Comment Log Display

The carbon emissions from clearcutting—which includes all the
impacts from soil disturbance—are not offset for 80 to 100 years or
more. We do not have time to wait that long, in the battle to save
the planet from global warming. Under this plan, polluters will be
able to trade their emissions for credits from forestry “offsets”
that are not offsets at all, and will only serve to hasten the
demise of the planet and California ’s rich biological heritage.
And, California ’s forests are more than chunks of carbon;
California ’s Sierra Nevada and Klamath-Siskiyou forests are
designated global biodiversity hotspots. Clearcutting – as
practiced by the majority of timber companies in the state and
sanctioned by our state regulators—permanently eliminates habitat
for entire suites of plants and wipes out the entire home ranges
for dozens of animals. Even though trees are replanted, the
resulting tree farm bears nothing in common with a natural forest
(except for the presence of one or two species of conifers).   

The net impact of permitting this to continue, and rewarding it
under these proposed regulations, will be the certain entrainment
of extinction for untold numbers of plants and animals—loss of
habitat will only be exacerbated by the adoption of a program that
will not be effective at reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Thus
this policy is a lose-lose for the environment.