Last week’s editorial “The EPA’s not-so-green emissions plan” in the Washington Post rightfully asserted that a wholesale switch from coal to wood as a fuel source for generating electricity would take us in the wrong direction on climate change. It would increase carbon emissions at the smokestack, while also degrading forests’ ability to remove and store carbon from the atmosphere. But the note at the end…
The GreenBiz media platform has really become an important gathering spot for the corporate responsibility community and helps to shape the trends and opportunities in the sustainable business space. My joint presentation with Deborah Baker the Vice President of Sustainable Forestry at Georgia-Pacific (GP) was part of a joint session on “Cultivating Impactful Corporate-NGO Partnerships” . We shared our work mapping Endangered Forests across GP’s wood procurement system pursuant to our ground-breaking Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) reached back in 2010.
Over the course of the trip: hustling from meeting to meeting, engaging with officials, delivering our presentation, Communications Director Scot Quaranda and I came to realize an important shift in the way conversation is taking place about the forests we call home. For too many years, the forests of the Southern United States have been sparsely recognized for their incredible contributions to biodiversity, mitigating climate change and improving the health and quality of our communities. Yet, as they begin to take center stage in the global debate over using our forests for fuel, Southern forests have finally begun to get the recognition they deserve.
Dogwood Alliance has been chosen by Green Sage Cafe in Asheville, North Carolina to be their Cup Worthy recipient for the month of February! The Cup Worthy Program encourages folks to bring a reusable mug for their to-go beverage orders to help reduce the waste and destruction created by paper cup production.
just 15 months after our first delegation to Europe, our second trip across the pond proves that our message got through. Today, decision makers are clear that the use of our forests for fuel is an area of big concern. We no longer need to debate whether it is just waste wood or residuals; they all understand that the wood pellet industry and utilities are using whole trees.
