From our colleagues at Friends of the Earth:
Don’t let the green-sounding name fool you. While burning “biomass” (i.e. trees or other plants) for electricity has been touted as a better source of biofuel, it can be just as harmful to us and the environment as pollution from other sources. Recent studies indicate that some biomass can cause even more global warming pollution than coal.
Right now the EPA is making a decision that could have a huge impact on our climate: label biomass as carbon neutral — and ignore its global warming impact — or acknowledge that biomass has a carbon footprint and set standards to limit and reduce it.
The EPA has requested input from the public — and needs to hear from you today. The forestry industry stands to profit immensely if emissions from the burning of biomass are ignored. Forestry lobbying groups are insisting that EPA ignore these emissions and consider biomass carbon neutral, despite plenty of evidence to the contrary.
*Please tell the EPA that emissions from biomass should not be ignored.* [ http://action.foe.org/epa-biomass ]
There may be some forms of biomass that could be beneficial to the environment over time, but without measuring their current carbon emissions, we’ll never know if more sustainable alternatives are possible. For instance, it could take decades for the regrowth of trees to balance out the carbon emissions produced by burning them — precious decades that we can’t afford to lose in fighting the effects of global warming.
*If the EPA only hears from the forestry industry, biomass could be ruled carbon neutral — with disasterous results. Can you take action right now?* [ http://action.foe.org/epa-biomass ]
If we allow the EPA to ignore the emissions from biomass, then we open the floodgates to industrial incentives for biomass production. This could result in substantial environmental degradation as the demand for biomass increases — along with global greenhouse gas emissions.
*Don’t stay silent. We need your help. The EPA needs to know why biomass emissions matter!* [ http://action.foe.org/epa-biomass ]
*Sincerely,
Kate McMahon
Biofuels Campaign Coordinator, Friends of the Earth*
Today, Dogwood Alliance and ForestEthics, released the 2010 Green Grades Office Supply Report Card, an important vehicle for educating consumers and large purchasers of office supply products about the big paper sellers’ environmental practices. In our 4th year our work continues to payoff and we are pleased to report strong progress from the traditional office supply retailers. FedEx Office, Staples and Office Depot are all making major moves away from the inadequate industry driven SFI forest certification scheme to paper sourced from responsibly managed forests certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). Even better, we are also seeing these retailers put their money where their paper comes from by investing in projects that are working to improve forest management practices on the ground here in the South. This leadership by Staples and Office Depot was hard to imagine just 4 or 5 years ago but is quickly becoming the standard by which other large paper costumers will be judged.
Click here to see how they stack up.
We have also seen progress from the paper distributors including Unisource, PaperLinx and United Stationers who are all shifting their business away from irresponsible operators here in the South. Even some of the big box retailers are making progress. In a nutshell, our work has leveraged millions of dollars of corporate spending towards a more green future in our forests.
Your support has been critical in making sure paper companies are held accountable for their forest management practices. Thanks for helping us keep pushing in the greening of the office supply sector.
As always, your feedback is welcome on our programs. Have a great late summer!
For the forests,
Andrew Goldberg
Director of Corporate Engagement
Fourth Annual Green Grades Report Card finds FedEx, Office Depot & Staples Leading, Amazon & Costco Lagging on Key Eco-Issues
Eco-label “Greenwashing” Still Rampant Throughout Office Supply Sector
Major office supply companies and retailers received their report cards today, and while the sector saw overall progress on critical sustainability issues such as Endangered Forest protection, several prominent brands continue bad habits that harm the world’s forests, air, and water.
Now in its 4th year, the Green Grades report card informs American consumers and large purchasers of paper products on what companies are doing—or not doing—to safeguard the environment and the world’s forests.
Download the 2010 report card here.
While FedEx Office, Staples and Office Depot continue to lead the pack and build upon already high standards, companies such as Amazon.com, Costco and xpedx continue to fall short on critical questions about the sustainability of their products and processes. In the middle are companies such as Target and PaperlinX, each of which are adopting new green paper purchasing policies which, though they leave some key questions unanswered, represent important progress toward really making the grade.
“Office retailers FedEx Office, Staples and Office Depot continue to lead the pack, not only cleaning up their act but also undertaking projects to protect Endangered Forests and improve logging practices on the ground in the regions from which they buy their paper,” said Andrew Goldberg of Dogwood Alliance. “Unfortunately a number of distributors and big box companies are still stuck on the basics—buying paper from bad actors and sensitive areas around the globe. Their grades reflect these shortcomings.”
The 2010 Green Grades features a new category, SFI Greenwash, to address rampant use of the Sustainable Forestry Initiative’s phony eco-label on office supply products. SFI labels and certification provide “green” cover for harmful practices such as large-scale clearcutting, Endangered Forest logging, and conversion of forests to sterile tree plantations. “It’s a shame that some US wood and paper producers are spending millions to mislead consumers with SFI marketing,” said Daniel Hall of ForestEthics. “That money would be much better spent on protecting remaining natural areas and endangered species’ habitats, and restoring watersheds hard hit by years of excessive industrial logging.”
