Paper companies, led by , have found a loop hole in the 2005 Transportation bill that they plan to exploit for billions of dollars in free money at the taxpayers expense…
Take action to stop this ridiculous waste of taxpayer money:
http://dia.dogwoodalliance.org/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=27091
Here is some background on this critical issue:
Background on Billion Dollar Black Liquor Loophole
compiled by Environmental Paper Network – 828/251-8558
A newly discovered tax loophole in a 2005 federal transportation bill is costing taxpayers billions of dollars, increasing consumption of fossil fuel and threatening to strike a catastrophic blow to the recycled paper collection and manufacturing industries.
1. Big paper companies could each get hundreds of millions of dollars in cash payments from the Treasury this year by taking advantage of an alternative fuels tax credit that their consultants found in the 2005 highway bill and devised a way to exploit. in March 2009 received a first payment of $71.6 MILLION for ONE MONTH of burning the fuel last year, and one report estimates they could stand to receive payment of up to 3.7 BILLION. The alternative fuels clause, which appears on page 804 of the massive 2005 highway bill, was intended primarily to increase the use of ethanol and other biofuels in cars and trucks.
2. Paper companies, in a scheme devised by consultants, are now being richly rewarded for the long-standing practice of using a byproduct of the wood pulping process known as “black liquor” as a fuel to run their mills. The paper companies, which had not applied for these benefits before the end of last year, have not needed to alter or improve their existing business practices to qualify for the tax breaks. Burning the fuel known as “black liquor” dates to the 1930s, and paper companies have consumed nearly all of the byproduct since the 1990s. In order to carry out the scheme, paper companies have been now simply ADDING a small amount of diesel fuel to each gallon of black liquor in order to be a qualifying mixed fuel type and then applying with the IRS to be registered as an “alternative fuel mixer” and to claim the credit.
3. A recent Goldman Sachs report on the loophole and its exploitation states that paper companies use of this tax credit is “the opposite of the what the lawmakers intended when creating it.” That’s because it actually results in an INCREASE in the use of fossil fuel, thanks of the schemes method of adding diesel fuel to the black liquor. Reports from JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs anticipate Congressional outrage when the loophole and the massive payments are discovered, yet, to date clear Congressional action has not occurred. Various reports estimate that the loophole could result in $8-10 BILLION in payments to the 10 largest paper companies. An average size U.S. pulp mill can burn more than 175 million gallons of black liquor a year in its recovery boilers, which implies an annual tax credit of $90 million, according to the J.P. Morgan report. (In comparison, a report the cost of a recent vote to extend the tax credit into this year estimated it would cost $61 million. This was before the paper companies figured out how to exploit it.)
4. In addition to the insult and injury to taxpayers, the massive payments are also eliminating the functioning of the free market in the paper industry and creating a disproportionate advantage for certain types of producers, eliciting frustration and anger from some segments of the industry and across Canada. This is not only dangerous for the marketplace, but the losers include more environmentally responsible producers using more efficient grades of paper or recycled paper content. Such mills, which will be critical to developing a green jobs economy, are being put at severe disadvantage. In fact, these billions of dollars of payments are encouraging the overproduction of paper, suppressed prices, and additional emissions of greenhouse gases at the most polluting and least efficient mills in America, JUST TO BURN THE FUEL AND CLAIM THE CREDIT AND COLLECT THE FREE MONEY.
5. This is a scandal of outrageous proportions costing strapped taxpayers millions, and likely billions of dollars. After suffering through financial bailouts with no clear benefit, and bonus scandals, and the rest, to add an additional grab of billions of taxpayer dollars for no benefit to citizens deserves a strong and decisive response to close this loophole and end its perverse incentives. We are asking Congressional leaders to come to the aid of taxpayers and close this loophole.
Key Articles: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/27/AR2009032703116.htmlhttp://www.thenation.com/doc/20090420/hayes
Update from Dogwood Alliance…
Spring has come to the mountains, bringing with it the promise of growth, the renewal of life, and the reminder that time changes all things. In this spirit, the Dogwood Alliance is embracing the experience of our own change of seasons. We are pleased and excited to announce that Danna Smith, co-founder of the Dogwood Alliance and former executive Director, has accepted the position of interim Executive Director. Danna brings to the table over thirteen years of experience at Dogwood, where she has played a role in every major campaign at the organization. A strategic visionary with an impressive record of getting the job done, Danna is uniquely suited to lead the organization in taking advantage of new opportunities and effectively addressing existing threats to Southern forests.
