Timber Industry Lobbied to Alter Environmental Ruling in its Favor

Under rules adopted Thursday by the California Air Resources Board (CARB), timber firms, including the giant Sierra Pacific Industries, could earn tens of millions of dollars through the sale of carbon credits. Despite opposition to a provision that would make clearcutting eligible to receive offset credits, the Board passed a plan that critics say was unduly influenced by logging industry lobbyists.

The state’s Cap and Trade plan is designed to reduce emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 under A.B. 32. Passage of the plan effectively creates the biggest carbon market in the nation.

In recent weeks, 46  environmental groups appealed to the Air Resources Board to convince Board members that the forest protocol within the proposed plan would enable logging companies to clearcut at the expense of the overall vitality of the forests. Sierra Club California members placed dozens of phones calls and testified at Thursday's public hearing. An action appeal from the club said, "We cannot and should not try to clear-cut our way out of climate change."  

California Watch reports that the biggest timber company and landowner in California, Sierra Pacific Industries, lobbied aggressively ahead of the ruling.