A big factor in how these companies impact the environment is whom they choose to do business with. Unfortunately, most of the companies continue to buy from infamous paper companies such as Memphis-based (IP). IP is aggressively pushing for the introduction of dangerous genetically engineered trees into US forests. Meanwhile, PaperlinX’s North American operations are joining a number of other office companies that are avoiding Asia Pulp and Paper, a notorious Indonesian company responsible for massive destruction of some of the globe’s last remaining old growth rainforests.
This edition marks the fourth straight year that environmental groups Dogwood Alliance and ForestEthics have collaborated on Green Grades, and the report card has helped catalyze considerable progress by the sector over the years. For example, this year’s grades reflect a growing commitment to protecting Endangered Forests around the globe and increased scrutiny of the impact of company paper habits on global climate. There is also an increased commitment from a number of companies to better practices via use of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification system.
Dogwood Alliance is the only organization in the Southern United States holding corporations accountable for the impact of their industrial forestry practices on our forests and communities. In addition to holding the office supply industry accountable to their environmental commitments, Dogwood Alliance is working to stop the destructive practices of the paper packaging sector. Visit dogwoodalliance.org for more information.
ForestEthics, a nonprofit with staff in Canada and the United States, recognizes that individual people can be mobilized to create positive environmental change—and so can corporations. Armed with this unique philosophy, ForestEthics has secured the protection of more than 65 million acres of Endangered Forests. Visit www.ForestEthics.org for more information. # # #
Come one, come all to the main event on September 18th at 7pm, when the Blue Ridge Rollergirls take on the Atlanta Roller Bs at the Asheville Civic Center. It is going to be a show down! Ten per cent of the profits from ticket sales are going to benefit Dogwood Alliance and so we need you to grab your friends and pack the arena!
Cheer on our local roller heroes as they smash, whip, and ride to glory against the rollergirls from Atlanta! Roller derby is fast-paced, aggressive and a real sport. Our team features some real rock stars like Sugar Magmaulya, Drag’n SlayHer, and our heroine Rigor Morticia who helped lead the charge to have Dogwood Alliance on board as this bouts featured local non-profit. You can check out all of your favorite players here.
Tickets are $10 in advance at the Civic Center Box Office and $12 on the day of the event.
Halftime entertainment to be provided by regional favorite, Mad Tea Party.
Founded in June of 2006, the Blue Ridge Rollergirls make up Asheville, NC’s first all-female, flat track roller derby league. The league’s mission is to actively create, promote, and sustain an environment that fosters strength, courage, vitality, and the empowerment of women in the roller derby sport. Each member of the league shall be challenged and supported in her pursuit of personal growth in and through the sport. The league itself shall remain deeply rooted in the spirit of good sportswomanship so as to bring honor and distinction to the league, women in the sport, and roller derby as a whole.
KFC’s packaging is directly contributing to the destruction of our Southern forests. While other leading fast food companies are working hard to adopt sustainable packaging policies, KFC continues to make its famous buckets from trees that were harvested from pristine forests across the South.
Southern forests are some of the most biologically rich and diverse in the world, but have been exploited for generations by the pulp and paper industry and much of the beauty and true value of our forests has been lost to unsustainable forestry practices including large-scale clear-cutting and the conversion of native forests to sterile pine plantations.
Today’s announcement by of the sale of 5.1 million acres of its remaining lands, mostly in the South, leaves us questioning the future of this land. The deal brokered with Resource Management Services, LLC and TimberStar, two Timber Investment Management Operations, will allow for and facilitate the continued use of the misguided and mislabeled Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) certification scheme that permits logging of endangered forests, large-scale clearcutting and the continued conversion of native forests to sterile pine plantations. These practices have had devastating ecological and economic impacts across the South.
Southern Forests need a break from business-as-usual forestry and it is time to embrace full protection of endangered forests and a working forest landscape that protects and promotes ecological values and community well-being.
To read Dogwood Alliance’s statement on the April 4th land sale, click here.
There are a few people each of us can point to that played a formative role in our lives. Jimmy Chandler, the founder and director of the South Carolina Environmental Law Project, is one of those people for me. He died August 8th after a year-long battle with cancer. And while his death is a huge loss to the environmental movement in the South, what we have gained through his life is even greater.
I first met Jimmy Chandler when I was an undergraduate student at the University of South Carolina through my mother who, at the time, was an environmental news reporter. As an aspiring lawyer, I got a part-time job working in Jimmy’s law office, where I worked my senior year. He wrote a recommendation to support my application to Emory University School of Law where I graduated in 1991. During my time in Jimmy’s office, I watched him run a legal practice doing real estate closings to bring in money while working hard, long hours for little to no money to keep big corporations from destroying South Carolina’s natural environment. His dedication, passion and drive have been a source of personal inspiration to me ever since.