The board and staff of the organization would like to acknowledge the departure and successful tenure of Sid Cullipher. Thanks to Sid’s hard work and diligence, we are well positioned on our campaigns and are ready to embrace a bigger and bolder future here at Dogwood Alliance. We have the fast food companies scrambling, some of the largest paper companies in the world are at the table, and we are ready to take the debate on climate and forests to a whole new level.
With new leadership comes a renewed sense of enthusiasm and purpose to address the opportunities and challenges that are before us. Our experienced and talented staff are all incredibly excited about where Dogwood Alliance is headed over the coming year and thank each and every one of you for your continued support. Almost all the major paper companies are committed to the process to find smart solutions that will create jobs and protect our forests. We are also set to launch a major campaign that will highlight the importance of protecting and expanding native forests as a way to sequester carbon and address climate change, as well as to expose the dangers that cellulosic biofuels pose to forests. It will be a large undertaking, and we will need the help of our friends and allies to succeed, but we are confident that we can continue to be the voice for southern forests heading into the future.
Just as the excitement of Spring fills us with hope for the year ahead, we here at the Dogwood Alliance excited about the future and the opportunities we have before us.
For our forests and communities,
Neville Handel
Chair, Board of Directors
Check out Dogwood Alliance’s newest video
that illustrates the links between Southern forest destruction and the fast food industry. Visit www.NoFreeRefills.com to find out how you can help!
Changes in the world and changes at Dogwood Alliance…
The world is changing at an incredibly fast pace right now: change in Washington, a rapidly changing economy, and even change here at Dogwood Alliance. This week our amazingly talented Organizing Director, Eva Hernandez, started a new position with MoveOn tackling the issues of green jobs and the new economy. Eva was an amazing addition to our staff over the past four years, organizing the grassroots, providing critical thinking and insight on our campaigns, and as a solid talent in organizing one of the most underserved regions of the country, the Southern US, and she will be sorely missed!
Thanks to Eva though, we are well positioned on our campaigns and ready to embrace a bigger and bolder future here at Dogwood Alliance. We have the fast food companies scrambling, some of the largest paper companies in the world are at the table, and we are ready to take the debate on climate and forests to a whole new level.
We are excited about our work and hope you are too! Feel free to drop me a line any time at [email protected] to discuss, as I always love to hear your feedback! Though change can be unsettling, we hope you will join us in taking a deep breath and stepping back to take a big picture look so we can all envision together a bright future for our forests, economy and the planet. Let’s all dream a little dream together and start the hard work of making it happen. We couldn’t do it without you!
For the forests,
Scot Quaranda
Campaign Director
PS Keep an eye out over the coming months for both exciting announcements and a job opportunity with our organization.
Ruth and I venture to Wilmington…
Last week Ruth and I met in Wilmington for meetings with people and organizations concerned with what is happening to our forests in the Mid-Atlantic. This ecosystem is among the most unique in the world, and is being clearcut for paper and paper packaging.
We met with the Cape Fear Arch Conservation Collaboration , which is a partnership interested in protecting this region while balancing the needs of man and nature. We also met with the Tree Commission of Wilmington, Friends of the Green Swamp and other community members concerned with protecting our natural environmnent.
Overall, a very successful trip. We look forward to future collaborations with these organizations and to building partnerships to protect our forests from unsustainable, industrial logging practices.
We got a tip from a local land trust that there were some fresh clearcuts nearby, so Ruth and I went to check them out and document them. The clearcuts were massive, and a few minutes away is the Holly Shelter Game Lands which “exhibits excellent examples of low pocosin, wiregrass uplands, and bald cypress swamps.”
Below is the video from the clearcuts…
A few highlights…
A couple of weeks ago we sent out a survey asking for your
feedback. Thanks for the great
response! I wanted to post a few of the
comments that were particular highlights. Thanks for the motivation and inspiration to
protect our forests!
“I think you’re doing a great job, great web presence, great e-mail alerts and activity invites. The packaging man game is great-gets people to spend a little time on site. The graphic of the cup on side with spill in shape of tree is great!”
“Don’t stop. I know times are tight, but we have to maintain a clear vision of the world we want to live in if we are going to create that world!!!”
“This campaign is highly important, as Southern forests are used, and other logging corporations competing for trees also go to boreal forest (such as Kimberly-Clark, another maker of useless convenience items). Thus what happens in Southern forests cause changes in the pressure on forests everywhere. This is why I regard your work as vital, aside from the unique aspects of each forest ecosystem.”
