In February, I threw on my rain jacket, grabbed our drone, and headed out in to the field with reporters from EenVandaag, a current affairs television program in the Netherlands with a daily broadcast watched by more than 1.5 million viewers.
This was to be a journey that was similar to many that I have taken over the past several years — ones in which I’ve accompanied journalists from Denmark, the UK, and the Netherlands on investigations that expose the ugly truth about the dirty biomass industry. We get up in the air on small airplanes, follow-up on the ground by tracking logging trucks back to facilities, and spend time in small diners and community members’ homes to hear how the biomass industry is affecting their quality of life.
Each time I prepare for an investigation, the gravity of the situation hits home, and it gets personal.
The scientific consensus is that burning biomass releases carbon dioxide into the air, harms biodiversity by destroying habitat that plants and animals rely on, and the local communities suffer from air pollution, potholes and damage to their roads, and constant battering noise.
Qualified as a carbon-neutral energy source, burning biomass in electricity and power stations in the Netherlands aids them politically in claiming that they are doing right by the planet. The Netherlands Climate Minister, Eric Wiebes, is still saying that Dutch biomass plants use “residual wood” despite our investigations, documentation, and credible news outlets consistently showing mature hardwood trees being trucked back to wood pellet production facilities.
Right now in the Netherlands, €3.6 billion in subsidies go to co-firing wood pellets in coal stations, and a further €5.2 billion is earmarked for burning in dedicated biomass power, heat, and cogeneration plants. That is a huge sum of money. I cannot fathom what I would do as a policymaker with that sum of money, but if I was trying to use it to help the planet, I’d want to make sure that it was furthering the cause of protecting nature and lessening greenhouse gas emissions, not increasing them.
Rita Frost in a clearcut. Photo credit: EenVandaag
Each investigation that catches the dirty wood pellet and biomass industry in the act of forest destruction threatens to topple their “renewable energy” house of cards. The tide is turning in Europe against dirty biomass. How long will the European subsidies that are propping up this crumbling industry last when people know the truth?
Dutch organizations including the National Federation against Biomass (FAB), Greenpeace, Fossil Free NL, Party for the Animals, and the SP, led an online demonstration to #StopBiomassa. Their petition, requesting that the subsidies for biomass are stopped immediately, gained 14,000 petition signatures in one day.
We are seeing similar demonstrations gain power in the UK as well. An action on Earth Day, #AxeDraxNotTrees, called for an end to irresponsible biomass use, protection of carbon sinks and reservoirs of biodiversity, and investment in the climate. Biofuelwatch continues to gain support around their action demanding an end to ￡1 billion being wasted on dirty biomass and redirecting that money to genuine low-carbon renewable energy.
Despite the greenwashing found in Enviva’s new sustainability policy, forest destruction is continuing as usual. In North Carolina, Enviva is the number one producer of wood pellets for export. Elected officials in the state responded to the groundswell of public opposition and the growing body of scientific evidence that says burning forests for electricity is worsening the climate crisis. In the NC Clean Energy Plan, Governor Cooper’s Department of Environmental Quality (NC DEQ) rejected the combustion of biomass for electricity as a future clean energy source and explicitly recognized the current harmful climate impacts of the wood pellet industry in the state. Furthermore, a 100% clean energy resolution passed in Savannah, Georgia, a major port city that exports a significant amount of biomass, excludes biomass from being defined as an acceptable clean energy source.
And yet, in this period of the global pandemic, Enviva has been declared an “essential business” and continues to receive massive government subsidies from the European Union and Southeast Asia.
Forest destruction is on the rise, and false solutions to the climate crisis like biomass for energy continue to show themselves to be what they truly are, a major distraction that prevents forests from doing what they do best, storing and sequestering carbon. The EenVandaag investigation, rising citizen movements around the world, and science are all singing the same tune. When will policy makers respond in harmony?
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Amsterdam, 8th May, 2020– Today’s publication of a long-awaited biomass report by the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency has been greeted with alarm by international environmental organizations [1] who denounce its support for biomass subsidies in the face of strong evidence that those harm forests and the climate.
The report, entitled “Availability and Sustainability of Biomass”[2], which is meant to inform a forthcoming policy review headed by the Netherlands’ Social and Economic Council, acknowledges that the Dutch biomass certification scheme cannot guarantee that subsidised wood burning for energy is low carbon and causes no harm to forests and wildlife. It cites from various studies which conclude that large-scale burning of wood for energy is not compatible with limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees, the goal of the Paris Agreement. Nonetheless, the authors conclude that a climate policy without a significant role for biomass would be “risky” and that it was “advisable to invest in sustainable biomass production”, in other words, to continue promoting the expansion of biomass energy, whilst continuing to monitor its impacts and considering whether different sustainability standards might be introduced, justifying this conclusion with scientific uncertainties and claims.