I grew up in the low country of South Carolina, a magical place where salt water marshes filled with dolphins and egrets meet majestic live oak trees covered in Spanish moss. As a place that still very much defines my love for Southern forests, I am forever grateful for Jimmy’s work over the past 25 years. Thanks to Jimmy, countless developers have been kept out of sensitive salt water ecosystems and big corporations have been blocked from siting huge landfills and toxic waste dumps in South Carolina’s rural communities.
Jimmy left behind a true legacy of environmental heroism. His life’s work was not about accumulating wealth for himself, but rather about protecting life for all. He worked not only for the environment, but also for local communities.
Jimmy, I will forever remember your fierce passion, endless courage and gentle heart as I continue in my work to protect the unique forests and communities of the South from destructive industrial forestry. So long my friend and mentor and thank you so much! It was truly an honor to have known you! Danna
To find out more about Jimmy’s life see the news article published in The State newspaper at: http://www.scelp.org/files/downloads/JCStoryStatePaper.pdf
A choice sampling of some of the great feedback we have been receiving on our KFC campaign… keep it coming!
Calling KFC’s moral commitment into question “I do have compassion for your organization’s noble quest; but, sigh, I do think that if a company devalues our ecosystem in one aspect, I have little hope of their valuing all other aspects of said system. Usually if ignoble practices have come into play within the framework of a company’s business dealings, it’s pretty much across the board in all their eco-systemic interactions. Our ecosystem is fragile and needs protecting, as you all too well know…” Lisa B
Reduction is a key component “First off, thank you to yourself and your staff for your continued work. I truly believe what you are doing is hugely important, and have been thrilled to read about some of the past successes resulting from your campaigns. I look forward to hearing more about the KFC campaign, particularly the part about ‘Reducing overall packaging’. This issue alone cuts right to the heart of conservation and is one piece of the puzzle that consumers directly see. I’m getting ready to send another letter to Dunkin Donuts on this very issue. Again, Thank you very much for the continued work you are doing.” Jim T.
Talk to the funding banks “I may not have an exact solution, but it did help. A year ago, a paper company was cutting timber on Indian land. We found out what bank or banks were financing the operation, petitioned the bank and voila. The tree cutting operation was stopped. If KFC won’t listen, we can try a different tactic.” Dale M.
Appreciative of well thought out demands “This is well thought out and I would love to see it happen. I would certainly favor restaurants which would adhere to these principles. ” Patricia R.
Diverse Allies “You guys should probably team up (possibly in a low-key way to avoid antagonizing non-vegetarian environmentalists) with the animal rights folks. KFC has a terrible record on animal welfare issues, if I am not mistaken, worse than that of MacDonalds. So it hardly surprises me that they are wasteful users of unsustainably harvested paper products. The common theme is that they have no vision of the future, and very narrow, limited ethical insight. I support a rigorous position on both issues – I am against frivolous and unsustainable deforestation (as well as monoculture plantation forestry), against cruel factory farming, in favour of massive reductions in per capita intakes of animal protein (how about a carbon/methane tax on meat, fish and poultry ?) etc., so I am not conflicted at all.” Michael B.
Enlist Oprah “When KFC came out with their grilled chicken line, Ophra mentioned an online coupon that KFC had for the new project. KFC was overwhelmed with business. Why not contact Ophra to get her to join Dogwood Alliance’s campaign.” Olin I.
Examine Your Diet “So if you want to save forests and reduce carbon footprint, a plant based diet is the major part of the solution. Chickens are actually descended from a wild pheasant and the cruelty and abuse of these creatures to be used by KFC for profit is untenable.” Patricia R.
Money Talks “KFC has been a thorn in my side for a very long time The only thing they care about is how much money they can make off cheap chickens not only do they let their suppliers abuse these animals SEE KFC CRUELTY .COM. If they don’t care about them and polluting the environment with factory farming how can they care about the forests” Victoria R.
Announcing a new eight part series highlighting what we are demanding KFC do to protect our forests…
“KFC is as committed to the environment as we are to our food and to our customers. We are proud of the steps we have taken so far to reduce our environmental footprint and are committed as a brand to do even more in the future.” – kfc.com/packaging
The above statement is from KFC’s own website. KFC talks a lot about environmental responsibility, as well as heritage and community, and we agree with these values. Yet its actions are not consistent with its rhetoric.
KFC’s packaging contributes directly to the destruction of Southern forests, specifically to the destruction of endangered forests and special places in the mid-Atlantic coastal forest region. This has a severely negative impact on the people and the wildlife of the region, yet it does not have to be this way.
