Don't let energy companies burn our forests for fuel 16OKT13

I grew up in rural NW Pennsylvania, out in the country, in the "woods" so to speak. And while  most of PA (28,997,120 acres) is covered by forest (approx 60%, 17,398,227 acres) only 9894 acres are old growth forest, meaning most of the state was clear cut at some point in the last 300 years, most occurring in the last 150 years. Most of the trees in the woods I grew up in, and love to go home to wander in, are less than 100 years old. ( A note to those who know me and my family. Yes, we did have a wood furnace in my parents home for years, but the wood we heated with was mostly from dead or dying trees on their property, we seldom bought a load of logs for firewood. Now the hose is heated with propane.) Now some big energy companies, like dominion power and drax group (U.K. power company) are regressing in their operations at a time we need not only to protect our remaining forest and expand them where possible as well and invest in and increase our energy generation from clean, renewable energy resources. The below is from the NRDC, please sign their petition to dominion power and the drax group calling on them to abandon their increasing dependence on cutting our forest for energy generation....

		When you turn on the lights, it shouldn’t destroy a forest. But some utilities are forcing us to do just that -- by clearcutting forests and burning them for electricity. Tell them to stop using our forests for fuel and invest in clean energy alternatives! It may be the worst idea ever: Cutting down massive swaths of our native forests so that utilities can burn them to produce electricity. And the results are devastating: Leveling hardwood forests across the mid-Atlantic coastal region ... threatening wildlife ... and driving even more global warming pollution and climate chaos. Tell the energy giants to stop destroying our forests for fuel and to start producing their power with clean energy alternatives. No one wants to turn on the lights and burn down a forest! Our native southern forests are home to countless species of plants and animals found nowhere else on Earth, not to mention black bears and millions of songbirds. But Enviva -- one of the nation’s biggest wood pellet producers -- is grinding these diverse ecosystems into wood chips and pellets, which are then sold to utilities like the U.S.-based Dominion Power and Britain’s Drax Group to fuel power plants and produce electricity. These utilities are ramping up their voracious plans for the large-scale burning of tree products. And Enviva plans to oblige by doubling its production of wood pellets in the coming years. That’s why it’s so critical that we make our voices heard immediately in opposition to this disastrous forest-destroying practice. Torching forests for energy not only drives more global warming pollution; it wipes out the very trees that capture the carbon pollution spewed by power plants. It’s a double whammy for the environment! You and I haven’t fought for so many years to protect our magnificent native forests only to see them ravaged by energy companies in their relentless quest for fuel. Join me in sending them a message loud and clear: Don’t send our natural heritage up in smoke! Urge them to lead the way by investing in real clean energy alternatives like solar, wind, geothermal and agricultural waste. The future of our forests and our climate is depending on it. Thank you for standing with NRDC in defense of our native forests. Sincerely, Frances Beinecke President Natural Resources Defense Council

 I now live in Virginia, and for those interested VA is 27,375,369 acres, approximately 57% forested, 15,844,000 acres, and of that 235,079 acres are old growth forest, 230,000 acres of that in National Forest.