In 2018, 800 scientists signed an open letter to the EU warning that cutting down trees for energy will increase CO2 in the atmosphere and warming for decades or centuries, even when this action replaces fossil fuels, regardless of how sustainable the forest management is.[3] The European Academies’ Science Advisory Council (EASAC) has come to a similar conclusion and has called for international action to restrict support schemes for forest biomass energy.[4] Furthermore, evidence collected and published by environmental NGOs and investigative reporters shows that in both the southern USA [5] and Estonia [6] – two of the pellet supply regions for the Netherlands – wood for pellets is routinely sourced from the clearcutting of wildlife-rich forests. In the Southern US, in many cases those are bottomland hardwood forests that lie at the heart of a global biodiversity hotspot.
Almuth Ernsting from Biofuelwatch states: “We are deeply disappointed that the Environmental Agency report endorses further support for expansion of biomass energy despite listing a host of studies and reports which show that the climate impacts of cutting down and burning trees for energy is no better than those of burning coal. The authors are using “uncertainties” and lack of consensus as a reason to embrace more ‘business as usual’ biomass energy, whilst recommending more monitoring, research and consideration of changes to sustainability standards which haven’t been shown to have had any impact in the first place. This is the opposite of the precautionary principle to which the Netherlands and the EU have signed up to.”
Rita Frost from US forest protection NGO Dogwood Alliance explains: “Every year since 2013, we have observed Enviva, the world’s largest pellet producer and a supplier of RWE Netherlands, sourcing whole trees from what once were beautiful natural forests The Netherlands is subsidising forest destruction through taxpayers’ money, and this needs to stop.“
Siim Kuresoo from Estonian Fund for Nature adds: “In Estonia, logging rates and practices are causing serious harm to our forests and to the wildlife that depends on them, such as Flying squirrels, Black storks and many other birds. We are deeply disappointed that the authors of the report are supporting policies which will worsen the situation for forests in our country, despite the evidence we and others have sent to them.”
Sasha Stashwick, a Senior Advocate for NRDC’S Climate & Clean Energy program said: “Not only does burning biomass pollute the climate just like fossil fuels, but the industry’s devastating impacts on critical ecosystems and surrounding communities are well-documented. Instead of wasting taxpayer resources subsidizing a dirty and destructive power source the Dutch government should invest in clean, reliable and inexpensive wind and solar energy.”
– END –
Contacts:
Notes:
[1] The press release is being sent by Dogwood Alliance (www.dogwoodalliance.org), Natural Resources Defense Council (www.nrdc.org), Partnership for Policy Integrity (www.pfpi.net), Estonian Fund for Nature (www.elfond.ee), Fern (www.fern.org) and Biofuelwatch (www.biofuelwatch.org.uk).
[2] The report, which can be found at pbl.nl/publicaties/beschikbaarheid-en-toepassingsmogelijkheden-van-duurzame-biomassa-verslag-van-een-zoektocht-naar-gedeelde-feiten, provides information and advice to the Netherlands’ Social and Economic Council, which in turn will advise the government on a new Dutch sustainability framework for biomass. Scientific publications and research in the field of availability, applications and certification of biomass have been assessed by the Environment Assessment Agency ( PBL) in the report. The PBL report justifies the continuation of the current Dutch policy in which biomass combustion in coal-fired power stations and biomass-fired power stations will continue to hold a large share.
[3] pfpi.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/UPDATE-800-signatures_Scientist-Letter-on-EU-Forest-Biomass.pdf
[4] easac.eu/fileadmin/PDF_s/reports_statements/Carbon_Neutrality/EASAC_commentary_on_Carbon_Neutrality_15_June_2018.pdf and onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gcbb.12643
[5] See for example dogwoodalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Biomass-Investigation-Booklet-2019.pdf, nyheder.tv2.dk/samfund/2019-09-09-tv-2-afsloerer-fejl-i-klimakontrol-helt-sort-siger-ekspert and reports.climatecentral.org/pulp-fiction/2/
[6] biofuelwatch.org.uk/2019/estonia-pellets/
The Okefenokee Swamp is the largest blackwater wetlands in North America and one of the world’s largest intact freshwater ecosystems. Located in the southeast corner of Georgia, its wide range of habitats is home to a rich diversity of plants, birds, fish, and wildlife and includes the headwaters of the Suwannee and St. Mary’s Rivers.
