Dear Biomass Opponent,
Thank you for being a part of the national Anti-Biomass Incineration Campaign. As I’m sure you already know, over the past few years our grassroots network across 32 states has shed light on the harmful health and environmental impacts from biomass incineration at the local, regional, national and international level.
Industrial-scale biomass energy has gone from being a so-called “clean and green solution” in the eyes of many Americans to a health hazard, climate disaster, and threat to forests. Before the national Campaign ramped up just a few short years ago, many environmental groups were singing the praises of biomass—now most of them are coming out against it. Dozens of biomass proposals have been defeated—including Traverse City, Michigan, Valdosta, Georgia, Scottsburg and Milltown, Indiana, and Pownal, Vermont—the developers chased out of town due, in part, to the resistance of network members like you who insist that clean energy does not come out of a smokestack.
Unlike many large nonprofit organizations, almost all of your donation will go directly towards Energy Justice Network’s lean and mean, on-the-ground grassroots work—including managing the 200 person Biomass Opponents listserv, the national Dirty Energy mapping project, and The Biomass Monitor newsletter. We’re looking to expand the Anti-Biomass Campaign coordinator position based on the East Coast beyond the current 7 hours a week to include another coordinator on the West Coast—strategically covering the entire country in our national advocacy and education work!
There’s no question the national Campaign has its work cut out for it, when billions of taxpayer dollars are being spent under the pretense of biomass energy being “clean and green.” Learning from past successes (and failures), it’s clear that ordinary citizens banding together to stamp out biomass energy before it takes root is the best way to stop it. The final nail in the bio-monster’s coffin will come as local resistance joins together in solidarity to form a powerful national campaign—taking the fight from NIMBY (Not in My Backyard) to NOPE (Not on Planet Earth)!
In this brutal economy, there’s limited funding out there for the important grassroots work Energy Justice Network is doing. While foundations are tentatively starting to fund some anti-biomass work, very little of it is going towards grassroots organizing on the local and national level. The Anti-Biomass Campaign will keep fighting for our right to clean air, wild forests, and a livable climate.
Without a strong national campaign, the anti-biomass movement is like a handful of bees getting swatted by the biomass industry. But a unified Anti-Biomass Campaign is like a swarm of bees teaming up to defend the hive.
Sincerest Thanks and Best Wishes in the New Year from the Energy Justice Network team:
Mike Ewall, Karen Orr, Traci Confer, Aaron Kreider, and Josh Schlossberg