Dogwood supporter Leila von Stein comes from a family with a very unique tie to Southern forests. In 1892, her great-grandfather, Captain Seaton Grantland, created the first hand-planted Southern pine forest in the country near Griffin, Georgia. The forest, which spanned about 10 acres, included some 7,000 hill short-leaf pines and some loblollies, planted in rows and preserved for three generations until it was lost to development in the 1950’s.
“My great-grandfather planted that pine forest to make a screen between his house and the cemetery where his beloved wife was buried; she died of tuberculosis in her 30’s,” Leila reports. According to a 1925 article by W.R. Mattoon (publication unknown) she shared, the neighbors were originally skeptical of Grantland’s forest planting, but the stand of trees was carefully planned and lovingly tended for many years. Unlike today’s corporate slash pine plantations, this forest was planted with an intention of long-term growth rather than short-term harvest, and kept many of its natural protections, including a thick, moisture-conserving carpet of pine needles. Captain Grantland’s daughter shared this vision, stating in the article that she hoped to put the property “into public ownership as a town forest and memorial to her father.” Until the 1950’s, it was a favorite play area for the children of Griffin.
In addition to pioneering the planting of the pine forest, Grantland created the first hydroelectric plant in Georgia, built the world’s first electrically powered gristmill, and was “instrumental in advancing education for everyone,” says Leila.
Although Grantland’s legendary forest is now gone, Leila understands the importance of protecting Southern forests like these, which led her to Dogwood Alliance. “I like being a valued supporter,” she says. “Our forests are important for many reasons, from providing key habitats to offering peace and quiet from the rest of the world. Dogwood Alliance is very effective at making sure individuals and companies understand this and behave accordingly.”
After two years of pressure from Dogwood Alliance and our partners, KFC and its parent company, Yum! Brands, released a new sustainable packaging policy in late October. (Click on Sustainable Sourcing and Waste Recovery Policy and it will pop up)
“We’ve been studying the implications of the policy and talking with the company’s biggest suppliers to ensure that this new policy will drive real change on the ground for our forests,” said Dogwood’s Campaign Director Scot Quaranda. “After much analysis, we are now confident that it will increase the overall use of recycled paper, eliminate controversial sourcing from endangered forests like the Green Swamp in southeastern North Carolina, and give preference to FSC-certified fiber, which will limit the most destructive practices in the woods. It all adds up to a big win for Southern forests!”
Specifically, Yum!’s new policy states that it will not source fiber from:
In addition, the company will give preference to suppliers who source wood fiber certified by a third-party (such as FSC) that meets the most rigorous forest management standards.
To celebrate this huge step forward in Dogwood’s work with KFC, one of Dogwood’s talented activists worked with staff to create a new, free video game, Bucket Kickin’ Chicken. Play it here!
But Dogwood isn’t letting up on the pressure just yet. Although Southern forests will be better protected, KFC also sources paper from other companies that are devastating forests in Indonesia and other parts of Asia. “Unfortunately, KFC’s new policy does not include language on deforestation, and global deforestation is the main reason our allies at Greenpeace are standing with the people of Indonesia and calling on the company to stop buying from Asia Pulp and Paper, who is notorious for this practice,” Quaranda explains. “While we applaud KFC’s new policy here in the US, we will continue to support the Greenpeace campaign until KFC’s policy is global. We’re hopeful that our new relationship with the company can help to ultimately green KFC’s packaging worldwide.”
Dogwood Alliance’s Executive Director, Danna Smith, has been elected to the Environmental Chamber of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Board of Directors. The Forest Stewardship Council promotes environmentally sound, socially beneficial and economically prosperous management of forests around the world. Dogwood Alliance fans know them best as the group that developed FSC certification for paper sourcing, ensuring that the entire paper production process is managed sustainably.
The Forest Stewardship Council‘s Board is comprised of nine individuals elected from among FSC’s US-based members, and six appointed members. The Board is divided into Environmental, Economic and Social Chambers.