Annually over 400,000 visitors from all over the world come to enjoy its cypress swamps, upland pine forest, wet and dry prairies, and winding waterways.
Photo by: Timothy J. Carroll
Trail Ridge, the geologic formation that forms the eastern boundary of the Okefenokee swamp in Georgia, has long been a target of the titanium mining industry. In the 1990s, the DuPont corporation attempted to mine a vast swath of land along the refuge boundary — a proposal that faced near-universal opposition. Because the project threatened to impair the function of the swamp, as well as its famed wildlife habitat, then Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt declared that mining “should never happen,” and has no place next to what he called a “very uncommon swamp.”
Yet, in 2019, Twin Pines Minerals submitted an application to the US Army Corps of Engineers to operate on 2,414 acres, adjacent to the refuge boundary. As a result of strong citizen opposition, they were forced to withdraw that application.
They submitted a revised application in 2020. It slightly reduced the size of the project area but government agencies expect operations to eventually grow to 12,000 acres, potentially coming within 400 feet of the swamp itself. Tens of thousands of people contacted the US Army Corps of Engineers to voice their opposition to this destructive project.
Unfortunately, the Okefenokee is still under threat because the federal government has changed rules in the Clean Water Act. Now Twin Pines Minerals is pushing to proceed with their 600-acre heavy mineral sand mine without any federal oversight.
Photo by: Timothy J. Carroll
This area of the Trail Ridge barrier consists of semi-permeable soils that allow for water storage and circulation within the swamp. Should mining damage these soils, the US Fish and Wildlife Service and US Environmental Protection Agency anticipate that “permanent” and “unacceptable” damage could befall the Okefenokee Swamp.
Additionally, mineral mining requires freshwater sources, and the most reliable source of water in Southeast Georgia is the Floridan aquifer. The amount of withdrawals required for titanium mining operations could lower the Okefenokee Swamp’s water table and reduce the natural flows of both the Suwannee and St. Marys Rivers.
Photo by: Timothy J. Carroll
Permitting agencies must reject any proposals that risk the long-term protection of the treasured swamp and the rivers it births, including the Twin Pines titanium mining permit. With the federal agencies abandoning science and public input, we now must depend on Georgia’s leaders to do the right thing.
What’s more fascinating in your backyard than the things you can’t see? There are so many strange animal sounds at night, whether they’re trying to attract mates, foraging for food, or even just warning off predators. These nighttime creatures range from insects and frogs to birds and mammals. They live in the soil, in the wood, and in the treetops.
Is it an odd rolling sound emerging from your attic? Or a high pitched squeal under your deck? I’m sure you want to know what’s up with these nocturnal animals. Do you want to know what the wild animal noises are in and around your house? Let’s get started… from the ground up!
Identifying nocturnal animal sounds can be challenging – especially when it’s an insect! For being so small, insects can make an awful lot of noise. Nighttime insects fall into two categories: insects that are nocturnal and make noises to attract mates, and insects that eat noisily.
Often insects’ loud noises are mechanical: the result of two hard objects moving against each other. If you hear scratching or louder thumping noises, it’s probably not an insect. Insects produce high pitched singing sounds, whining noises, or grinding sounds similar to woodworking.
Katydids and crickets are excellent examples of nighttime noise-making insects. These backyard wildlife are perfectly quiet during the daytime, but at night: it’s a different story. These insects, which belong to the same Order (Orthoptera) make noises in similar ways: by rubbing their wings together. These insects usually make their high pitched chirping noise at night to attract mates during breeding season.
They may also make these high pitched noises to warn off predators. These noises are fairly loud. If they’re in your house, they can even keep you up until the early morning. I had a cricket in my garage once and it was deafening every time I went into my car for days.
We’ve probably all observed a cricket making their chirping noises, but have you ever seen a huge katydid making theirs? Check out this clip from the Toronto Zoo. These weird noises are definitely memorable!
Another set of insects also makes nighttime noises: wood-boring insects. Story time:
Working at Dogwood Alliance, I live in rural Western North Carolina. A few years ago, I was noticing a weird grinding noise while taking my dogs out at night. It was a mix of grinding and clicking noises. It didn’t sound like scratching sounds – but I wasn’t really sure what kind of animal was making it.
