In a bizarre turn of events, forests across the Southern U.S. are being cut down to provide fuel for Europe. When the EU pressured energy corporations to move beyond coal, many avoided switching to clean energy by burning trees instead. Now the earth’s forests and atmosphere are paying the price.

Unless the EU acts to protect against wood burning, soon Europe’s energy future may look more like the 19th century than the progressive clean energy revolution we’ve been promised.

The EU’s clean energy rules currently classify wood as ‘renewable energy,’ because trees can be regrown. But this confusing policy ignores that the main reason for getting rid of fossil fuels is to reduce carbon emissions. Unlike truly clean energies like wind and solar, burning trees releases carbon and contributes to climate change.

The dirty truth is that deforestation now accounts for a majority of so-called ‘renewable energy’ generated in Poland and Finland, and nearly 40 percent in Germany. And the British government even offers hefty subsidies for companies to switch from coal to wood.

Energy corporations are destroying forests faster than they can be replenished. And many tons of fossil fuel is being burned to ship them from the U.S. to Europe. There’s no reason for the EU’s clean energy policy to permit unregulated logging when cleaner, more renewable alternatives exist.