Exploring news coverage of a targeted climate change issue in the Southern US

Wood pellets are a type of biomass fuel made from compressed wood. In 2016, the U.S. accounted for 26% of global wood pellet production, according to a U.S. Forest Service study, yet most of these pellets are exported to be used for energy in European countries and Japan. The wood pellets industry’s growth is largely linked to government subsidies.

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Pellet producers claim that the energy created from this process is renewable because trees can be grown back. Enviva, the world’s largest wood pellet producer, says it sources its wood from privately-owned forests, sawmills and other wood industry manufacturers, not public forests. However, further research and journalistic investigation have surfaced doubts about its use as a renewable energy source. A 2018 MIT study showed that using wood pellets instead of coal in power generation increases the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere. This is because wood pellets emit more carbon dioxide than coal does when burned, adding to the emissions that exacerbate climate change. A CBS news story provides a behind-the-scenes perspective in an Enviva plant, suggesting that the wood pellet industry is actually worsening environmental issues.

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Dogwood Alliance, a North Carolina based nonprofit that promotes sustainable forestry management practices and advances environmental justice, commissioned MEAG to study the discussion and framing of wood pellets in news and social media. The study examined digital discourse in six states (Georgia, Alabama, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia) over a two-year period, beginning in June 2022. Data about news media coverage was collected using Media Cloud, and X and Facebook posts were also examined for the study’s social media component.

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The resulting research provided valuable insights for Dogwood Alliance about the relative prominence of wood pellet biomass in the media landscape of each state. It was found that Alabama paid the greatest amount of attention to wood pellets in its news media, overall, and South Carolina paid the least amount of attention. However, Alabama’s news landscape focused the least on environmental concerns relating to wood pellets, centering on economic matters, like stock losses and gains and job creation through wood pellet mills. Georgia‘s discourse spotlighted environmental issues associated with wood pellets the most in its news media. Figure 1 broadly shows how the sentiment towards wood pellets varied from state to state in news media coverage.

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Other central topics of discussion surrounding wood pellets in different states’ news media included the growth of the timber industry (Mississippi), developing green solutions (North Carolina), using biomass as a source of clean energy (South Carolina), and commercial and regulatory developments (Virginia).

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Dogwood Alliance was found to be one of the most influential entities in news data on the topic of wood pellets. On X, the organization was the singularly most mentioned author on the topic, and one of their petitions is among the most shared content on the platform. This investigation allowed Dogwood Alliance to assess their impact, as well as identify areas- geographically and in terms of topics surrounding the discussion of wood pellets- where more attention needs to be drawn to encourage sustainable forest management practices.

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