Since it was totally dark outside, I searched the internet high and low for possible reptile, mammal, or bird species that could be responsible for the noise. Then, one day, aggravated, I pinpointed the noise to some downed wood I had in my backyard. A few searches later, and I had my answer: wood-boring beetle larvae were having dinner! They were feasting on the downed log! You can hear a similar noise here:
Among reptiles and amphibians, frogs are our most musical friends. There are so many species of frogs, and they each have very unique calls. Entire fields of science have been built around recording and analyzing sounds to figure out how much biodiversity there is around us.
In the Eastern United States, the “spring peeper”, Pseudacris (Hyla) crucifer, is among the most iconic frog noises that you can hear at night. Spring peepers only peep during mating season. Spring peepers live primarily in forests near temporary wetlands. Here’s their song:
Frog vocalizations sound wild, but don’t worry: they can’t hurt you. Remember, the wetlands where frogs live are their native shelter. They’re safe from predators as they sing the song of their people.
Interested in more frog sounds? Here’s a video compilation of some frogs from Ohio. There are many overlapping and wide-ranging species across the Eastern United States, so I’m sure you’ll hear some familiar noises.
The birds you hear at night can be some of the most fascinating singers out there. Most of them will be owls, but you may not recognize them as owls! Did you know that not all owls make that distinctive “Who who” sound that we learn as children? Which of these owl sounds do you recognize?
Owls are some of my favorite creatures. There are a few moments of my life that have been marked by owls and etched into my memories. Story time:
In 2014, a few friends, my partner, and I went camping in the Adirondacks region of New York. It was June, but it was cold at night, down into the 40s. About half of us were camping in hammocks. During that trip, two things happened that stick in my memory: (1) my partner and I got engaged and (2) three Barred Owls woke us up in the middle of the night, calling to each other. Their noises were so strange and, at 3am, hilarious. It was a perfectly quiet night, until these owls interrupted with their raucous songs.
I wasn’t big into birds at the time, so we had to wait for an internet connection to look up what kind of owl it was. My partner and I were so enamored with them that we ended up getting matching owl tattoos later on.
As long as humans have had oral history, we’ve had tales of things that go bump in the night. Our nighttime predators all have unique sounds, but they’re not usually out to hurt us. Both predators and prey mammals make noises at night, and those noises are often a mix of chirps, screams, squeals, grunts, and growls. If you’re out alone at night, it can be pretty intimidating to hear your wild neighbors. But, never fear, most night sounds have a source, and it’s not nearly as scary as you’d think!
People commonly report nighttime noises that sound like “screaming” in the woods. These “screams” are often just foxes going about their evenings! Foxes are “crepuscular” animals, meaning that they’re active around dusk and dawn. Here’s a great example of a UK fox vocalizing with a friend on camera:
You may also hear coyotes speaking to each other at night. I most often hear the coyotes near my house chatting like this right before dawn:
Bobcats, which can have an average weight of 19 lbs as an adult, can sound much bigger than they are when they growl or grunt nearby. They have a wide variety of chirps and trills at their disposal. Bobcats are pretty rare to see, but I’ve been lucky enough to see two bobcats in the wild in my lifetime: one in California, and one right here in North Carolina. Here’s some of their noises.
Light pitter patter on the roof? Noises in wall cavities? Claws digging at the edges of your mind while you’re trying to sleep? If you hear animal movements inside your house, you might be in for an adventure. Animal sounds in your house usually means squirrels or mice. Squirrels commonly produce scurrying, digging, or other noises in your attic or walls. Mice or rats can do the same.
Left alone, they may chew wooden baseboards or create larger holes in your home. These small animals can cause a lot of trouble. But don’t worry – you can work with a wildlife expert to exclude the creatures from your home, often without harming them. You’ll need to find out where they’re coming in, then block off those entrances. Some folks may choose to wait until baby-rearing season is over.
Remember, if you’re out at night, take appropriate precautions. Wear reflective clothing, make noise, and have a plan if you do encounter wildlife. The vast majority of nighttime wildlife just want to be left alone. Never approach or harass wildlife of any kind, especially mammals. Did you enjoy learning about these nighttime treasures? If so, why not show us?
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Diverse, intact forests are literally the greenest infrastructure on Earth, vital to our health and survival. They are the ultimate water pumps, critical to ensuring abundant, fresh water supplies. They provide natural air filtration, storm protection, food, medicine, recreation, and a place to find peace. Yet environmental policy solutions put forward in America today largely fail to recognize protecting existing, natural forests as a “green infrastructure” priority.
Millions of people mobilized in the streets and in the classrooms marching, rallying, and educating the public about the need to protect our planet, catalyzing landmark environmental protection laws including the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Endangered Species Act.
