Our Executive Director Danna Smith’s opinion piece was published in today’s Charlotte Observer. Below is the piece which speaks about why we need to change our perspective on forests moving forward in light of the UN’s announcement earlier this month making 2011 the Year of the Forest. Enjoy, and please feel free to comment…
Posted: Friday, Feb. 18, 2011
From Danna Smith, executive director of the Dogwood Alliance, an Asheville nonprofit that works to protect Southern forests:
This month the United Nations designated the year 2011 as the International Year of Forests. Why? Because forests play a critical role in protecting the health of our planet. From supporting biodiversity to renewing and filtering water supplies, preventing floods, and removing carbon from the atmosphere, forests are essential for life on earth. Yet, despite their immense value, forest destruction is accelerating and today accounts for 20 percent of global carbon emissions. That’s more carbon than is released from all the cars on the road.
A recent report from proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that the U.S. leads the world in percentage of forest cover loss, attributing much of that loss to industrial logging here in the South, where 2 percent of the world’s forests produce about 20 percent of the world’s wood and paper products. High poverty rates in rural communities, vanishing ecosystems, flooding and the loss of native species are just a few of the far-reaching consequences of living in the largest wood and paper producing region of the world. Here in North Carolina, our valuable wetland forests are being destroyed to make throw-away fast food packaging.
As if current pressures on our forests aren’t enough, efforts are under way to shift energy production from fossil fuels to wood. Though recent reports suggest such a switch could double logging rates across Southern states, increase carbon emissions and pose even more of a health threat than burning coal, President Barack Obama in his most recent State of the Union address advocated for more investments in wood-burning energy facilities. Last month the EPA decided not to regulate carbon emissions from wood-burning power plants for the next three years. In North Carolina, Duke Energy is already burning wood to generate electricity. It appears that more of the same old unregulated forest destruction is headed our way.
Is this really the model we want for the future?
There is hope. Over the past decade, public concerns about the impacts of industrial logging have inspired some of the biggest consumers and producers of paper and wood to adopt new policies to improve industrial logging practices and protect unique forests across the landscape.
Big names like Staples, The Home Depot and Coca-Cola are engaging with forest conservation groups in an exciting new collaborative called the Carbon Canopy. Carbon Canopy is developing a new model to spur investment in forest conservation to enable Southern landowners to generate revenue from leaving more trees (and carbon) in the woods. Now there is a new idea that’s worth an investment!
To the contrary, burning trees to generate electricity will only add pressure on our forests. It’s time to toss out old economic models based solely on resource extraction in favor of a new forest economy that values healthy forests for all the important climate, water, community and wildlife benefits they provide. Through waste reduction, recycling, energy conservation and a focus on truly clean sources of energy such as solar and wind we can chart a new path.
Let’s embrace this year as a turning point. It’s the International Year of Forests!
To view this online, go here.
Recently our allies at Friends of the Green Swamp brought to our attention a new proposal by Waste Management to open up a landfill in the heart of the Green Swamp.
The NC Division of Solid Waste (DSW) had issued a draft permit (SLAS 24-08) to Waste Management of Wilmington that would allow them to use 41.8 acres of Riegel Ridge’s Green Swamp property to dispose of up to 1.3 million gallons of septage waste annually. Septage is defined as a fluid mixture of untreated and partially treated sewage solids, liquids, and sludge of human or domestic origin from septic tanks, grease traps, portable toilets and commercial/industrial septage from septic tanks where water-carried waste results from the process of industry.
Now we need to follow up during the written comment period which has been extended through 5:00 p.m. on March 14, 2011. Comments should be addressed to:
Michael E. Scott, Branch Head
NC DENR-Division of Waste Management
1646 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-1646
You can access information about this project under the news and updates section of http://portal.ncdenr.org/web/wm/sw and you may want to look at the application criteria in the North Carolina Administrative Code 15A NCAC 13B .0830.0846.
