The world of environmental science, for better or for worse, can be construed as being a relatively subjective field. And because of this fact, environmental policies that flow from Washington are oftentimes ill-conceived and shortsighted. The White House's recent policy statement rejecting HR 2822-a resolution that would label forest biomass fuels as carbon neutral, renewable resources-is a prime example of this disconnect.

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We provided a synopsis last month via the Forest2Market blog of the announcement that three European Union (EU) member countries had already exceeded their 2020 renewable energy goals, which is five years ahead of schedule. In the coverage (based on 2013 data), we noted that Sweden, Estonia and Bulgaria had exceeded their goals, four other countries were very close to meeting their goals, and yet another four countries were lagging behind in efforts towards meeting their individual objectives. On the heels of this data, the European Commission recently published a progress report illustrating that the EU as a whole is on track to meet its 2020 renewable energy targets.

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"It's time for America, and the world, to act on climate change." So said President Barrack Obama in a recent Twitter video announcement, fittingly displaying his social media shrewdness as he continues to connect with younger generations alarmed by climate change and emboldened by a responsibility for solving it. While his plan will have a number of broad implications at home, the President has preferred to lead by example when seeking to affect global social and political changes. To that end, his latest announcement is clearly an effort to build international cooperation towards solving the complex issues involving climate change ahead of the UN Paris Climate Change Conference in November.

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We recently covered the USDA report detailing the economic impact in both jobs and revenue that the larger biobased products industry supports, and the numbers are significant: using 2013 data, this sector was responsible for sustaining 4 million total jobs and creating a $369 billion value-added contribution to the US economy. With this news, USDA announced changes to the 2014 Farm Bill that will create new growth opportunities for organizations involved in renewable resources by expanding the BioPreferred program.

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