“The fact that Danna was elected by Dogwood’s peers in environmental work is a huge honor,” said Dogwood Chair Eva Hernandez. “It shows that Danna’s leadership — and Dogwood Alliance’s abilities — are respected throughout our field.”
“FSC relies on leadership from our diverse membership to maintain our integrity, credibility and balance, so it’s fantastic to have Danna Smith join the US board, where she can provide a vigorous voice for protection of forest ecosystems,” said Corey Brinkema, president of FSC US. “With the Forest Stewardship Council experiencing rapid growth in the Southeastern US, it’s also great to have Danna’s knowledge of the region and deep connections throughout the forest products marketplace.”
Exciting news! In late October, KFC released a new sustainable packaging policy that we can get behind. We’ve been studying the implications of the policy and talking with the company’s biggest suppliers to ensure that there’s real change on the ground for our forests. After much analysis, we are now confident that it will.
Essentially, what the policy will do is increase the overall use of recycled paper, eliminate controversial sourcing from endangered forests like the Green Swamp in southeastern North Carolina, and give preference to FSC-certified fiber, which will limit the most destructive practices in the woods. You can view the policy here (click on Sustainable Sourcing and Waste Recovery Policy and it will pop up).
In celebration of our progress with KFC, one of our talented activists worked with us to create this fun game – Bucket Kickin’ Chicken, which you can play here.
Though we are excited about the change that has come from leadership at KFC as it relates to the forests of the Southern US, unfortunately, the new policy does not include language on deforestation. Global deforestation is the main reason our allies at Greenpeace are standing with the people of Indonesia and calling on the company to stop buying from Asia Pulp and Paper, who is notorious for this practice.
So though our forests have received a reprieve, Indonesia’s have not, and we will continue to support the Greenpeace campaign until KFC gets the entire job done. We hope our new relationship with the company can help create the leverage needed to green KFC’s packaging worldwide.
We can’t thank you enough for all your support throughout the last two years in pressuring the company to change, and we could not have achieved this victory without you!
For our forests,
Scot Quaranda Campaign Director
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]“The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed.” – Carl Jung
Sid Cullipher, the Executive Director of Dogwood Alliance from 2007 to 2009 passed away on Saturday afternoon after being diagnosed less than two weeks ago with cancer. The hearts and souls of all of us here at Dogwood go out to Sid’s family. He was a truly amazing individual and we are honored to have gotten to know Sid well during his tenure at Dogwood. We are filled equally with sadness for his departure as well as gratitude for his presence in our lives, for he blessed our organization with some transformative gifts.
Like many of us here at Dogwood Alliance, Sid made a life out of his love for nature. In addition to being a river guide, Sid also worked for Outward Bound. He was the Executive Director of a nonprofit organization called Journey into Wholeness, which focused on teaching the psychology of Carl Jung, exploring the meaning of life and what it means to live in full relationship with all creation. He got his Master’s Degree from New Mexico University in Resource Economics and facilitated a national dialogue on climate while working at the Keystone Center for Public Policy in Washington, D.C. He was a perfect fit for Dogwood in 2007 when we began to elevate the importance of forest protection in the context of global climate change and as we began to build new partnerships with big corporations and Southern landowners to develop new, paradigm-shifting markets that value the protection rather than the destruction of our forests. This video shows Sid speaking passionately and compellingly about the importance of our forests.
He was intellectually brilliant. Always reading, always learning. And while he was intensively creative, articulate, charismatic and dynamic, he was also very kind and thoughtful, sweet and gentle. He was strong-willed but not egotistical. From Dogwood members and activists to the most politically-savvy funders to the top executives of the largest corporations in the world, Sid gained the trust and respect of many. He was genuine and authentic.