Some questions to consider for your comments include but are not limited to:
Recently, it was brought to our attention that ReVenture has proposed a mega-incinerator to burn trash and organic waste in Mecklenberg County and the City of Charlotte. The NC Central Piedmont Chapter of the Sierra Club is leading the charge against it and needs your help.
Currently Mecklenburg County and the cities of Charlotte, Davidson, Cornelius, Huntersville, Matthews, Mint Hill and Pineville are considering a plan which would lead to over half a million tons of garbage and recyclable yard waste being incinerated every year. This would be a major step backwards in our waste management policy by moving from a landfill to a “sky fill”. Additionally, there are 25 schools or day cares within four miles of the proposed site.
You can learn more about the efforts to stop it and how you can get involved at the Central Piedmont Chapter of the Sierra Club here.
Incinerators do not make waste disappear
For every five truckloads of waste burned, four truckloads are pumped into the atmosphere and one remains as toxic ash, which still must be carefully stored or land filled.
Incinerators are a toxic technology
Even the most technologically advanced waste incinerators produce hundreds of distinct hazardous byproducts including dioxins, heavy metals, halogenated organic compounds and the newly discovered threat, nanoparticles. These occur both in toxic air emissions and in ash residuals.
Incinerators contribute to global warming
Incinerators produce more global warming pollution (mainly carbon dioxide) per unit electricity generated than most other kinds of power including coal, gas and hydroelectric.
Incinerators waste energy and natural resources
Incineration irreversibly destroys valuable materials and necessitates the extraction, refinement and assembly of more raw natural resources to produce new products. Alternatives such as recycling, reuse and repair and composting conserve energy by efficiently using materials. This significantly reduces global warming pollution, toxic waste and ecological degradation.
Incinerators trap communities in a cycle of debt
They also displace more affordable and economically productive waste and energy solutions. Alternatives to incineration such as recycling, repair, reuse and composting create ten times more jobs (green jobs) and small business opportunities that benefit local communities.
Disadvantaged communities are disproportionately burdened
These communities are more vulnerable to being targeted as sites for new incinerators. Incinerators reduce property values in near by neighborhoods.
What Can I Do?
Tell your friends, neighbors and colleagues about the issue and the facts
Call, email, post on Facebook, Twitter and help to spread the word.
Write your local officials – mayor, council members/commissioners and others
Tell them why you oppose the waste policy change and an incinerator in Mecklenburg County. Ask for a public hearing.
More Info:
http://charlottesierraclub.org/
New York, 2 February 2011-At the launch of the High Level segment of the UN Forum on Forests today, Mr. Sha Zhukan, UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs will declare 2011 “the International Year of Forests.” Civil society groups advocating forest protection, Indigenous Rights, and climate justice are launching a program called “The Future of Forests,” to ensure that forest protection strategies address the real causes of global forest decline, and are not oriented toward markets or profit-making.
Critics from Global Justice Ecology Project, Global Forest Coalition, Dogwood Alliance, Timberwatch Coalition, BiofuelWatch, and Indigenous Environmental Network charge that the UN’s premier forest scheme: REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation), advanced amidst controversy at the recent UN Climate Summit in Cancún, will not protect forests or stop deforestation. “It is ironic that the UN is declaring 2011 the International Year of Forests considering that forests today are being destroyed and degraded faster than ever before,” said Blessing Karumbidza, researcher at the Timberwatch Coalition in South Africa. “UN promises of social and environmental safeguards under REDD ring hollow considering how rates of forest loss have continued to escalate since the introduction of industry-friendly forest certification schemes. These schemes do nothing to prevent the wasteful consumption of timber products that drives forest loss, and do not address the ecological and social problems inherent to monoculture timber plantations.” “The Southern US has led the way in forest destruction and degradation and the export of these egregious practices globally,” stated Scot Quaranda, Campaign Director of the Dogwood Alliance. “We are bringing increased attention to this disastrous reality to help stop the drive toward wood-based bioenergy, large-scale clearcutting, and the further conversion of forests to plantations in our region and worldwide.” “REDD will not stop deforestation for a few simple reasons,” stated Anne Petermann, Executive Director of Global Justice Ecology Project and North American Focal Point for Global Forest Coalition. “First, it is based on an unscientific definition