Photo Credit: NASA’s Earth Observatory
50 years later, however, no one will be in the streets or the classrooms. Instead millions are self-isolating in their homes, confronting a sobering reality as a virus wreaks havoc across the planet. Extreme weather continues as climate change intensifies, compounding impacts to human health and the economy. An estimated 150-200 species are going extinct every 24 hours.
As the economy shut down amidst the global pandemic, pictures of clear water in the Venice canals went viral. Reports of smog-free skies in Los Angeles spread like wildfire. Carbon emissions show promising declines around the world.
That’s why hundreds of organizations across America are pushing for policies that can help transform our economy to one that is restorative, regenerative, and equitable. Countless organizations are coming together to ensure that the next governmental economic stimulus package includes billions of dollars for “green” infrastructure, helping to lay a foundation for broad-sweeping and comprehensive policy initiatives, such as the Green New Deal, which was designed to address the climate crisis, improve human health, and create millions of “green” jobs.
There is no question that these initiatives are vital, representing hope for a future where protecting people and the planet are at the forefront of policies that shape our economy. Ironically, these “green” policy proposals miss the mark when it comes to forests by failing to address the devastating climate, health, and economic impacts of industrial logging.
Logging rates here are among the highest on Earth, estimated at four times that of South American rainforests in the Southern US alone.
Every year, millions of acres of forests are logged, degrading the greenest life-supporting infrastructure on Earth. Logging releases vast amounts of unreported carbon emissions into the atmosphere, while limiting forests’ ability to remove carbon and provide natural protections against intensifying flooding and droughts.
Though the US Forest Service reports that the area of “forests” in the US has remained relatively stable over the past 50 years, the ecological integrity of our nation’s forests has been in constant decline.
Tens of millions of acres have been destroyed to make way for industrial tree plantations sprayed routinely with chemical herbicides and fertilizers. Entire forest ecosystems have been brought to the brink of extinction. Hundreds of industrial-scale wood processing facilities release vast quantities of toxic pollution, compromising the health of nearby residents, disproportionately impacting low income communities and communities of color. Meanwhile, the vast majority of wood products end up in landfills, our once living forests tossed aside as trash.
Air pollution coming from a paper mill in SC.
The degradation of forests along with the pollution of our air and water has left communities in a degraded economic condition, with disproportionately high poverty and unemployment rates.
And now, they are at higher risk of dying prematurely if they get the Coronavirus due to high levels of industrial pollution which have been linked to higher mortality rates.
Proposed policies focused on solving the climate crisis and creating “green” jobs simply do not address these problems. Climate policies designed to curb carbon emissions fail to hold the forest industry accountable. Misguided solutions, such as “planting a trillion trees”, have become a focal point of investing in “green” infrastructure and jobs, while expanded protection for existing natural forests, especially on private lands, is largely ignored.
Whether it’s “green” subsidies for burning wood as a “renewable” fuel alternative to coal or proposed “green” stimulus money for building skyscrapers out of wood, policies that promote logging are often embedded in otherwise sound proposals that mandate a phase out fossil fuels and new investments in solar and wind energy. The word “restoration” has become an overused policy buzz word, often used to justify even more logging. “Restoration” is also frequently used to mean re-establishing new forests as opposed to restoring the ecological health and function of existing forests through protecting them.
Yet, protecting existing forests is vital to solving the ecological crises we face, restoring our failing economy and creating “green” jobs. The forest industry employs an estimated 955,000 people in America. That may seem like a lot, but other businesses that help keep forests standing already create more jobs with potential for even more growth.
A growing body of research documents other community benefits associated with outdoor recreation, including improved education and health outcomes. Communities dependent on logging have restricted opportunities for building outdoor recreation-based economies.
Another example is the recycling industry that employs 1.25 million people compared to 250,000 in solid waste. Paper and wood products currently make up roughly half the materials in our landfills. A US recycling rate of 75% by 2030 would create 1.1 million new jobs, while helping to ease pressure on forests.
The world’s leading scientists recently revealed clear links between degradation of land and degradation of communities, finding that restoring degraded land between now and 2030 could generate $9 trillion in environmental benefits, such as clean water, clean air, and increased wildlife.
It’s not too late for “green” policy initiatives such as the Green New Deal, the People’s Bailout, or the Green Stimulus, to embrace the term “proforestation” which refers to letting existing natural forests grow to reach their full biological potential.
Protecting forests is truly the greenest investment we can make for our future.
We are living in a world-altering moment in history. Now is the time for art and connection. Now is the time to remember and strengthen our roots in nature and our forests. Taking each day as it comes, I’ve drawn strength from the poetry of these five women of color. With diverse cultural backgrounds, including Creole, Mojave, and Chinese, these artists’ powerful words and depictions of nature resonate deeply with me, so I wanted to share them with you.