On a personal level, his calm presence and support helped me work through intensely challenging discussions as we negotiated what would become an historic agreement with Georgia Pacific that increased protection for over 90 million acres of Southern forests. He also helped establish the partnerships and create the vision for the Carbon Canopy Project. His passion for this project helped elevate it as a key strategy for the organization. He was with us when we launched The Packaging Campaign. He encouraged new ideas to surface, and we released our first report on bioenergy “Don’t Log the Forest for the Fuel.” He was a skilled ambassador, drumming up new financial support for Southern forests that allowed our work to expand. By the time he left Dogwood in 2009, we were not only well-prepared to weather the financial storm of the economic crisis, but well-positioned to leverage even bigger protection for Southern forests.
But beyond that, and even more importantly, he was fun, he was wild, he was cool, he was honest, he was transparent. He knew what matters most in this world and he embraced the many challenges of being Dogwood’s Executive Director with grace, adapting, flowing and even dancing around obstacles like a pure, clear, mountain river.
Having taken over the Executive Director position at Dogwood Alliance after Sid left, I have nothing but the deepest gratitude and respect for his profound presence in the evolution of our work to protect Southern forests. I am a much better Executive Director than I ever would have been if I did not have the opportunity to learn from him. We all learned big lessons from him. He was a true friend, an inspiring mentor and a helpful guide along the wild river of life.
Sid moved on from Dogwood, but his passion for nature continued to drive his life. About a year or so ago, he purchased Headwater’s Outfitters Outdoor Adventures, just outside of Brevard. This video of Sid in his element, talking about the French Broad River, makes all of us here at Dogwood Alliance feel honored to have had such a passionate and creative person as our Executive Director at such a pivotal time in the organization’s history.
Sid’s life was about accumulating meaning, not wealth. If you would like to support his family, please consider making a contribution to help with medical costs and college tuition for his children. The Dogwood office will be closed on Friday in honor of Sid. This weekend, Dogwood staff and board will plant a Dogwood tree in front of our office in downtown Asheville in celebration of the tremendous contribution he made to the efforts to protect the natural ecosystems of the South.
Farewell for now, dear Sid! We will miss your big hugs, your fire dancing, your handstands and your moonshine! But, your infinite light continues to guide our transformation, and your spirit will forever live among the blooming Dogwoods.[/vc_column_text][space height=”15″][vc_video link=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0X4YR_qvx8&sns=em”][/vc_column][/vc_row]
New Report Discredits Energy Company Claims that Wood Pellets Burned in UK Power Plants are Made from Wood Waste
Evidence Emerges that Wood Pellets Imported From the Southern US Are Manufactured Using Whole Trees from Forest Logging Operations as UK Considers Misguided Biomass Subsidies
Asheville, NC, USA – Today, Dogwood Alliance, a nonprofit organization working to protect forests in the Southern US, released “The Use of Whole Trees in Wood Pellet Manufacturing,” a report documenting that the top exporters of wood pellets in the region rely heavily on whole trees, i.e. cutting down trees to be burnt in European power stations. According to Wood Resources International, the Southern US is now the world’s largest exporter of wood pellets to Europe. The report discredits European energy companies’ claims that wood pellets burned in UK power stations are produced from wood waste and residues. Over the next 5-10 years, burning wood in large power stations – both new-build biomass power stations but increasingly also converted coal power stations – is expected to attract several billion pounds of public subsidies annually in the UK.
“In the wake of mounting scientific documentation that burning trees for electricity will result in increased carbon emissions compared to fossil fuels, this report underscores the need for new climate policies,” stated Scot Quaranda, Campaign Director for Dogwood Alliance. “Energy companies in the UK, including Drax, RWE and E.On are converting large, old, dirty and inefficient coal power stations to biomass all in the name of reducing carbon emissions, but the reality is that this shift will accelerate climate change while also driving destructive industrial logging in the world’s most biologically diverse temperate forests.”
Through direct investigation and research, the report documents the use of whole trees from Southern forests by the largest wood pellet manufacturers and exporters in the Southern US. Pellet manufacturers such as Georgia Biomass, a wholly owned subsidiary of RWE, and Enviva, a major supplier of Drax and E.On as well as Enova, Green Circle and General Biofuels are highlighted in the report as using or if not open, planning to use, whole trees.