of forests that includes monoculture tree plantations and even genetically engineered trees. Second, REDD does not address the underlying drivers of deforestation, so logging may be curtailed in protected areas, but then pushed to non-protected forests. Third, REDD enables industries in the North to continue polluting, worsening climate chaos and in turn devastating forests. A further problem is that REDD does nothing to reduce toxic impacts on the communities near these polluters,” she concluded. Forest peoples, especially Indigenous Peoples, insist there be real strategies in place to protect forests. These strategies must be consistent with the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, adhere to the rights of free, prior and informed consent, and ensure that forest peoples remain the caretakers of their lands. “Putting forests in the care of the people that depend on them is the best way to protect them. This includes collectively demarcating and titling Indigenous Peoples’ territories and land, where most of the world’s forest are found,” stated Tom Goldtooth, Executive Director of Indigenous Environmental Network. “Governments and corporations that profit from their plunder will never protect forests.” [1] [2] According to Dr. Rachel Smolker of BiofuelWatch, “The greatest emerging threat to forests is wood-based bioenergy. Scientific models predict that if the demand for wood-based energy continues to rise unabated, all forests and grasslands will be converted to bioenergy plantations by 2060.” [3] Global Forest Coalition released a report called “Getting to the Roots” at the recent UN Climate Conference in Cancún, Mexico to analyze the underlying causes of deforestation. The report concludes, “neoliberal economic policies are the main underlying causes since they are at the root of many of the other drivers of deforestation.” [4]
NOTES
[1] Download the PDF of Global Forest Coalition’s Report, “The Hottest REDD Issues” [2] Download Indigenous Environmental Network’s report, “The NO REDD Reader” [3] View Science Magazine’s article, Implications of Limiting CO2 Concentrations for Land Use and Energy [4] Download Global Forest Coalition’s report: Getting to the Roots: Underlying Causes of Deforestation and Forest Degradation, and Drivers of Forest Restoration
U.S. Federal Government Pauses to Scrutinize Biomass Power
Many industries are complaining of regulatory uncertainty these days, and the troubled biomass power industry has now suffered a blow that could impact a decade or more of planning and development. As the U.S. EPA announced today that it will embark upon a three-year study of the carbon impacts of burning biomass for electricity, the beleaguered industry officially moves onto uncertain ground. Environmental groups are hoping that ground is icy cold (http://epa.gov/nsr/actions.html#jan11). Industry groups had lobbied extensively last year to avoid such regulation and scrutiny.
Burning biomass shares the same status and access to subsidies and tax incentives as wind and solar power in many states. Over 40 states have renewable portfolios mandating that utilities sell customers “green energy,” and none of them count the carbon dioxide emissions from biomass (http://www.dsireusa.org/). While most people think of windmills and solar panels as the primary renewable energy source, biomass burning currently generates roughly half of the power considered ‘renewable’ in the United States. In many cases that includes the burning of whole trees and chemically contaminated waste.
Until recently, the assumption of both industry and government had been that biomass burning is “carbon-neutral” – that is, it adds no net greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. EPA has now ruled that this presumed carbon neutrality deserves a second look, emphasizing that hard science will be the arbiter of the outcome. Recent respected scientific studies indicate that carbon neutrality is not supported by the facts, so the industry is likely to face increased regulation and scrutiny.
A 2010 study commissioned by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts demonstrated that burning biomass over decades puts more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere than burning coal (http://www.manomet.org/node/322 ). Massachusetts thus announced in July 2010 that it would put stricter conditions on biomass under the renewable portfolio standard. Also, a comprehensive study published by the Environmental Working Group, “Clearcut Disaster: Carbon Loophole Threatens U.S. Forests,” demonstrated that biomass power increases atmospheric carbon dioxide, while calling for government accounting. (http://www.ewg.org/clearcut-disaster)
According to Biomass Accountability Project spokesperson Meg Sheehan, “EPA has sound scientific grounds for challenging the conventional and scientifically unsupported view of biomass as carbon-neutral. We trust that the agency is setting a new course that will close the ‘biomass loophole.’ Governments must stop ignoring the carbon dioxide emissions from biomass.” The head of the Biomass Power Association, Bob Cleaves, has said that regulation of biomass through the tailoring rule would effectively stop the industry in its tracks.
