Continuing our theme on bioenergy, we invited Danna Smith, Executive Director of Dogwood Alliance to share the threat it poses to America's forests and wildlife...
I was born and raised on the Atlantic coast of the Southern US. I spent most of my youthful years romping around in the woods, building forts, pretending to be lost in the wild and raised by animals, chasing butterflies, mimicking bird calls and otherwise reveling in the magical spaces created by the coastal forests that defined my place in the world… my home. And while most of my younger years were spent playing in these forests, I have spent the larger part of my adult life fighting to protect them from destructive industrial logging.
Today, one of the biggest threats to the forests in this part of the world is coming from European utility companies. 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 converting coal burning power plants to wood, all in the name of “renewable energy.” Beyond the climate impacts, Europe’s use of wood to generate electricity threatens the survival of many unique species found in the forests of the Southern US.
In 2012, the Southern US emerged as the world’s largest exporter of wood pellets – the overwhelming majority of which are exported and burned in European power plants to generate electricity. Sixteen wood pellet facilities combined to export over 1.5 million tons or wood pellets to major European utility companies including Drax, RWE, Electrobel and E.On. An additional fifteen wood pellet facilities are currently proposed and market analysts project that wood pellet exports from the Southern US to Europe will more than triple to 5.7 million tons by 2015.
These wood pellet facilities, which are located within reasonable proximity to shipping ports, rely heavily on forests in the coastal plain of the South. These majestic forests with their intricate network of richly-diverse bottomland forested wetlands flanked by natural upland pine woodlands provide important habitat to countless species such as the black bear and the gopher tortoise. They are home to the world’s highest concentration of carnivorous plants, including the infamous Venus flytrap. Approximately 30% of threatened and endangered species in the Southeast depend on the bottomland hardwood wetland forests in the region.
In addition, about 85% of eastern North American bird species rely on these forests as well. Bird species at particular risk from industrial logging include the Red-eyed Vireo, Yellow-throated Vireo and Prothonotary Warblers. Swallow-tailed Kites, a threatened landbird in the Southeastern US, have become a flagship for the conservation of bottomland hardwood forests. This increasingly rare bird has undergone one of the most drastic range restrictions of all North American landbirds, declining to a mere 15 to 25 percent of its historic range. Extensive logging of bottomland hardwood forests is considered a primary cause.
Years of intense industrial logging by paper and wood products manufacturers has already taken a toll on countless species, many of which have been hanging on by a thread. Land trusts have helped to purchase and protect some of the most special places in the region, though most forests still lack adequate protection. In addition, a recent promising trend of improved forestry practices by the paper industry (brought about by pubic campaigns) might have given some of these species some much needed space to recover. But, sadly, their future remains uncertain as industrial logging accelerates due to the demand by European utility companies for wood pellets.
Burning trees to generate electricity is bad for climate and forests and converting coal burning power plants to wood is not the path to a clean energy future. There is a path forward to a clean energy future that does not involve burning fossil fuels. Conservation and efficiency combined with power generated by the sun and wind are much better options; but, unfortunately European utilities are on the wrong track in turning to forests as a primary fuel source for generating electricity.
Danna Smith is a founder and executive director of Dogwood Alliance. She holds a Doctorate of Jurisprudence from Emory University. Prior to founding Dogwood Alliance, she worked for Greenpeace US.
Since 1996, Dogwood Alliance has increased protection for millions of acres of Southern forests by transforming the way corporations, landowners and communities value them for their climate, wildlife and water benefits. Dogwood Alliance has revolutionized the environmental practices of some of the world’s largest corporations. In addition to long-term work on driving sustainability in the paper industry, for the past four years the group has increased its focus on the destructive practices of the bioenergy industry. For more information on the organization please visit, www.dogwoodalliance.org.
What are your thoughts on biomass? What do you think the Government should be doing to make our energy system better for the climate and for wildlife?