“The Use of Whole Trees in Wood Pellet Manufacturing,” follows on the heels of another report released on Monday, “Dirtier than Coal?” by the RSPB, Greenpeace, and Friends of the Earth, that details how burning wood from trees cut down for this purpose is commonly worse for the climate than burning coal for decades to come. This week these groups called on the UK government to end all subsidies for biomass and redirect them to genuinely climate-friendly renewables, such as solar and wind projects. The report highlights that the UK government’s own Bioenergy Strategy presents data which shows that burning wood from whole trees commonly results in the release of at least 49% more emissions than burning coal over the next 40 years. This is damaging evidence especially as more and more UK power stations, including Drax, Eggborough, Tilbury B and Ironbrige are announcing the shift from coal to biomass.
“There seems to be confusion in the UK and Europe about the source of wood pellets that are imported for burning by European utility companies, but as this report shows, whole trees in the Southern US are in fact being used to produce pellets for burning on the other side of the Atlantic,” said Scot Quaranda, Campaign Director. “We hope this report brings clarity to this issue and that the UK governments and European energy companies take immediate action to stop the burning of whole trees for electricity.”
Download the report here: http://www.dogwoodalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Whole-Tree-Wood-Pellet-Production-Report.pdf
For the last couple years now, we’ve been tracking a new threat to our forests – bioenergy. Utility companies have been devising schemes to burn large amounts of wood from Southern forests for electricity. Recently, there has been an alarming increase in wood from our forests turned into pellets which are then shipped to Europe and burned for electricity by big utility companies to meet short sighted EU climate requirements. Currently there are 25 operational export pellet mills in the region with approximately 15 more planned across the South. Essentially, we are destroying our Southern forests so Europe can burn them to meet its climate goals, which are based on the mistaken blanket assumption that biomass energy is carbon neutral.
This is of course one of the most ridiculous schemes we have seen in years. Why would we burn the forests that are supposed to buffer us from climate change to fight climate change? Forests play a vital role in taking in Carbon from the atmosphere and sequestering it which is then lost when it is logged and burned. Numerous studies have shown that burning wood is far from climate neutral and in fact may be worse for the climate than burning coal.
Last month, a colleague from Greenpeace, Larry Edwards, based up in Alaska joined me for a “Tour of Destruction,” where we visited and documented the impact that some of the biggest of these new facilities are having on our forests in Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina where 5 facilities are currently in operation with 5 more planned for the future. The following is an account from our trip.
Days 1 and 2: Port of Savannah, Appling County Biomass in Baxley, GA, and Georgia Biomass in Waycross, GA
Our first stop was Savannah, Georgia where we hoped to check out the operations of Georgia Biomass, a subsidiary of RWE in Germany. We had two goals in Savannah, first to see the actual export facility of Georgia Biomass located at the Port of Savannah, where they plan to ship over 700,000 tons of wood pellets to their power plants in Belgium, UK, and the Netherlands. Our second goal was to visit their corporate offices, and gather information on their operations.
Sadly, both of these goals were a dead end. When we rang Georgia Biomass’ buzzer, they chose not to let us in and instead referred us to their website, which you can see here. And though we tried, we could not get access to the port to view the export operations because post September 11th security is high and access is limited to dockworkers only. We were not deterred and so decided to make our way south and visit Georgia Biomass pellet production facility first hand.
“Hi Georgia Biomass, Scot from Dogwood Alliance, would love to come in and speak to you about your operations.” “Nothing to see here, check our website”
Our route took us through Appling County and the town of Baxley, Georgia, where we stopped at the Appling County Biomass facility which is a subsidiary of Fram, a “renewable” energy company owned by a Norwegian shipping magnate. This facility has a planned capacity of nearly 300,000 tons of pellet production a year for export to Europe. We sat in the parking lot, watching truck after truck come in and drop off loads of wood chips and tree residuals (which include tree tops and branches which are traditionally left on the forest floor) which were being processed into wood pellets for the Northern European market. Unable to get an official tour, we witnessed everything firsthand from the parking lot. It was clear that this facility was utilizing every last drop of wood it could claim from the local market.