Whether it’s a reminder that flowers and our souls grow wild and free or mythologizing the loss of a river, these poems tap into both unique and universal experiences of nature that can help ground us and lay bare all the fierce beauty in our world.
I had no thought of violets of late, The wild, shy kind that spring beneath your feet In wistful April days, when lovers mate And wander through the fields in raptures sweet. The thought of violets meant florists’ shops, And bows and pins, and perfumed papers fine; And garish lights, and mincing little fops And cabarets and songs, and deadening wine. So far from sweet real things my thoughts had strayed, I had forgot wide fields, and clear brown streams; The perfect loveliness that God has made,— Wild violets shy and Heaven-mounting dreams. And now—unwittingly, you’ve made me dream Of violets, and my soul’s forgotten gleam.
by Maya Angelou
A Rock, A River, A Tree Hosts to species long since departed, Marked the mastodon, The dinosaur, who left dried tokens Of their sojourn here On our planet floor, Any broad alarm of their hastening doom Is lost in the gloom of dust and ages.
But today, the Rock cries out to us, clearly, forcefully, Come, you may stand upon my Back and face your distant destiny, But seek no haven in my shadow, I will give you no hiding place down here.
You, created only a little lower than The angels, have crouched too long in The bruising darkness Have lain too long Facedown in ignorance, Your mouths spilling words Armed for slaughter.
The Rock cries out to us today, You may stand upon me, But do not hide your face. …
(Excerpt. For the full poem, watch the video below of Maya Angelou performing “On the Pulse of Morning” at the 1992 presidential inauguration of Bill Clinton.)
by Natalie Diaz
Welcome back to the biodiversity in your backyard series! This week, we’ll be taking a closer look at our feathered friends — the birds. The United States is a huge, incredibly diverse place, especially when it comes to birds. Luckily for you, I’ve lived on both coasts and in the midwest, so I’ve got a pretty good idea of what you might see when you peer out your windows.
With eye-catching headlines like Tyrannosaurus Rex “was more like a chicken than a crocodile”, what’s not to love about birds? Some taxonomists believe that birds are really just avian dinosaurs.
Cartoon by David Morgan-Mar
Whether or not you believe birds are dinosaurs, birds are a wildly diverse and utterly fascinating part of the world around us. Wild birds have learned how to use tools. Domesticated birds have been used as evidence in court trials, and some birds even make other species raise their young.
In the springtime, I always look forward to the return of birds. As you’re sitting on your porch or staring out your window, see if you can spot these species. Can’t see any birds? You might be able to hear them instead! As you first get into bird-watching, you’ll want some easy wins. Here are the easiest birds to spot in North America. You can find them with their bright colors and distinct markings.
Blue Jay, courtesy of Adel Alamo
One of my favorite backyard birds is the bright and colorful Blue Jay. There are actually several species of Jays, but the Blue Jay, Cyanocitta cristata, is the most common visitor to my backyard. Blue Jays are in the Corvid family, which means that they’re closely related to Crows! These highly intelligent birds have noisy caws and are known to be omnivores, eating nuts, seeds, and occasionally the eggs of other species.
Eastern Bluebird (male), courtesy of Dr. Jeff Peters
If you catch a flutter of blue out of the corner of your eye, but it’s not as big or as noisy as a Blue Jay, you might have an actual Eastern Bluebird on your hands! These muted blue-and-orange birds are smaller than Robins, and eat a mix of insects and berries. If you’ve got bird houses or open places for them to perch, you might find yourself with a little Bluebird family!
Northern Cardinal (male), courtesy of Dr. Jeff Peters
Another primary color favorite, Cardinals are the bright red birds that you’ll see in your backyard throughout most of the season. The Northern Cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis, is a bright red bird sporting a fancy, eye-catching crest and cheerful song. Cardinals exhibit sexual dimorphisms, which means the males and the females are drastically different. The males are bright red, but the females are brown with red-tinged feathers most often on their crest. Cardinals can live over fifteen years in the wild!
American Goldfinch (male), courtesy of Dr. Jeff Peters
The American Goldfinch, Spinus tristis, is hard to miss with its bright yellow color and unique flight pattern. Most often found around thistles and milkweed, Goldfinches can be attracted with almost any type of bird feeder and seed. Did you know that Goldfinches are the only finches that molt twice a year? Their winter colors are more dull than their breeding colors. Like Cardinals, Goldfinches are sexually dimorphic, and females tend to be browner with softer yellows throughout. Goldfinches are strict vegetarians and spend most of their time foraging for seeds.
