California: Timber industry wants to maximize logging of carbon credit forests
When it comes to generating revenue selling carbon credits for
protected forests, the timber industry is opposed. But when it comes
to being able to not only cut down the forest, but also sell carbon
credits for fake forest protection: the timber industry is an eager
advocate! Any 5th grader can tell you that loggers are a source of
carbon emissions not a source of carbon sequestration. But the
industry isn’t as smart as a 5th grader so they are up in arms about
being “unfairly” excluded from participation in California’s
forest carbon sequestration policies.
Truth is only 15% of a cut down
tree is actually locked up for decades in product, the other 85% of a
killed tree and it’s killed soils is carbon emissions. And all over
the world the timber industry has succeeded in undermining forest
protections that lock up carbon emissions for centuries. Yet
California is still standing up to them! So look for a full court
press from big timber to undermine California policy by way of the
following forum / bill below! –Editor, Forest Policy Research
Photo from: http://www.climateshift.com/climate-change-maps/carbon-sequestration-atlas.htm
In December 2008 the California Air Resources Board held a workshop to
discuss revisions to the California Climate Action Registry’s Forest
Protocol, which specifies accounting procedures to be followed to
verify reductions in GHG from voluntary forest-related projects. The
protocol was adopted by the CCRA in 2005, and by the ARB in 2007 as
part of its “voluntary early action measures” under the SB 32 GHG
reduction process. For approximately the last year a workgroup formed
by the CCRA has been examining possible improvements to the protocol;
the workgroup is made up of representatives of private landowners,
public landowners, environmental groups, scientists and academics,
regulators, and third-party emission reduction verifiers. It is
anticipated that a revised protocol will be forthcoming in March 2009,
and thereafter subject to adoption by CCAR and ARB in April 2009. For
further information on the revision process, see
http://www.arb.ca.gov/cc/forestry/forestry_protocols/forestry_protocols.htm.
Click link for full text/increase funding for writer/producer of these
words: http://eartotheground.typepad.com/weblog/2009/01/california-is-reexamining-the-forestry-protocol-for-voluntary-ghg-reductions.html
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The managed forestry industry is so much larger in North America than in the rest of the world, that it is impossible to ignore them in any type of carbon credit reduction program. The concept of a power plant in Germany buying credits to promote the planting of trees in India, is not going to work in the US. There is role managed forests can play, it may be limited to the promotion of wood pellets to generate electricity, or credit for lumber made. Trying to tie in clean water, biodiversity, the conservation of native old growth forests, and other very honorable and desirable goals, may be a lost opportunity to get the managed forestry industry involved in these early planing stages of a national carbon reduction program.