Appling County Facility in Baxley, GA owned and operated by Fram Renewables.
Truck after truck filled with residual and wood chips delivering to the facility.
From Baxley, we made our way further south to Waycross, Georgia, the northern gateway to one of the most biodiverse hotspots in the South, the famed Okefenokee Swamp. As we were entering town, we noticed a lot of log trucks making their way on the roads, but still had no idea what was to come. Eventually we made it over to the business park that hosts Georgia Biomass, a wholly owned subsidiary of RWE (one of Europe’s largest utility companies), currently the largest stand-alone wood pellet manufacturing facility in the world, projected to produce nearly 750,000 tons of wood pellets every year.
View of Georgia Biomass facility in Waycross, GA, currently the largest wood pellet manufacturing facility in the world.
The brand new facility is incredibly shiny and modern; putting a clean façade on a very dirty business. It looked like a chip mill on a mega-dose of steroids. It is a “fully integrated” facility, meaning whole trees are debarked, chipped and processed into pellets on site. A rail line runs straight into the facility for easy shipping by train to the company’s port in Savannah, Georgia where the pellets are loaded onto bulk-carrier ships and sent to Europe.
Rail cars loaded with pellets in Waycross, GA are sent to bulk-carrier ships at the Port of Savannah for export to Europe. (photo credit – Larry Edwards – Greenpeace)
What was most striking was the sheer volume of trees from fully loaded log trucks entering the gate and being unloaded into giant piles to be processed. We watched countless trucks enter the facility. Larry put it best when he said that it was analogous to bees swarming to a hive. Despite all of the claims that pellet and bioenergy companies make about sustainability, it was clear that this is a voracious industry that will swallow up as many trees as it can get. With other large pellet manufacturers planning facilities in Virginia and North and South Carolina, the RWE plant was a portent of bad things to come if someone doesn’t pull the brakes.
Trucks loaded with whole trees swarming like bees at the weigh station of the Georgia Biomass facility. (photo credit: Larry Edwards – Greenpeace)
Day 3: Okefenokee Swamp, Varn Industries in Hoboken, Georgia, Low Country Biomass in Ridgeland, SC and Charleston, SC
After the depressing stops in Baxley and Waycross, GA, we needed to take in a little bit of wild nature to get some much needed inspiration, so we made our way to Okefenokee Swamp Park south of Waycross. It was absolutely beautiful and was a great opportunity to see what much of the coastal plain in the South used to look like with forested wetlands, longleaf pine savannahs, and unique plants and animals found nowhere else in North America.
At the park we took a walk into the woods to spot gators, spiders, and countless plants and then took a boat ride, so we could experience the swamp firsthand. It was well worth the visit, not only for the wildlife, but for the opportunity to meet locals who’ve called this region home for generations and truly care about protecting and preserving this national treasure. Feeling refreshed, we headed out and made our way north.
Okefenokee Swamp, a jewel of the Southern US, but threatened by growing biomass industry all around its edges.
On our way from Waycross to Augusta, we passed through Hoboken, Georgia. Hoboken is home to Varn Industries, a large sawmill and lumber manufacturer that processes excess wood not suitable for lumber into wood chips. Varn is also planning to add a wood pellet processor producing 80,000 tons of pellets per year to its already massive sawmill facility. Though the pellet mill is not yet operational, the proximity to both the Georgia Biomass facility and the Okefenokee Swamp could mean added pressure to the local forests. The future of highly degraded South Georgia forests is dependent on decreased pressure on the woods to allow for restoration especially in corridors leading to the swamp. Instead, all over South Georgia, we saw first-hand that corporations are ramping up massive new capacity which will minimize any chance for future restoration.
