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.
Recently, I provided oral testimony to the EPA on behalf of the Dogwood Alliance and the forests and the communities we serve.
Right now, Campaign Director, Adam Macon, and Executive Director, Danna Smith, are in Europe delivering your SOS petitions, all 50,000 of them! They’re also presenting new information against the woody biomass industry and standing up for the forests we love.
Black bears all over the Southeastern United States are threatened by an ever-increasing and destructive biomass industry that is converting whole forests into pellets for European electricity. Humans have yet again allowed their greed for profit and cheap fuel to trump species’ need for protected habitat. Take a stand against biomass and join our National Day of Action.
Our new report “Wood Pellet Manufacturing: Risks for the Economy of the US South” sheds much needed light on the economic downsides of this rapidly expanding new industry. The bottom line? The wood pellet export market is simply not a very smart 21st Century economic development strategy for our Southern rural communities. We can and must do better to support the economic well-being of the South’s rural communities.
