Environmentalists warn against burning US trees

Environmentalists are trying to block the expansion of a transatlantic trade bringing American wood to burn in European power stations.

The trade is driven by EU rules promoting renewable energy to combat climate change.

Many millions of tonnes of wood pellets will soon be shipped annually to help keep the lights on in the UK. Other EU nations may follow.

The timber companies claim that only low-grade trees, which would otherwise be discarded, are used to create the wood pellets.

But Derb Carter from the Southern Environmental Law Center fears that UK subsidies for burning wood in power stations are harming wildlife-rich forests in the USA. He spoke to the BBC's Roger Harrabin in a swamp forest in Georgia.

Produced by the BBC's Ted Metzger and Ian Druce