Drax Plc plan to buy further into the wood burning industry, by purchasing Pinnacle “Renewable Energy”. This company log some of the last remaining old forests in British Columbia, to be burned at Drax Power Station in North Yorkshire.
They will be voting on this a the end of March, and remote votes must be in by 29th March. This is a surprise as Drax plan to have their Annual General meeting on 21st April.
See this summary article by Canadian organisation Stand.Earth. Stand.Earth have also launched a full investigation into British Columbia’s which can be read in this document.
In a quote taken from the above article:
UK residents may be shocked to learn that their power is being generated by burning some of the last stands of old and natural forests in British Columbia, home to endangered wildlife like caribou and among the most carbon-rich in the world—right up until they are clearcut to make wood pellets.
In no world is this acceptable, and to be growing this sector during a global climate crisis is horrifying. Old growth forests in BC are nearly gone, and the provincial government campaigned on a commitment to protect old forests while pursuing a paradigm shift for forestry. We were promised a new future for forests, but allowing them instead to be clearcut and shipped overseas to be burned in coal converted plants is medieval. People living in the UK and Canada must come together to oppose this industry and support real, clean renewable energy that protects forests and our climate.
- Tegan Hansen, Forest Campaigner, Stand.earth
This cannot go unanswered in the UK, and we must take the short time we have to do everything we can to stop Drax committing this climate crime. We must remember that the the UK Government fund Drax and that any crime Drax commit the Government are complicit in.
We must come together and take action. Watch this space for suggestions.
Areas we need help in:
- Managing our social media
- Writing press releases
- Affinity groups prepared to take action independently
- People who can make info-graphics
Contact us on axedrax [at] pm.me if you would like to get involved in organising against Drax. Any amount of help is appreciated. You also just sign up for updates about taking action.