At the end of February, Dogwood Alliance and our community partners met in DC. Reverend Leo Woodberry and New Alpha Community Development Corporation hosted the events. Our goal was to address the biomass industry problem. Biomass is the practice of cutting down trees and turning them into wood pellets. After that, they ship the pellets overseas. Then other nations burn the pellets for energy. The wood pellet facilities are clustered in the Southeast. They set up shop in environmental justice communities. There they create air and noise pollution. Community health and safety suffer as a result.
Taking the biomass fight to Washington
Our collective goals in DC were to:
- Shift the understanding and treatment of biomass at the federal level.
- Build solutions to stop the industry’s harmful impacts.
- Share the ways Dogwood will continue to fight this dirty industry.
Our community partners, Commissioner Dakkia Bradshaw and Portia Shepherd, joined us in DC. They brought their expertise as community members who the biomass industry harms. Commissioner Bradshaw is the county commissioner from Lumber City, Georgia. Portia Shepherd leads the Black Belt Women Rising organization based in Alabama. Together we learned two things.
- It’s important to share local stories that show how harmful biomass is. To show that Black, Brown, rural, and low-income communities are most affected. But these communities are also where the solutions are.
- There is chaos at the federal level. That means we must lean into grassroots organizing. Our meetings with elected officials underscored this truth. Our allies echoed much the same. It’s up to us to change how our country treats our forests and communities. It’s our responsibility to uplift the stories of how forests benefit people. This change needs to start at the local level. Community health and prosperity matter. We can’t afford for greedy businesses and policymakers to make bad decisions. These decisions lead to flooding, fires, and toxic poisoning.
Community members tell their stories and demand better
Commissioner Bradshaw met with her senators, Rev. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff. Staffers heard loud and clear the harms in her community. Commissioner Bradshaw laid bare the pollution and the lack of regulations. Her stories painted a picture of dirty water, foul smelling air, and illness. This is the reality of living next door to a biomass plant. She petitioned the office to visit her neighborhood. A visit would show the senators the industry’s dire effects on her community. Finally, she asked for support with air monitors. These would allow the community to track the overwhelming pollution.
Portia Shepherd’s meeting focused on holding her Representative, Teri Sewell, accountable. Rep. Sewell has backed the expansion of the biomass industry. She created federal subsidy programs for the industry and Carbon Capture and Storage. These programs support jobs, but include dirty biomass and bioenergy. And the community struggles to get regulation, oversight, or accountability. Worse, these projects do NOT benefit the people who the industry harms. Portia requested community visits when residents weren’t at work. Then the meetings would be accessible to working people. Portia also urged Rep. Sewell to make her community a priority.
We continue to engage our champions in Congress on the biomass issue. But, the lack of vocal support in the Southern delegation is concerning. The biomass industry harms their constituencies. Yet the community concerns go unheard. Right now, the federal government is trying to intimidate us into submission. Some environmental organizations are already self-censoring. And, generally congressional leadership seems to be defeatist. It’s going to take the fire of organizers working against biomass to shake things up. We must be loud and clear about the harm communities face. We must also offer solutions as we name the problems. And, we’ve got to hold elected officials accountable!
We can’t give up the fight
We’re living in difficult times. But we can’t become defeated. We must do what’s needed. We must expand our thinking of what’s possible. Sadly, local organizers and communities who’ve been longtime fighters must continue to fight. This is the only way to bring the wins people need.
For decades, environmental justice organizations have made community struggles visible. Communities had just begun to get the resources they need to stop the injustices. But now hard-fought regulation, oversight, resourcing, and attention is being dismantled. But we can’t let up. When the present seems tough, focus on the work that got us here. Return to local advocacy, local stories, and local work. We’ve got to make forests and communities matter at the global level. Pair that with a vision of a beautiful world we want to achieve. That’s how we stoke the fire to keep up the fight.