We stopped next in Ridgeland, SC, home to a relatively new small-scale wood pellet facility called Low Country Biomass owned by Nimmer Turf Company. It was such a small facility, in a non-descript building, that we drove right past it and had to stop someone on the street to find out where it was. The small facility is planning to produce around 40,000 tons of pellets a year, and is presently running at one-quarter that capacity. The long range goal is 100,000 tons yearly. The raw materials are local saw mill residue and locally grown miscanthus, a non-native grass species.
The reason we didn’t spot the facility was because instead of piles of trees or wood chips, there were just a few bales of hay sitting in front of the plant, and there was no visible activity. I can’t pretend to fully understand the implications of introducing a non-native grass species to the local area. What I do know is that at least it is being done by a company that specializes in growing grass and there are no plans to convert forests to miscanthus plantations. That said, this is a development to watch and in meeting one of the owners I felt a lot less concerned than I did after visiting the facilities in Baxley and Waycross.
LowCountry Biomass facility in Ridgeland, SC that is processing residuals from local saw mills and Miscanthus into pellets for export to Europe. (photo credit: Larry Edwards – Greenpeace)
From here we headed to Charleston, where we overcame our disappointment once again at not being able to access a port to see the container ships sending pellets to Europe, by having a really fun night. A special thanks to the kind folks at Not So Hostel for putting us up for the night and being so accommodating.
Days 4 and 5: Francis Marion National Forest in SC, Georgetown, SC, and the Green Swamp in Southeastern NC
After a relaxing night in Charleston, we headed north to Francis Marion National Forest to see some of the amazing biodiversity and get a better sense of what is at stake from the threat of a growing bioenergy industry. We took the I’on Swamp trail which takes you through a section of low country swamp complete with old ditches and embankments that had been set up for use in old rice plantations. Besides the endless stream of mosquitos it was a beautiful section of swamp with countless birds sharing their songs and incredible wild nature to inspire us.
I’on Swamp in the Francis Marion National Forest, SC, that is within the sourcing area of newly proposed wood pellet facilities.
After a night visiting family, we set off out to the Green Swamp in southeastern NC. The Green Swamp is a real biological gem, home to countless species found nowhere else on the planet, including seven different species of carnivorous plants. Sadly, the Swamp has been greatly degraded by a long history of ditching and draining of historic wetlands for agriculture and pine plantations for the paper industry. Now it is smack dab in the middle of the sourcing area of two proposed new bioenergy facilities in Lumberton and Elizabethtown, North Carolina.
I took Larry here for two reasons. Firstly, so he could experience large-scale industrial logging in our region first hand. Sadly, you can’t drive more than a few miles in the Green Swamp without seeing an active logging job or recent clearcuts that extend hundreds of acres. Secondly, to visit the world famous Green Swamp Preserve, a nature reserve owned by the Nature Conservancy that is home to Venus flytraps, sundews and three different species of pitcher plants. We were successful on both fronts.
We walked into a clearcut so that he could get a feel for the shocking scope of industrial forest management on the landscape and the pain associated with the destruction of forested wetlands. Additionally, we followed a logging truck to an active job so he could see the heavy machinery at work, in this case a skidder, and watching truck after truck exiting the site with full loads.
Industrial-scale clearcut in the Green Swamp in Southeastern, NC. Two new wood pellet facilities in the area threaten to dramatically increase logging rates.
Thankfully, the Green Swamp Preserve helped to mitigate some of the psychic pain associated with all of the destruction. While wandering around the 14,000 acre tract, we magically stumbled upon an international tour being hosted by a friend from the NC Sarracenia Society. Folks from around the world who had just been at a carnivorous plant conference in Boston travelled all of the way to the Green Swamp to see the amazing plants. They invited us to tag along, and we were able to see all that this amazing place had to offer. It was a great way to finish what had been an arduous and often hurtful journey.
