*[Enwl-eng] Don’t burn food, don’t burn wood!
ENWLine
Hi,
When you think 'renewables' you probably think of solar panels and wind turbines. The truth is that in Europe almost 60% of what we call 'renewables' is actually wood and crops. [1] Yes! European dirty coal power plants now burn trees and crops on a mass scale. The EU calls it green energy and subsidises it.
We can change this. EU leaders are rethinking the law that allows this to happen.
This law is a disaster for the environment. To get the subsidies, enormous businesses which clear our remaining forests and plough the little that remains of our meadows and grasslands are popping up. And our old, dirty, coal plants are magically converted into 'clean energy’ plants. All this subsidised with our tax money.
Before they change this law, the European Commission wants to know what people in Europe think. We have until tomorrow to tell them. If we show that thousands of taxpayers do not want their money to subsidise burning forests and food, the Commission will be more likely to change the law. Sign and tell the European Commission: don't burn our forests and food.
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EU subsidies go to the producers of the “green fuels”. That’s why perfectly healthy trees are cut, turned into pellets, transported to a power plant and burned as “green” energy. The area of the forests in Europe, where trees are cut for industrial purposes, increased by 0,37 million hectares in the last decade. [2] Not to mention all the wood imported to the EU from all corners of the world which causes deforestation there. [3]
It’s the same with crops, in particular corn: it too, is cut and burned. Because of the subsidies, vast fields of corn are popping up everywhere in Europe, pushing out other crops and destroying our last meadows and grasslands with their unique diversity of plants and flowers, insects and small animals. [4] And the prices of land skyrocket. It makes no sense and yet our tax money supports it.
Our community has always cared for Europe’s forests and food production. From defending forests in Poland, Bulgaria, and Romania [5], to wanting to revolutionise the EU’s agriculture [6], we have mobilised endless times to protect our environment. This time, we can do both at once: save forests and crops from ruthless devastation.
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With a genuine (not fake) green greeting,
David (London), Marta
(Warsaw), Olga (Bologna) and the entire WeMove team
PS: The name of each person signing the petition will be submitted directly to the European Commission in their official consultation process. [7] The more names we have, the more powerful our voice. Add your name!
References:
[1]
https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/en/publication/brochures-leaflets/brief-biomass-energy-european-union
[2]
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-01848-x
[3] A recent
article:
https://news.mongabay.com/2020/08/are-forests-the-new-coal-global-alarm-sounds-as-biomass-burning-surges/
and
a more detailed report:
https://ec.europa.eu/energy/sites/ener/files/documents/biosustain_report_final.pdf
[4]
https://ec.europa.eu/environment/archives/life/publications/lifepublications/lifefocus/documents/grassland.pdf
[5]
Romania:
https://you.wemove.eu/campaigns/romania-save-europe-s-last-large-virgin-forests
Bulgaria:
https://act.wemove.eu/campaigns/Save-the-Kresna-Gorge
Poland:
https://act.wemove.eu/campaigns/defend-forest
[6]
https://act.wemove.eu/campaigns/withdraw-cap
[7]
https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/12553-EU-renewable-energy-rules-review/public-consultation
You Move Europe is an online action platform dedicated to help making Europe a more democratic, environmentally and socially just place. You Move Europe puts power in your hands. If you have an idea to make Europe a better place, You Move Europe helps you make it a reality. Petitions on this platform are started and run by civil society groups and members of the public. WeMove Europe hosts these petitions and they are in line with our values but they are not necessarily endorsed by WeMove Europe.
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