2490 - No we're not...Yes you are!

I got a hold of a copy of a magazine called Natures Voice. In it was an article about what you would think was a long gone process. Burning wood to produce electricity. And according to the magazine the company that's doing the logging is clear cutting southern forests to get the wood to produce wood pellets. The pellets are then burned for electricity in Virginia or shipped off to European power plants.

That gets us to who is telling the truth. The magazine or the people making money cutting down forests. I know. That was a loaded question but with the past history of capitalism in the US I'm afraid I believe the nature people (ARTICLE).

Here's a snippet from the article...

Burning trees for electricity has skyrocketed in Europe. Major European utilities are now burning massive amounts of wood in their power plants. The demand for wood in Europe has resulted in the proliferation of manufacturing facilities across the Southeast to produce wood fuel. These manufacturers clear forests, grind the trees into wood chips and "wood pellets" and ship them from ports in the Southeast to ports in Western Europe. Last year alone, wood pellet exports from Southern ports increased 70 percent, making the Southern US the largest exporter of wood pellets in the world.

Domestic utilities here in the United States are also beginning to turn to biomass, creating the prospect of large-scale burning of trees. Now is the time for utilities to look toward clean, non-destructive sources of power instead.

Of course the company Enviva says that's all not true. "We're just making an honest buck. Leave us alone."

You can read their response to the accusations on their Q&A page HERE.

So if you live in Virginia or further south you may want to see what's going on in your neighborhood.