Emily McGlynn talked about challenges in identifying the effects of new wood pellet demand on forest carbon. She discussed a recently published paper in Nature Scientific Reports which looked at the effects of new wood pellet mills on forest carbon and number of trees in the U.S. Southeast, with new pellet demand driven largely by European renewable energy policy. Data challenges, omitted variables, and econometric approach all make causal identification difficult. Discussion focused on opportunities for improving spatial and temporal resolution of forest carbon data and other opportunities for natural experiments.