As fuel costs rise, a lot of Americans are starting to burn wood to keep warm. The detrimental environmental and health repercussions of burning wood have prompted the EPA to propose new guidelines. The EPA wishes to encourage persons to forsake indoor stoves for outdoor wood boilers that pipe warm water into homes. The boilers, according to EPA representative Alison Davis, use ten times as much wood, but those meeting EPA standards are 90% cleaner.
According to various experts consulted for an article in the Asheville Citizen-Times, most traditional fireplaces are incapable of heating a room, 70-80% of wood stoves sold in the US are not EPA-certified, several states have burn bans to limit wood burning, and “People don’t realize burning wood is a source of pollution.”
A couple miles away on the same planet, the US Forest Service is burning 1250 acres in the northern Wilson Creek area to manage flammable debris on the forest floor. The USFS is also burning 2000-2500 acres in the Cherokee National Forest of Eastern Tennessee.
As a result, the Watauga Democrat reports a “thick smoke enveloping much of Watauga County” with “residual smoke [that] may remain in the area for a couple of days.”
Morals of the story include: (1) Ignore what the other guy is doing. (2) Wood smoke is bad, but it is good, and it is good but bad; depending on what “is” is. (3) Only government can be trusted with fire. (4) Why start a fire when you can start a FIRE!! (5) Select trees are better than most people. (6) The more wood you burn, the greener you get. (7) I give up.