“I have 3 children, and while we generally try to avoid fast food, we do sometimes stop at fast food places when we drive from OH to NC to visit family. I have noticed that the “kids’ meals” are especially overpackaged. For example, at Burger King, the apple fries (the healthier alternative side) are first wrapped in cellophane (understandable), but then the plastic bag is stuck in a cardboard fry container! Which gets tossed immediately! And at Long John Silvers, the kids’ meal comes in a cardboard box that is supposed to look like a laptop computer. The cardboard box is even more wasteful than the typical unnecessary individual bag that most kids’ meals come in. I think it would be great to try to get a kids’ campaign going, to have children write to these companies explaining that they don’t need or want all the extra packaging on the meals marketed to children.”
Some other feedback that I wanted to take a second to respond to:
“Your message is unclear. A free refill does not involve an additional cup and saves the fast food companies money.”
Dogwood: No Free Refills For the Forests
“But, then, how should it be packaged?”
Dogwood:
Great question!
If you’re anything like me, cleaning out your car can be kind of fun. Amidst the layers of detritus that only get sifted through once or twice a year, there’s any number of long lost treasures to be found: CDs, jewelry trinkets, coins of domestic and foreign value, etc. But inevitably, the trash pile always trumps the treasure pile. And if you’re still like me, most of it consists of old food wrappings.
This isn’t too surprising, considering that food packaging and containers make up over 30 percent of all waste in U.S. landfills. In the land of instant gratification and a zillion drive-thrus, we’re not encouraged to take the time to consider how much debris we accumulate with every food product we buy.
Nevertheless, the numbers make sense if you tack on a combo meal (at minimum) for every individual of the “1 billion served” listed on a given McDonald’s billboard. The end result? A sumo-wrestler’s weight in food packaging per American consumer a year.
Needless to say, the environmental and ecological consequences this creates are detrimental, to say the least, and Southern forests take a nasty hit. With clear cutting already a problem, the fast food packaging industry merely exacerbates this, and toxic chemicals associated with the clear cutting wipes out the diverse biosphere within the forests. A quarter of the paper products used in packaging comes straight from the devastation. Most people don’t consider the toll forest decimation takes on other environmental aspects, like the air we breathe, the water we drink, what we eat, etc. It directly affects whole communities.
That being said, getting on board with movements to stop the corporate perpetrators like and Georgia Pacific is as beneficial to our communities as it is to a single person. Who wants to be exposed to extra carcinogens? Collective and individual protest like signing letters or blasting the corporations responsible certainly help, but there is more you can do up front. Simple day-to-day actions like “precycling”—eschewing paper bags in lieu of tote bags, re-using coffee cups or using a thermos, preparing meals at home—can make a significant difference over time. And if you have to get your fix, keep abreast of which companies are modifying their business practices, such as using post-consumer recycled paper (McDonalds is reducing the amount of packaging they use, and increasing the amount of Post-consumer recycled content). Of course, taking it a step further and checking out ways to let the “Big 11” fast food companies—including McDonald’s, Wendy’s, and Taco Bell chief among them– your dissatisfaction doesn’t take too long either, and has the potential to put enough pressure on them to save a valuable ecosystem.
The fight will inevitably take time and a great deal of persistence, but every small effort on the part of a lot of people can expedite the process. Our relationship with Southern forests is a mutually beneficial one, and the concern at hand is as much for us as it is for the trees. We can’t escape food packaging as a whole, but selectivity can and should be exercised when possible.
Laura Eshelman Communications Coordinator Dogwood Alliance [email protected]
It’s not too early to mark your calendar because the third annual Green Fest event for Dogwood Alliance in downtown Decatur promises to be the best one yet. A day of stellar music highlights the day along
with great local food, Terrapin Beer, Equal Exchange fairly traded products, artists, children’s fun, and general merry making to benefit Dogwood Alliance and the Decatur Preservation Alliance.
Our fantastic partners for the event include the City of Decatur, Southeast Green, Eddie’s Attic, The Brickstore Pub, Paste Magazine, Tree Sound Studio, and Terrapin Beer Company.
You’ll notice we’ve scheduled the event for May 2 (instead of mid-April as in previous years). That’s because this year’s event kicks off downtown Decatur’s annual Concert on the Square series. The time has changed too. We’ll start and 3 pm and party till 9:30 pm.
