Wood v. Oil

I like the contrast in these two headlines:

"Environment Be Damned, Oil Prices Spark Wood Sales" (Bloomberg, Nov 21)

Burned by high oil prices, Mainers warm to wood (Portland Press Herald, lead story today).

The Press-Herald story starts with the line "The warm glow of a wood fire has rarely felt so good," and puts forth this novel theory:

"...wood does not contribute to global warming the way oil and coal do.

Burning wood does release carbon dioxide, a gas that traps heat in the atmosphere. But the carbon in trees is part of the natural cycle and is, in theory, taken up by new trees. Burning fossil fuels, on the other hand, releases carbon that has been buried deep in the earth."

Um, I'd like to see some evidence to back that up. Especially when the Bloomberg article states that "the typical wood stove emits as much as 350 times more pollution than an oil furnace."