Conclusion: This is a Huge New Threat, and Dogwood Alliance Will Address It
We are incredibly proud of all that we’ve achieved through our 15 years of increasing protection for millions of acres of forests across the Southern US. Sadly, just when we thought we had a moment to breathe with the slow and steady progress we had catalyzed in transforming the pulp and paper industry into better stewards, a new threat has come on the scene in the form of the large-scale burning of southern Forests for energy. Thankfully, communities and environmental activists across the region have won great victories, but now we need to prepare for the latest and greatest threat.
Over the coming months we will be setting our sights on the bioenergy industry – talking to allies, further documenting both beauty and destruction, and preparing to take on some of the largest utility companies in the world to stop this new threat before it’s too late. We look forward to working with each and every one of you on saying “no” to more Southern forest destruction and saying “yes” to a truly clean, green renewable energy future instead! Stay tuned…
View from a Southwings flight of the newly opened Enviva pellet mill in Ahoskie, NC.
At a time when scientific evidence is mounting that burning trees for electricity will actually result in increased carbon emissions when compared to coal over the next 30 to 50 years, utilities in Europe are making a mad dash to convert coal burning power plants to wood, all in the name of “renewable energy.” The recent explosion in the use of wood to generate electricity in Europe has resulted in the proliferation of new mills across the US South that are turning whole trees into wood pellets for export to European utility companies. That’s right. Forests in the US South are being logged, turned into wood pellets and shipped across the Atlantic Ocean to Europe all in the name of “green energy.”
In what felt like a full on Southern forest assault, in September, a multitude of new projects were announced that will help take tree burning to a whole new level. Between September 18th and September 24th four new wood pellet manufacturing facilities were announced, one in South Carolina and three in Georgia. Just two days later on September 26th a port expansion project was announced in Moorhead City, North Carolina, for the stated purpose of supporting the growing wood pellet export market to Europe. New companies with catchy green-sounding names like “Enviva” and “Enova Energy” are popping up out of nowhere, staking their positions as leading suppliers of “sustainable, “renewable” energy. Heck, even the word “biomass” sounds kind of green, so it’s no wonder that the German utility company RWE that owns the biggest wood pellet facility in the South has branded it as simply, “Georgia Biomass“. When you click on their website the first thing you notice is a tree coming out of the logo next to the words “We’re Carbon Neutral.”
Also on September 26th, BusinessWeek reported that England’s biggest utility, Drax announced plans to convert the country’s biggest coal burning power plant into Western Europe’s largest burner of wood, which they describe as a major, $1 billion investment in “renewable” energy. This power plant will require the harvest of a forest equivalent to “four times the size of Rhode Island” every year! The company is now “investigating building wood pellet plants in North America.” Unfortunately, England’s recently proposed “sustainable biomass” standards do nothing to protect our forests or ensure real carbon emission reductions. Even worse, they allow companies to claim sustainability if their wood comes from bogus certification schemes like the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) which has routinely certified as “sustainable” destructive logging practices such as the ditching and draining of wetlands along the Atlantic Coast to make way for pine plantations.
Perhaps the European government, utilities and pellet manufacturers are hoping that with a little “green” smoke, no one will be able to see what’s really going on. Never mind the mounting body of scientific evidence including the European Environmental Protection Agency’s own Scientific Committee warning that burning trees could actually accelerate climate change. Never mind that protecting forests is actually a much better strategy for reducing carbon emissions than burning them. Never mind that beyond climate change forests are critical protectors of drinking water or that countless species of plants and animals are already in serious danger of extinction because of habitat loss and degradation. Never mind all that. Let’s just call it “green”, “renewable” and “carbon neutral” and bulldoze ahead.
Never mind the people who live in the regions whose forests will be stripped and shipped to burn overseas. Never mind the existing industries (forest products, tourism and outdoor recreation) that employ millions of people that depend on that same limited resource. Never mind the huge economic disaster that will occur in the wake of catastrophic climate change if we don’t drastically reduce carbon emissions over the next two decades. Let’s just call it good for the economy and charge on ahead.
