What Southern Environmental Justice Organizers Can Teach Us About Fighting Biomass in the PNW

04/29/25 • 43 min

Biomass energy, that is, burning pelletized wood for electricity generation, is a classic false climate solution. It has been devastating forests and communities in the Southeast for years, and the Biomass industry is dead set on expanding into the Pacific Northwest.

We did a deep dive into Biomass a couple of years ago, which you can find in the Coast Range Radio podcast feed.

But with the Trump administration and Congressional Republicans (along with some Democrats) attempting to gut protections for forests, now is a good time to learn from activists in the South and check in on the state of Biomass here in the Northwest.

So I’m joined by two amazing guests, Dr Treva Gear with The Dogwood Alliance, and Brenna Bell of 350PDX.

While you’re here, please make sure you're subscribed, and consider leaving us a nice review on your podcast app!

My email is [email protected], reach out anytime with questions, feedback, or just to say hi.

Show Notes:

https://dogwoodalliance.org/

https://350pdx.org/ax-drax/

https://www.nobigbiomasspnw.org/

"Burned: Are Trees the New Coal?" - https://burnedthemovie.com/

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We did a deep dive into Biomass a couple of years ago, which you can find in the Coast Range Radio podcast feed.

So I’m joined by two amazing guests, Dr Treva Gear with The Dogwood Alliance, and Brenna Bell of 350PDX.

While you’re here, please make sure you're subscribed, and consider leaving us a nice review on your podcast app!

My email is [email protected], reach out anytime with questions, feedback, or just to say hi.

Show Notes:

https://dogwoodalliance.org/

https://350pdx.org/ax-drax/

https://www.nobigbiomasspnw.org/

"Burned: Are Trees the New Coal?" - https://burnedthemovie.com/

Support the show

Previous Episode

Washington's Legacy Forest Defense Campaign & Twin Harbors Waterkeeper

This show has been pretty Oregon-centric, but I’m told there is a large landmass just north of us that also has a lot of amazing people doing environmental and climate justice work.

So I’m putting my Oregon bias aside for today to learn more about one of the most exciting and effective climate forest campaigns in the Pacific Northwest - Washington Legacy Forest Defense Campaign!

To find out what a legacy forest is, and how folks are working to protect them, I’m joined by Joshua Wright with the Washington Legacy Forest Defense Coalition. I’m also joined by Lee First with Twin Harbors Waterkeeper, to learn about the great work they do to protect Washington’s coastal waterways and watersheds.

Please help me out by sharing texting the link to this show to a friend or two (or sharing any other way!). And we have a new instagram page, just in case you're into that sort of thing...

Show Notes:

https://twinharborswaterkeeper.org/

https://www.wlfdc.org/

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Next Episode

Protecting Eelgrass & Rocky Habitats with the Oregon Ocean Alliance

All of us in the northwest love our ocean, but we often don’t show it the love that it truly deserves.

Ocean conservation is chronically underfunded and under prioritized, but the newly formed Oregon Ocean Alliance is aiming to change that and bring much needed attention and resources to our ocean and coastal ecosystems.

To talk about all of that and more, I’m joined by two great guests, Annie Merrill of Oregon Shores, and Joe Liebezeit with Bird Alliance of Oregon. They are also co-chairs of the Oregon Ocean Alliance.

The show email is [email protected]. Reach out anytime!

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