When I received the invitation from the Rachel Carson Council to come to Washington DC to represent west coast organizers at the National Wood Pellet Forum, I didn’t immediately say yes. It seemed like a very long way to go for a day-long Forum, and I’m not that keen on flying. But as I got more details – the Forum was part of a Week of Action that included a day of lobbying Representatives and Senators, 70 college students were participating, I’d get a chance to meet community organizers from the SE that I’d talked to for the last year over Zoom, and it was the same time as the cherry blossom festival . . . all that overcame my hesitation, so off to DC I went.
And, It was great! The main highlight was spending the day on Capitol Hill with women whose communities are impacted by biomass pellet production. Amazing organizers from Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and North Carolina who fight Drax & Enviva’s wood pellet plants like the kind we’re trying to keep out of Longview, WA. Together, we went to see Representatives from the SE and the NW – who heard cautionary tales of the huge spike in respiratory illnesses in their communities from the pellet manufacturers and about our efforts to keep this industry from expanding.
I learned more about places like Gloster, MS, where there is a Drax plant right in the center of town. Dr. Krystal Martin recently moved back to her hometown to take care of her mother, who is sick from the air pollution from the factory. Dr. Martin said that all the old people in the town are on oxygen, and all the kids have asthma. All this, so that Europe can (falsely) claim to be lowering its carbon emissions by burning wood.
The next day, we all reconvened for the National Wood Pellet Forum. This day-long symposium gathered community leaders, scientific experts, environmental justice advocates, and policymakers to discuss the ecological, climatic, environmental justice, public health, and economic pitfalls of the growing wood pellet biomass industry. I was the sole representative from the West Coast, and spoke on the Taking Action panel about our work drawing attention to this new energy export threat.
I also learned about the Rachel Carson Council’s college activist network and Environmental Leaders Fellowship for students. They currently have no presence on the west coast, so we’re hoping to connect them with students we work with in Portland and expand that network!
While it was a very long way to travel, I found it incredibly valuable to cross-pollinate our fight against the biomass industry with others who are already living with the worst of its impacts. It renewed my commitment to keep Drax out of the NW and work for the eventual end of the industry everywhere.
