During a ‘National Day of Action to Save our Southern Forests’ more that 50,000 US citizens delivered messages to the UK Energy Minister Ed Davey requesting him to end the destruction of forests in the southern US caused by misguided renewable energy policies and subsidies in the UK which are driving the exponential growth of the use of ‘biomass’ to meet EU renewable energy targets.
Watch and share the SOS National Day of Action video
These messages are being sent on to the new EU commissioners for energy, climate and environment whose Renewable energy Directive is having these ‘unintended consequences’, which include clear-felling of old-growth wetland forests in the southern US, biodiversity loss, increases in monoculture plantations, serious local pollution in communities near suppliers and where it is burnt and increase carbon emissions as calculated by the recent UK Department of Energy and Climate Change carbon calculator. See this 7 minutes film about deforestation impacts in the US and this 25 minute film about pollution and justice issues of biomass.
The campaign was coordinated by Dogwood Alliance, Natural Resources Defense Council, Gulf Restoration Network, Green America and ForestEthics – and, in Europe, by BirdLife Europe, the European Environmental Bureau. Biofuelwatch held an email alert to MPs to support the US message – thanks to all who took part in this!
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