The time is now to stand up, make our collective voice heard and demand an immediate halt to the burning of whole trees in the name of “clean, green and renewable” energy. Europe is heading in the wrong direction and if the mad dash to burn forests for electricity isn’t redirected to truly green and clean sources of energy like solar and wind we might as well forget any chance of slowing climate change. We can’t afford to wait until the green smoke fades away and our forests are laid to waste to realize what a huge mistake it is to burn trees for electricity. Biomass is the new coal and it, too, must be stopped. The time is now to ramp up investment in energy conservation and truly clean energy like solar and wind.
Ryan Hala, Canvass Director
While many college students spend their summers by the pool or in run-of-the-mill jobs, Ryan Halas was directing and implementing Dogwood’s first-ever door-to-door canvass — and delivering remarkable results.
Halas took on the role of Canvass Director this summer, and he and fellow UNCA student Amber Williams knocked on over a thousand doors and shared key messages about Dogwood Alliance and its work with hundreds of people. Halas, an up-and-coming grassroots organizer, calls the outcome “spectacular.”
“The average measure of success for a canvass is a ‘yes’ rate of 15%. That’s the percentage of people we talk to who actually become members of Dogwood and contribute to the campaign. We achieved a 20% ‘yes’ rate, which is incredible for a first year canvass. Another significant gauge of success is that in just one summer, we increased Dogwood’s total membership by 25%.”
Dogwood Alliance hired Halas to conduct this test canvass to see what the reception would be in Asheville. Even with a tiny staff and a limited window of time, the results were amazing and show the potential for an ongoing partnership between Asheville residents and Dogwood.
“Dogwood is a cool organization because it is so issue specific, and it wins its campaigns,” says 25-year-old Halas, a Lakeland, FL native who has worked on a number of other canvass-based grassroots environmental and social justice campaigns. “Dogwood has a very straightforward, effective corporate strategy that makes it easy to show results.”
We extend a very big thanks to Ryan for serving as Canvass Director this past summer and for opening the door to a powerful new tool for Dogwood Alliance!
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As Dogwood Alliance’s work to protect Southern Forests grows, so do our ranks of friends and supporters. Throughout the past several months, we’ve gathered hundreds of people to learn about and assist in our efforts.
We’ve been the featured topic of conversation at a number of volunteer-hosted house parties, informal and fun ways for our friends to introduce their friends to Dogwood Alliance and help us raise funds in the process. We have gathered in San Francisco (CA), Davidson (NC) and Carrboro (NC), and we’re looking forward to upcoming house parties in Charleston, Durham, Nashville and Asheville. Interested in hosting a party in your town? Contact Patrick Fitzsimmons for more information.
Our second annual Rocking the Sustainability Revolution party happened September 13th at the beautiful studio of artist Stan Mullins in Athens, Georgia. Around 200 people turned out to listen to live music from Carl Lindberg & Grogus; enjoyed local food from The National, Farm 255 and Heirloom; bidded on silent auction items and support Dogwood Alliance. We were happy to share the spotlight with our partner, Southern Energy Network, and offer heartfelt thanks to our generous sponsors, Terrapin Beer, VeeV Acai Spirits, Villa Maria Estate Winery and Tree Leaf Music.
Southern forests are something to celebrate, but it takes more than parties to spread the word. Over the summer, we conducted a door-to-door canvass operation that took our message directly into our local Asheville neighborhoods. This direct, one-on-one outreach raised funds, educated the public and secured several new members for Dogwood Alliance.
There’s an easy way that you can help us make friends. Simply view our short Dogwood Alliance 15th Anniversary Video, and then forward it to a friend! It tells the Dogwood story in a simple and effective way, full of information and inspiration. View and share it today![/vc_column_text][space height=”15″][vc_video link=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciahJhFTC1g&feature=player_embedded”][/vc_column][/vc_row]
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