The Twelve Days of Dogwood
Our 2010 Highlights Will Put You in the Holiday Spirit
1. KFC’s Been Naughty – Dogwood’s Been Nice
In April, we launched the latest campaign in our push to change the paper industry — this one targeted at KFC, whose wasteful fast food packaging is coming from destroyed wetland forests and other critical ecosystems in the Southern US. Guess who their main supplier is? You guessed it: IP aka “The Grinch”.
2. Georgia Pacific Provides Some Holiday Cheer
GP kicked off our holiday season with the best gift of all: a very public commitment to stop sourcing from any future pine plantations established at the expense of natural hardwood forests and from endangered forests. Plus, GP will become the first company in history to map endangered forests throughout the South.
3. McDonalds Doesn’t Clown Around
The world’s most recognized fast food brand went on record with their commitment to adopt a global forest policy. Joy to the world!
4. Coke Joins the Carbon Canopy and 145,000 Other Reasons to be Thankful
The Carbon Canopy, launched in 2009, grew significantly. The Coca-Cola Company joined Staples and other industry leaders in the Carbon Canopy in 2010, lending its mega-brand value and financial resources to support expanded forest conservation, and restoration in the South. But even better, the is the 145,000 acres of forests Carbon Canopy helped get placed on the Climate Action Reserve’s Carbon Registry by two of the region’s largest landowners.
5. What’s Worse than a Stocking Full of Coal?
How about burning forests for fuel? Dogwood stepped up big time in 2010 to help stop this new trend in “bio-energy” head on by debunking industry myths and sharing the facts. We even entered straight into the belly of the beast by being the keynote debate at Biomass South 2010 industry conference.
6. Mega-Packaging Consumers Commit to Green Packaging
That’s right some of the biggest companies in the Health and Beauty and Entertainment industries that get their packaging from Southern forests adopted new environmental paper packaging policies: GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, Universal Music Group and Sony Home Entertainment.
7. Making the Grade
Our 2010 Green Grades report shows you who’s been naughty and who’s been nice throughout the paper industry. You can also see who’s made strides in the right direction!
8. When Good Trees Go Bad
Dogwood Alliance joined the Sierra Club, the Center for Food Safety and others in filing a lawsuit against the US Department of Agriculture to stop the introduction of genetically engineered Eucalyptus trees in the South.
9. Helping Us All Breathe a Little Easier
Dogwood’s Sustaining Our Defense report explains how sustainable forests are a huge asset in the fight against climate change — and how poorly managed ones do even more harm than we thought.
10. How the Grinch Stole Forests
If there’s a Grinch to be had this holiday season, it’s certainly , who still harvests from endangered forests and supports damaging monoculture pine plantations. They’ve even donned a Grinchy-greenwashed coat with their endorsement of SFI. But not to fear, Dogwood won’t stop until IP has a change of heart!
11. Our Buddy Cole Shows His Spirit
Cole, that extraordinary third grader who mobilized his entire school to send postcards to McDonald’s and KFC, won the first ever Forest Defender of the Year Award from Dogwood Alliance and the Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes. Way to go, Cole!
12. The Best Gift Ever!
That one’s easy — it’s people like you! Dogwood was truly blessed to have the gifts of time, talent, money and support of hundreds of people in 2010. When it comes to saving Southern forests, that’s the most important gift of all. THANK YOU!
