In the Dierksen Senate Office Building cafeteria, there is a photograph, dated 1949, of a group of fresh-faced Wisconsinites milking a cow on the Capitol lawn. While the haircuts and paper hats feel old-fashioned, the strategy being executed in that nearly 75-year-old photo is alive and well today, carried out unceasingly in our nation’s capital by industries and interest groups beyond imagining. It’s basic show and tell and it has served as the foundation of federal advocacy since the earliest days of our Republic.&nbsp;On Oct. 18, the Pellet Fuels Institute completed its first in-person day of federal advocacy since 2019, showing members of Congress and their staff who we are and telling them how we are impacted by federal policy and regulation. Four different regional advocacy teams held 35 meetings with members of congress and their legislative staff, educating them about the wood pellet industry and how it fits into the broader forest products sector in their states and districts. Some of the meetings unfolded like reunions, as members reconnected with longtime supporters of the industry and cosponsors of important legislation introduced on the industry’s behalf. Other meetings unfolded like industry speed dating, offering just a few moments to make an initial connection before adjourning and hustling on to the next. Despite their brevity, each meeting delivered tangible value to the PFI and its members, as well as members of Congress and their staff.&nbsp;In this era of shaped narratives, counternarratives, social media and keyboard activists, the importance of sitting across from policymakers and putting a product in their hand while looking them in the eye cannot be overstated (These wood pellets were manufactured in your district, just down the road in Shelton. Or Holland. Or Brownsville. Or Strong.)&nbsp;This refrain, offered 35 times during the PFI Hill Day, connected policymakers to their homes, communities and the people making lives there. It should come as no surprise that policymakers received PFI members warmly, offering appreciation for the economic impact of the plants operating in their districts. And while only the most naïve first-timer would believe that each meeting yielded a ready and willing advocate for the industry, at the very least, the narrative policymakers heard that day was the industry’s own.&nbsp;In a handful of minutes, PFI teams made an economic argument for wood pellet manufacturing articulated at the state level, including the value of residual purchases for wood pellet production, the value of the wholesale product and the downstream impact for retailers who sell wood pellets. This was followed by an environmental argument highlighting the incredible story of waste utilization that is wood pellet manufacturing, and how wood pellet manufacturing extends the value of each harvested tree. Finally, the carbon benefits of wood pellet manufacturing and use were outlined.&nbsp;Sen. Chuck Grassley, the most senior U.S. Senator, took all of this in with a nod and asked simply, “Are there pieces of federal legislation that you’d like me to be aware of and support?” This last part of every Hill Day of every trade group who has ever darkened a door in a House or Senate office building is why Hill Days exist.&nbsp;The PFI was ready with a concise list of federal policy priorities, including general concepts like the preservation of the biomass neutrality articulated in the Farm Bill, or protecting consumer choice in home heating fuels to specific and current initiatives like the expansion of the tax credit for wood pellet-burning appliances.&nbsp;Only the wood pellet industry’s staunchest allies made firm commitments during the meetings. Most meetings ended with invitations to visit plants when congressmembers were back in their districts, and counter invitations to reach out to congressional offices as policy matters become more urgent.&nbsp;This dizzying day of advocacy was set against the backdrop of a contentious effort to name a new Speaker of the House, a budding war in the Mideast and a ticking federal shutdown clock. Attention in Washington, D.C., is hard to capture and harder yet to retain. It would be folly to think it was any different for those cow-milking Wisconsinites back in 1949. Their commitment to make a case for themselves in spite of everything else was as important for the dairy industry then as it is for the wood pellet industry today.Author: Tim Portz&nbsp; Executive Director, Pellet Fuels Institute&nbsp; tim@pelletheat.org&nbsp; www.pelletheat.org&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;

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Pellet Fuels Institute on Oct. 18 completed its first in-person day of federal advocacy since 2019.

A Day of Federal Advocacy

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