The Editor,
On March 9 the La Pêche coalition for a Green New Deal did a brilliant presentation on the pellet fuel industry. Centered around BBC Panorama’s, “The Green Energy Scandal Exposed”, it was a very educational insight into the British company DRAX and their operations right here in Canada. It is a story of lies, doublespeak, twisted truths, and deception at the highest levels of government and industry. While receiving massive subsidies for “green renewable energy,” DRAX clearcuts swaths of forest, not even following their own guidelines for supposedly “responsible forestry,” then blatantly lies about it through their public relations spin. The pellet fuel is replacing coal to create electricity, but the carbon footprint is even worse than before. All the while, the public is kept in the dark, while their tax money is being funneled into the pockets of greedy entrepreneurs.
Having worked in the wood heat industry for years, I find this really hard to take. I always loved the way wood heat taps into the cycle of photosynthesis: living trees absorb carbon dioxide and create oxygen; dead trees release their carbon, whether you burn them or not.
The essential is to have living, thriving forests. Clear-cutting absolutely destroys this cycle. Planted forests take many years (hundreds) to even begin to have any semblance of biodiversity.
What is being done here by companies such as DRAX is criminal, and the forests they are destroying are ours, right here in Canada.
Renny Lambton
Lascelles, QC