This is Part 2 of a 2 part series exploring the impact that the wood pellet industry is having on the rural communities of the Gulf coast. Part 1 looked at the wood pellet industry in Mississippi and the destructive impact it has on the forests and the rural local economy…
This summer I had the privilege of working on the Our Forests Aren’t Fuel campaign as an organizing intern. As a second summer intern and student board member, I was […]
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.
Recently a couple of us here at Dogwood went out on an investigation of the wood pellet manufacturing facilities in North Carolina. All of the facilities are owned and operated by Enviva and exist for the sole purpose of producing wood pellets to feed the market in Europe, particularly the UK-based utility company Drax.
Soaring demand for woody fuel has led to the construction of more than two dozen pellet factories in the Southeast and special port. European officials promote the trade as part of the fight against climate change. But that claim is increasingly coming under challenge.
