This morning Dogwood Alliance, Virginia landowner and Hollywood Director, Ron Maxwell, and local community leaders spoke at a press conference to draw attention to the growing citizen opposition to the unchecked growth of the wood pellet export industry in Virginia and across the Southern United States
Recently, I was fortunate to be asked to speak in a live panel interview at the ASTC world conference about my youth activist experiences. ASTC has been around for 40 years. Everyone I met was highly educated especially in science. I was very nervous, but it was incredible to share my experiences with others and to learn from others too. I spoke at Raleigh, NC Science museum. Everyone was so thoughtful and interested in saving our planet in one way or another. It was inspiring! I learned if you truly believe in something, speak out so others hear you and get inspired to help save our planet too.
On November 13th, as the wood products industry meets in Chesapeake, VA to celebrate the destruction and export of our incredible forests, people from across the US are coming together for a National Day of Action to send an SOS to Save Our Southern forests. With 20 existing wood pellet facilities and 33 proposed, it’s crucial that we show EU policymakers that the biomass industry is bad for our environment, our communities and our economy. Join us in sending an SOS of more than 10,000 messages to EU policymakers.
Early this month, Dogwood Alliance was proud to attend the Environmental Paper Network’s 2014 Fall Steering Committee meeting in Boulder, Colorado. Environmental Paper Network (EPN) began in 2002 as an unlikely alliance of organizations with very diverse approaches to a common problem — addressing the scale of the challenges and opportunities for social justice and conservation presented by the expanding forest, pulp and paper industry. It should come as no surprise that with 15 years of history working to transform the pulp and paper industry in the US South, Dogwood Alliance was one of the founding partners of the EPN.
I feel so lucky to have worked with the Center for Diversity Education at UNCA on the planning committee for the first annual Everybody’s Environment Conference at the Wesley Grant Southside Community Center here in Asheville. I’m also grateful that Dogwood was able to be a sponsor. Our goal was to bring diversity to the local conservation community.
