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Erin Schaff

Wood pellets, roughly the size of a cigarette filter, are exported from the U.S. and burned for electricity around the world.

An aerial view of logs at an Enviva wood pellet factory, in Garysburg, North Carolina, March 28, 2021.

Young pine trees grow on a 6,000 acre forest in Viriginia. In barely a decade, the southeastern United States wood pellet industry has grown from almost nothing to 23 mills with capacity to produce more than 10 million metric tons annually for export.

Tree branches are dragged to a wood chipper, destined to become wood pellets produced by a nearby Enviva mill, in Moore County, North Carolina.

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence arrives to preside over a joint session of Congress to certify the 2020 Electoral College results on January 6, 2021. The proceedings were interrupted by a violent mob that Trump had incited earlier that day. Lawmakers are now calling for his removal from office.