Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 16

M Energy Plan Sees Economic Boost
cathryn mccue

mountain
report

increased efficiency can provide a return for local
economies and save homeowners money.

1 2 3 4 5

around the region

around the region

north carolina

north carolina

virginia

The Southeast has the
largest untapped
source of clean energy
anywhere in the U.S. –
wasted electricity.
Appalachian Voices in
May announced a new
project, Energy Savings
for Appalachia, to
improve energy efficiency, financing
options for customers
of electric co-operatives who often pay up
to 15 percent more for
electricity. The nonprofit says residential
energy efficiency can
help boost the local
economy, save homeowners money, reduce
reliance on coal, and
help protect the environment.
appalachian voices.
org/energysavings

Dogwood Alliance
launched the “Our
Forests Aren’t Fuel”
campaign in May to protect Southern forests
from large-scale cutting
for electricity. The South
is the largest exporter of
wood pellets in the
world, the group says;
most goes to Europe,
but U.S. companies are
increasingly burning biomass. Dogwood
Alliance, joined by 75
other groups, says massive logging harms water
sources and wildlife, and
will exacerbate climate
change in the short
term.
dogwoodalliance.org/
campaigns/
bioenergy/

More than 1 million
acres of North Carolina’s
mountains are managed
by the U.S. Forest
Service for logging,
bird-watching, wilderness and many other
uses. The agency is
undertaking its secondever long-range plan for
the Nantahala/Pisgah
National Forests; the
first was more than 30
years ago, with an
update in 1994. The
USFS is currently assessing the status of
resources, hearing from
all interested citizens.
Planning begins this fall,
with the new plan
expected in 2016.
Citizens can sign up for
updates at fs.usda.
gov/goto/nfsnc/
nprevision

About 200 people gathered in Asheville in May,
where scientists were
holding an international
annual conference on
tree biotechnology, to
protest the potential of
genetically engineered
trees being grown in
the South. Global
Justice Ecology Project,
one of the event’s organizers, said South
Carolina-based
ArborGen is seeking
permission from the
U.S. Department of
Agriculture to sell millions of the modified
eucalyptus for biomass,
paper and other uses.
Protestors said the risk
of contaminating native
forests is too great.
globaljusticeecology.
org

Virginia’s state mining
agency has denied a
permit for mountaintop
removal coal mining on
Ison Rock Ridge in Wise
County, a controversial
project that has drawn
opposition from environmentalists for six
years. The mine would
have destroyed 1,200
acres of mountain forests, dumped waste in
nine “valley fills,” and
damaged or destroyed
almost three miles of
stream. A&G Coal
Corp., has appealed
the decision, but
Southern Appalachian
Mountain Stewards
and other groups vow
to defend Ison Rock
Ridge.
samsva.org

16 | BlueRidgeCountry.com

Bill Russ

The U.S Forest Service is
seeking input on the future
used of North Carolina’s
Pisgah and Nantahala
National forests.

http://www.dogwoodalliance.org/campaigns/bioenergy http://www.dogwoodalliance.org/campaigns/bioenergy http://fs.usda.gov/goto/nfsnc/nprevision http://www.dogwoodalliance.org/campaigns/bioenergy http://www.globaljusticeecology.org http://www.appalachianvoices.org/energysavings http://fs.usda.gov/goto/nfsnc/nprevision http://www.samsva.org http://www.globaljusticeecology.org http://fs.usda.gov/goto/nfsnc/nprevision http://BlueRidgeCountry.com

Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013