.

[00:04:11]We have to either let fires burn or manage the forest and today we do neither. Right.

[00:04:16]>> And so, the using that undergrowth or some of that thing and turn into fuel is a very intriguing idea. Let me check into it with our team and and with the Ag Department. If there's a viable pathway to to kill two birds with one stone, that'd be intriguing. I I I think there is. So, I hope there is. And I wanted to thank you for your help in my district. We have the Warm Springs Indian Reservation and there was a power line going over it and you were helped us in in in in uh, preserving one of the grants that's going to help that power line be built and that's going to to modest benefit to that to that tribe that's in my district. So, I appreciate that. Fantastic.

[00:04:56]>> And I appreciate the excellent job you're doing as secretary. With that, I yield back.

[00:05:00]Thank you, Representative Blumenauer.

[00:05:01]>> Well, thank you very much. The gentleman yields back. There's