We haven’t finalized the line up but I can promise you will be getting down! We’ll let you know when the line up is finalized but for now just plan to join us on May 2 in downtown Decatur from 3 till 9:30 pm.
Why should you care about wetlands?
February 2 is World
Wetlands Day
There are people all over the world working for wetlands. On World Wetlands Day, celebrated on February 2 each year, these people collectively stand up and proclaim the benefits of wetlands.
Why should you care about wetlands?
There is a connection between a healthy wetland eco-system and human health. In the developing world, 1 in 5 people do not have access to clean drinking water. Poor management strategies that support the health of wetland eco-systems can affect the health of humans, with wetland-related diseases claiming the lives of 3 million people each year and bring suffering to many more. It is estimated that 1.4 billion people live in water basins where water uses exceed sustainable levels.
From the cypress swamps, pine bogs, pocosins and longleaf pine savannas to the alligators and the unique Venus fly trap, the Middle Atlantic Coastal Forests are home to a rich and diverse swath of the natural world. Indeed this diversity of life is of national and global significance.
Make your own connection by learning the facts about the benefits of wetlands. In the United States, the Cypress Swamps (swamps are one of many wetland types) in Florida can remove 98% of the nitrogen and 97% of the phosphorus pollution preventing contamination in the groundwater
“The wetlands provide a low-cost way to treat the community’s wastewater, while simultaneously functioning as a quality wildlife sanctuary, with public access, as is done at the successful and popular Arcata Marsh & Wildlife Sanctuary.” (City of Petaluma, California)
WOODY AND HERBACEOUS WETLANDS
Perhaps the most important special community across the region is the forested wetlands which are extremely important ecological communities. Home to such a rich diversity of species, according to the most recent satellite based mapping eff orts, approximately 30 percent of the ecoregion is in either woody or herbaceous wetlands.
However, the National Wetlands Inventory, which is based on more detailed aerial photography and ground mapping, puts the ecoregion percentage closer to 42 percent. Many of the larger, more intact wetlands are in public ownership, and wetland cover diff ers among the three mill sourcing zones. Th e Franklin sourcing region contains the most wetlands (5,671,194 ac) according to the National Wetlands Inventory. Riegelwood was second with 4,440,712 ac and Augusta last with 2,881,871 ac. While according to the US Forest Service industrial forestry and the conversion of these forested wetlands into pine plantation has been the leading cause of the loss of these systems, important examples remain. These extremely important communities should be included in a High Conservation Value or Endangered Forest assessment.
BOTTOMLAND OR WETLAND FORESTS
Bottomland or wetland forests historically dominated the ecoregion with species such as Atlantic white cedar, bald cypress, and swamp tupelo. Logging interests for many decades targeted forests dominated by bald cypress and Atlantic white cedar, and few old-growth forests of this type remain. Bald cypress is a very slow growing species but long-lived (e.g., trees that are hundreds of years old or more are common in pristine bald cypress forests). White cedar has been all but eliminated in Virginia (the Great Dismal Swamp was once a stronghold for this important species) and approximately 90 percent has been lost in
North Carolina. Most of the remaining bottomland (or swamp) forests are associated with the numerous and extensive tidal river systems or in a few larger, non-linear areas (e.g., Great Dismal Swamp) even though most of those have been seriously degraded.
THREATS TO THE MIDDLE ATLANTIC COASTAL FORESTS
The
impacts of industrial forestry on the region are longstanding and severe.
Indeed according to the US Forest Service Southern Forest Resource Assessment,
the leading cause of the loss of forested wetlands across the region and the
South has been conversion of those natural forests into industrial pine
plantations. This process of “ditching and draining” results in the total loss
of that habitat.
TAKE ACTION! Send a message to the companies buying their paper packaging from Southern forests, including forested wetlands. Instead of using Southern forests for disposable packaging, these companies can make better decisions including: 1. Post-consumer recycled content should be maximized in all paper products, because multiple life-cycle analyses clearly show that recycled fiber saves resources and limits pressure on natural forests. 2. Southern Forests are too important to waste in packaging. Increase packaging efficiency and reduce overall packaging. 3. Avoid sourcing paper originating from endangered forests-those remaining natural areas with extremely high conservation values must be avoided. 4. Avoid sourcing paper originating from the conversion of natural forests to plantations. 5. Source paper from lands certified by the Forest Stewardship Council – the only certification that limits large-scale clear-cutting, prohibits the conversion of forests to plantations and requires the protection of high conservation value forests.
Click here to send your message.
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