For the past 3 years, Dogwood Alliance, NRDC, and SELC have sounded the alarm about the widespread, destructive impacts to our forests, communities and climate caused by the rapidly expanding wood pellet industry. Today’s announcement by Enviva, the largest wood pellet manufacturer in the US, is a clear indication that the collective efforts of our organizations are having a direct impact on the practices of this industry.
Dogwood Alliance is excited to join in solidarity with the international movement for Blog Action Day 2015 and contribute to this year’s theme, #RaiseYourVoice. We look at a community standing up to the wood pellet industry.
We’re pleased to report: mission accomplished! Over 2 weeks we held 10 powerful events in 6 different cities, reaching thousands of citizens and dozens of local organizations. These amazing people came together in unison to echo the SAVE OUR SOUTHERN FORESTS call.
Recently a couple of us here at Dogwood went out on an investigation of the wood pellet manufacturing facilities in North Carolina. All of the facilities are owned and operated by Enviva and exist for the sole purpose of producing wood pellets to feed the market in Europe, particularly the UK-based utility company Drax.
After 2 years of negotiations, Dutch NGO’s and Utility Companies agreed on a biomass policy for wood pellets currently burned for electricity. We in the Southern states know all too well that the drastic increase and scale of demand for wood pellets, driven by countries such as the Netherlands, have had devastating effects on forests and communities. Biomass policies from European countries must be more aggressive with timelines for adequate sustainability standards; our forests depend on it.
