Unfortunately, climate deniers and special interests are fighting tooth and nail to destroy or water down this plan. Despite the fact that our forests are our best defense against climate change and the scientific community widely views burning forests for electricity as the wrong direction, the Environmental Protection Agency is considering including biomass electricity as a potential pathway for meeting the goals of the plan.
For the past 3 years, Dogwood Alliance, NRDC, and SELC have sounded the alarm about the widespread, destructive impacts to our forests, communities and climate caused by the rapidly expanding wood pellet industry. Today’s announcement by Enviva, the largest wood pellet manufacturer in the US, is a clear indication that the collective efforts of our organizations are having a direct impact on the practices of this industry.
There is a growing need to scale up forest protection. While climate talks have resulted in increased commitments to protect forests in the tropics, the accelerated practice in recent years of burning trees from the US in place of coal to generate electricity has gone under the radar.
The issue of forest carbon in corporate supply chains has grown. Food giant General Mills has made a public commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions across their entire supply chain by 28%. Because the announcement is from such a large company and for such a significant reduction, the corporate world is on notice.
Half of the world’s forests have already played their part in that story. Today, more than 11 million hectares disappear annually, accounting for 11%-20% of all human-caused carbon emissions. The act of deforestation itself accounts for a staggering 17% of all carbon emissions on the planet. There are so many ways you can help.