Yum! Brands doubles down on vague generalities in 2010 Sustainability Report; Like the empty calories found in the famously gargantuan Double Down sandwich, the report is free of a real commitment to green their paper packaging supply chain
Fast food giant Yum! Brands just released their second ever Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) report. While CEO David Novak promises to make their packaging more environmentally friendly, unfortunately, they are still buying their paper packaging from special Southern forests, and other endangered forests around the world. The report also announces the arrival of their new Chief Sustainability Officer Roger McClendon. Although we have not heard from him yet, we hope we can welcome him to his important new position and speak with him about the steps the company can take to protect Southern Forests.
Yum! Brands is huge. When it comes to their paper packaging decisions they are contributing to large scale clearcutting and conversion of natural forests to sterile pine plantations which has disastrous impacts on the biodiversity of Southern forests and communities.
Yum! Brands new Chief Sustainability Officer Roger McClendon can help usher in a new era of leadership at the company by following other companies examples and by taking bold new steps within the fast food sector.
· While countless other companies like Staples, Office Depot, Random House, Wal-Mart, McDonald’s, Starbucks and others have developed sustainable paper purchasing policies and taken action to help protect forests, to date, Yum! Brands lags seriously behind.
· When it comes to paper packaging choices, Yum! Brands has no clear plans for increasing its use of purchases of post-consumer recycled paper or ensuring that its paper is certified by FSC standards –the only independent global certification system in the world accepted by the conservation community.
· If Yum! Brands wants to seriously be seen as a leader in CSR, it must, as other companies have done, take action to reverse the devastating impacts to forests resulting from its paper packaging. Clearly, alternatives are available.
· Yum! Brands can show leadership in the fast food sector by adopting a sustainable paper purchasing policy committing to:
o Increase and maximizing the use of PCR content.
o End sourcing from endangered forests
o End sourcing from forests converted to plantations…
o Increase packaging efficiency and reduction
o Source paper from sustainably managed forests like those certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)
Read our statement about how KFC is misleading its customers by embracing the greenwashing associated with the Sustainable Forestry Initiative here.
Learn more about our Kentucky Fried Forests campaign here.
For Immediate Release: Contact: Scot Quaranda,December 15, 2010 Dogwood Alliance, 828.251.2525 x18
National and Regional Conservation Organizations Tell KFC to Drop the Misleading Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI)
Request Follows on the Footsteps of US Green Building Council Rejection of SFI
Asheville, NC – Yesterday, a broad based coalition of environmental and conservation organizations representing millions of people in the US submitted a letter to KFC asking the company to end its support for the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) paper certification scheme. The letter is in response to a recent initiative announced by KFC that promotes its paper packaging as green because it is certified by the SFI.
The request follows on the heels of a vote last week in which members of the US Green Building Council rejected the inclusion of the SFI certification system in its LEED standards certification. Additionally, earlier this year, a suit was filed with the Federal Trade Commission accusing the SFI of misleading marketing practices and the label had its non-profit status challenged in a complaint filed with the Internal Revenue Service.
The nine organizations which include Dogwood Alliance, Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), and ForestEthics amongst others, encouraged KFC to stop greenwashing and embrace truly sustainable paper packaging such as recycled paper and paper certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). The FSC is the only forest certification system broadly endorsed by environmental and science-based organizations across North America.
“When we launched our campaign in April, KFC has refused to engage with us on these critical issues. We are encouraged that KFC and its parent company Yum! Brands have finally expressed a desire to source its paper packaging responsibly,” said Scot Quaranda of Dogwood Alliance. “Unfortunately, by endorsing the SFI they are either directly or inadvertently misleading their customers and the public.”
The Sustainable Forestry Initiative was created as a marketing label by the American Forest & Paper Association and is a rubber stamp for business as usual destructive forestry practices. The SFI certifies the worst of the worst forest management practices such as large-scale clearcutting, logging of endangered forests and critical wildlife habitat, conversion of natural forests to sterile tree plantations, and widespread use of toxic chemicals.
Whereas the SFI is a misleading certification scheme, the broader conservation community and countless Fortune 500 companies support the Forest Stewardship Council, which is far more rigorous and can play an important role in protecting endangered forests and improving forest practices across North America.