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Written by Dr. Rev. Gerald Durley, Rev. Michael Malcom, and Rev. Kate Mosley
In the first chapter of the book of Haggai the prophet says that God asks, “Is it time for you to live in your luxurious homes while my house is in ruins?” God goes on to ask, “How has that worked out for you?”
In our efforts to expand economic power in the state of Georgia, we have lost sight of the impacts on God’s house and God’s people. God’s house is all the earth and God’s people are all people. Therefore, the forests are God’s house and communities that suffer from the decisions we make via deforestation are God’s people. As to “how has that worked out for you?”, the Stand4Forests resolutions, currently in committee in Georgia’s legislature, call upon the state to recognize and respond to the unfortunate reality that Georgia has become increasingly vulnerable to climate change, extreme heat, and extreme weather events. However, this is not an isolated event in an isolated state.
Under attack from a European utilities giant with a voracious appetite for our forests, hundreds of thousands of GA acres are in danger of being harvested, turned into pellets, shipped across the ocean, and burned for fuel disguised as eco-friendly “biomass.”
One retired forester put it this way: “90% of the forested land in the Southern US is privately owned, so it’s totally unprotected. There is nothing stopping Europe from taking it all in the next 10 years.”
Wood pellet facilities wreak havoc on nearby communities. They spit smog, asbestos, sulfur dioxide, and explosive dust into the air, cause increased road and rail traffic, and put undue stress on an already crumbling infrastructure. They create constant noise pollution and can drastically reduce area property values. The wood pellet industry relies on just a few highly specialized jobs and therefore does little to nothing to boost the local economy.
These are known as frontline communities in the environmental justice movement because they often suffer disproportionately from the health impacts of polluting industries. There are many health and quality of life impacts from the wood pellet industry but the clear cutting associated with this industry also leaves these communities more exposed to damaging winds and flooding from storms – storms that are only expected to increase in intensity and frequency as the result of our changing climate.
Dr. King said, if America is to survive and prosper we must realize “there is a fierce urgency of now.” America is facing a moral dilemma. Do we make decisions to sustain the earth and its inhabitants or do we decide to destroy all that has been provided for us?” As stewards of creation, we have been mandated to care for God’s creation. This creation is both people and planet. These two cannot be separated. Our very own Dr King said, “We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied to a single garment of destiny. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
This region’s trees allow us to hunt and fish in the wild, help keep our air and water clean and buffer our communities from floodwaters, give homes to millions of living creatures, and help to shape the area’s character. Right now, there are two resolutions sitting in the Natural Resources and Environment committees in the Georgia General Assembly, Senate (SR 108) and House (HR 930). These resolutions aim to protect our woods from being incinerated in distant fires. They will help keep Georgia’s wild places wild, and our communities healthy. Our legislators need to know that trees deserve protection. Legislators need to hear the S4F Resolutions in committees this month.
Rev. Dr. Gerald L. Durley is Pastor Emeritus of Providence Baptist Church and Board Chair of Interfaith Power & Light, [email protected]
Rev. Kate McGregor Mosley is a Presbyterian minister in Atlanta and is Executive Director of Georgia Interfaith Power & Light, a state-wide interfaith environmental organization. www.gipl.org, [email protected]
Rev Michael Malcom, MDiv MBA is Senior Pastor of Rush Memorial United Church of Christ and Executive Director, Alabama Interfaith Power and Light, [email protected]The views and opinions expressed are those of the author(s) and do not imply endorsement by Dogwood Alliance.
For many of us, the Coronavirus global pandemic has altered almost every aspect of our lives. Our priorities shifted overnight, and our attention turned to pressing matters of our health, our finances, and our communities and families. But for many in the US South, this isn’t the “new normal”. It is an issue that is exacerbated by the fact that communities living on the frontlines of industrial logging and other polluting industries have been experiencing a health crisis for decades.
This is especially true in Robeson County, North Carolina, where the county is ranked worst in the state for health outcomes. Active Energy Group wants to build a bio-coal wood pellet production facility in Lumberton, NC (Robeson County), where two-thirds of the community are people of color. According to NC DEQ’s own Community Mapping Tool, there are at least a dozen pollution sources already in Robeson County.
Last month, many of you sent in comments requesting an extension to the public comment period, and the NC Department of Environmental Quality (NC DEQ) listened to your voices. NC DEQ has extended the public comment period until April 27th. Thank you for speaking out for North Carolina communities and forests! The fight isn’t over yet, though. NC DEQ has made no plans to reschedule the canceled public meeting or to further extend the public comment period as requested by local residents.
