Campaigners have disrupted Drax Plc’s AGM in London today, calling for the power station to be closed down because of the environmental and social impacts of the biomass and coal that it is burning.
In November of 2011, Enviva, a major corporate wood pellet producer with international sales, began operations at a rebuilt, former Georgia Pacific sawmill in Ahoskie, NC. Residents close to the plant have faced 24/7 extreme noise and lights, dust that coats cars, buildings, and lungs in just a few minutes, along with dangerous heavy truck traffic. While European power plants seek huge shipments of wood pellets as supposedly “greener” fuel than the coal they burned in the past, eastern North Carolina has turned into the Southeast’s latest energy colony.
Executive Director, Danna Smith, is a finalist for the honor Outstanding Conservationist at Wild South’s 6th Annual Roosevelt-Ashe Conservation Awards.
Not only does clearcutting US forests, turning them into pellets, and shipping them to Europe to be burned for electricity have a grievous cost for our climate, but it also destroys the habitat of the South’s rich and biodiverse plant and animal ecosystems.
Come on out and drink delicious, hand-crafted, local beer at Hi-Wire Brewing on Thursday, January 16th. All that day and evening, Hi-Wire will be donating a percentage of proceeds to Dogwood Alliance to help protect our Southern forests!