Our demands of the company are not a major burden. We are simply asking them to change the way they think about their packaging to transform their practices and move from the position of industry laggard to industry leader. In that spirit, over the coming months we will explore the eight demands we have presented to KFC in a series on our blog. We will highlight each one, discuss the impact on our forests and communities if KFC takes no action, look at companies that are making a difference, and further expose the climate impact this lack of leadership has on our planet.
Our goal is for KFC to become a leader and in that spirit the demands include:
We hope you find this series to be both interesting and informative and would love for you to participate in the discussion via the comments section. If you have any thoughts or feedback or suggestions about fast food companies making a difference or how KFC is directly impacting you, please contact us here.
PS Check out our two minute video on the KFC demands and upcoming series below.
Our friends at various groups around the country fighting wood-burning biomass facilities took to the halls of Congress today to lobby for the end of unjust subsidies for biomass…
Anti-Biomass Incineration & Forest Protection Campaign Lobbies Washington, D.C. Legislators
The national grassroots Anti-Biomass Incineration and Forest Protection Campaign is in Washington, D.C. on July 14 and 15 meeting at the offices of key members of Congress, including staff of Senators Kerry, Waxman and members of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. The Campaign seeks to eliminate subsidies for incinerators that burn trees and other biomass for electricity. The Campaign demands that Congress follow the example of Massachusetts and require proper accounting of CO2 emissions, redirect subsidies and supports to renewable energy technologies that do not involve burning, and end logging of public and private forests for the purpose of burning the trees in incinerators.
“Our group represents citizens from all walks of life who are angry that our tax dollars are being used to fund incinerators disguised as ‘clean energy’ under the ARRA stimulus bill and tax bills,” said attorney Meg Sheehan from Ecolaw. “These incinerators emit toxic air pollution that causes cancer, asthma and heart disease.”
The American Lung Association, Massachusetts Medical Society, and regional medical associations representing over 77,000 doctors across the United States oppose federal incentives for biomass incinerators.
“Over the past year, we have seen a groundswell of opposition against biomass as people learned the facts about how these incinerators pollute our air, make people sick, dry up rivers and incinerate our forests for so-called ‘clean energy and jobs.’ People are angry and we’re here to let Congress know that it is in the best interest of the public health and our economy to end funding for these incinerators” said Sheehan.
Samantha Chirillo, volunteer Co-Director of Cascadia’s Ecosystem Advocates, based in Oregon, explained that Senator Ron Wyden’s bill, the Oregon Eastside Forests Restoration, Old Growth Protection, and Jobs Act of 2009 (S. 2895), exemplifies many bills currently in Congress and recently passed federal laws, like the Farm Bill in 2009. “These bills subsidize vastly increased logging on millions of acres of our public forests, including old growth forests, to use the wood and other biomass in tax-subsidized incinerators. Wyden’s bill and others like it in Congress must be defeated, otherwise we will lose our forests and undermine rural economic security for future generations.”
Carl Ross of Save America’s Forests in Washington, DC, pointed out that forests have grown and nurtured themselves for over 60 million years without chainsaws and bulldozers. But now the timber industry, after clearcutting most of America’s forests, claims that the remaining forests need to be restored with even more logging. “It is amazing that this absurd claim that cutting down our nation’s remaining forests, including old growth forests, and burning them in incinerators, benefits forests. Fortunately, thanks to the groups in Massachusetts and other states, this corporate nonsense is finally being exposed. Now Congress needs to learn these facts and change their policies in accord with science and public opinion.”
Cheryl Johncox of the Buckeye Forest Council said, “Ohio is ground zero for biomass incineration and forest destruction. The 2100 megawatts of proposed biomass-burning schemes before Ohio’s Public Utilities Commission will use whole trees that otherwise would not be cut. This is a double whammy: significantly reducing our major source of carbon sequestration while spewing all that carbon directly into the atmosphere. These proposals will require sixty times the amount of “forest residue” in Ohio. They will devastate Ohio public and private forests, as well as likely consume forests of other states and even Canada.”
Rachel Smolker of Biofuelwatch stated, “The idea that burning things is a solution to climate change is misguided. I was shocked to see, for example, that the Senate climate bill offered numerous supports to biochar, which is fine-grained charcoal made from burning wood or other biomass. Proponents claim that adding biochar to soils can sequester carbon and improve soil fertility, but these claims are unsupported by science, untested and exaggerated. Yet Congress has bought it hook line and sinker and would, unbelievably, provide supports for up to 60 facilities around the country that would gobble up biomass under the guise of ‘fast mitigation.'”
Mike Ewall of Energy-Justice Network stated, “Promoting biomass incineration as renewable energy brings polluting smokestacks to communities instead of the clean jobs and energy conservation, wind and solar projects they assume such policies will support.”
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