Robeson County residents deserve to be informed on the impacts this facility will have on air quality, carbon emissions, and local pollution. Local leaders have set a strong example by advocating for the rights of their constituents. The Robeson County Board of Commissioners has requested that NC DEQ reschedule the public meeting to allow for meaningful public input.
The South is the poorest region in the nation, and is also the world’s largest wood-producing region. In the past decade, the South has also become the world’s leading producer of wood pellets, which are sent overseas to be burned for energy production. The production of biomass wood pellets has a proven track record of forest and climate destruction and polluting local communities with dangerous air toxins.
Wood pellet manufacturing releases large amounts of air pollutants – primarily particulate matter, such as PM 2.5, and volatile organic compounds (VOC’s) that have been shown to have serious impacts on human health. According to the EPA, exposure to particulates like PM 2.5 can affect both your lungs and your heart. Numerous scientific studies have linked particulate pollution exposure to a variety of problems, including heart attacks, aggravated asthma, decreased lung function, and increased respiratory symptoms such as irritation of the airways, coughing, or difficulty breathing.
For communities living with polluting industries, exposure to particulate matter means constantly living with “underlying conditions” and at greater risk for health issues. Yet as this community grapples with responding to the pandemic, the wood pellet industry wants to push through a new facility without even allowing the public an opportunity to ask questions and submit oral public comments.
As the crisis worsens across the US, we hear our leaders and health professionals warn us of the extra danger posed to those with underlying health conditions. The reality for many will be that their increased risk isn’t simply a factor of their age, or ability to self-isolate, but rather, an outcome of their zip-code. People in communities that have been impacted by pollution for decades, such as Robeson County residents, face an elevated risk of underlying conditions that increase vulnerability to the coronavirus and other illnesses.
The global pandemic is reinforcing the need for a Just Transition: one that prioritizes community needs and well-being, ecological resilience, and systems that work for all and not just for a few. Allowing business as usual will only drive us deeper down a path of ongoing health and climate crises.
You, like me, probably keep asking yourself, “When will things return to normal?” Sitting within my home office– which means rotating between working in my bed, on the floor of my bedroom, and trying to balance my external webcam on the top of my computer for an increasing number of video calls– I’ve been experiencing that anticipatory anxiety that I know many of us are and thinking from time to time, “when will things return to normal?” But, there won’t be a return to normal, at least not the normal that we once knew.
The global pandemic is having effects on us all. One of the interesting effects that we are seeing around the world is the clearing of pollution as people are heeding stay-in-place orders. There are stories about the smog over China clearing during the shutdown, of the canals in Venice becoming crystal clear. Take a look at Los Angeles— it’s gorgeous without the smog. Additionally, CO2 emissions are reducing in line with the economic crisis.
However, that shouldn’t mean a return to business as usual when it comes to environmental impacts. The clearing of pollution and lowering of emissions don’t need to be confined to this historic moment, but one that we carry forward with us.
A return to business as usual should actually be our moment to seize a revolutionary shift in society. One in which we take the silver linings of this crisis and let that light flood our reality. Expanding clean energy jobs in the wind and solar industries, funding energy efficiency and weatherization to both reduce energy bills and increase resiliency for low-income Americans, and investing in proforestation measures that will pull millions of tons of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere for years to come will reduce carbon pollution and better public health.
If we stop deforestation, protect and restore degraded forests, and expand forests, we could reduce annual emissions by 75% in the next fifty years. If we also phase out fossil fuels, we could easily meet the goals of the Paris Agreement and avoid catastrophic climate change. These goals are lofty, but not unattainable, especially if the world unites for a common vision of keeping climate change at just 1.5 degrees Celsius. And look at us uniting to fight Covid-19, in only a matter of weeks!
To be clear, fighting climate change doesn’t mean locking everyone in their homes and telling them to not go to work. That is necessary for a global pandemic, but to fight something like climate change, we need collective action, public understanding and buy-in, and decarbonizing the energy mix while supporting economic growth. We need a paradigm shift in how we view forests and natural systems.
To me, a return to business as usual will be recreating what exactly terms like “usual” and “normal” mean. To me, that could mean stopping forest degradation, stopping carbon emissions from making their way into the atmosphere, and protecting communities that are the most vulnerable to climate change. To me, that means singing together and banding our resources together in our communities to become more resilient. Forests can heal people and the planet– let’s make that our new normal.
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November 5, 2026