“KFC has an opportunity to help protect forests in its own backyard, the Southern US, by rejecting the SFI and embracing FSC,” continued Quaranda. “We urge KFC to get educated about the SFI and stop hiding behind a phony green label.”
# # #
The letter and a full list of signatories can be viewed here: http://pressroomda.greenmediatoolshed.org/node/25048
To see a side by side comparison of the SFI and FSC, go here:
http://pressroomda.greenmediatoolshed.org/node/25049
To learn more about Dogwood Alliance’s Kentucky Fried Forests campaign, visit here: http://www.kentuckyfriedforests.com/
On December 14th, a broad based coalition of environmental and conservation organizations representing millions of people in the US submitted a letter to KFC asking the company to end its support for the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) paper certification scheme. The letter is in response to a recent initiative announced by KFC that promotes its paper packaging as green because it is certified by the SFI.
The request follows on the heels of a vote last week in which members of the US Green Building Council rejected the inclusion of the SFI certification system in its LEED standards certification. Additionally, earlier this year, a suit was filed with the Federal Trade Commission accusing the SFI of misleading marketing practices and the label had its non-profit status challenged in a complaint filed with the Internal Revenue Service.
The nine organizations which include Dogwood Alliance, Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), and ForestEthics amongst others, encouraged KFC to stop greenwashing and embrace truly sustainable paper packaging such as recycled paper and paper certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). The FSC is the only forest certification system broadly endorsed by environmental and science-based organizations across North America.
“When we launched our campaign in April, KFC has refused to engage with us on these critical issues. We are encouraged that KFC and its parent company Yum! Brands have finally expressed a desire to source its paper packaging responsibly,” said Scot Quaranda of Dogwood Alliance. “Unfortunately, by endorsing the SFI they are either directly or inadvertently misleading their customers and the public.”
The Sustainable Forestry Initiative was created as a marketing label by the American Forest & Paper Association and is a rubber stamp for business as usual destructive forestry practices. The SFI certifies the worst of the worst forest management practices such as large-scale clearcutting, logging of endangered forests and critical wildlife habitat, conversion of natural forests to sterile tree plantations, and widespread use of toxic chemicals.
Whereas the SFI is a misleading certification scheme, the broader conservation community and countless Fortune 500 companies support the Forest Stewardship Council, which is far more rigorous and can play an important role in protecting endangered forests and improving forest practices across North America.
“KFC has an opportunity to help protect forests in its own backyard, the Southern US, by rejecting the SFI and embracing FSC,” continued Quaranda. “We urge KFC to get educated about the SFI and stop hiding behind a phony green label.”
# # #
The letter and a full list of signatories can be viewed here – Sign-on Letter to YUM to drop SFIClick here to see a side by side comparison of the SFI and FSC.
To learn more about Dogwood Alliance’s Kentucky Fried Forests campaign, visit here: http://www.kentuckyfriedforests.com/
Dogwood Alliance has been working with giants in the music industry like Universal Music Group and Sony Home Entertainment to green their packaging for the last few years. Last week, our friends at The Musician’s Guide contacted us and asked us to share their latest infographic on the good and bad in the music industry. Hope you enjoy!
Ever wondered just how green the music industry is? When you factor in the millions of fans travelling great distances to see their favourite artists, the recording studios with 100’s of electronic units left on 24/7 all year round, and the resources that are used to make music equipment, it’s not surprising to think that it’s not the most friendly industry out there.
Last month The Musician’s Guide – a UK musician resource website put together a campaign around the theme of ‘How Green is the Music Industry’ to shed light on the good, the bad, and the ugly. That is, from the Ditty Bops and Jack Johnsons who are cycling thousands of miles to perform tours and insulating recording studios with recycled clothing, to the U2’s – whose 2010 tour had the same carbon footprint as a return trip to mars, or a lightbulb being left on for 159,000 years.
Click here to view the
How Green is the Music Industry Infographic
.
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