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This purchase will also be the largest registered by the Climate Action Reserve, a national offsets registry working to ensure environmental benefits, integrity and transparency of emission reductions. The sizeable investment will help fight climate change by yielding 600,000 metric tons of verifiable greenhouse gas emission reductions.
The ClimateSmart program is purchasing the emission reductions from The Conservation Fund’s Big River and Salmon Creek Forest carbon project.
By sustainably managing the growth of more than 16,000 acres of redwood and Douglas fir forests on the Mendocino Coast, The Conservation Fund will allow them to grow larger and capture more greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.
“PG&E’s ClimateSmart program is proud to collaborate with The Conservation Fund on our customers’ largest investment to date in fighting global warming,” said Wendy Pulling, director of environmental policy for PG&E. “Such purchases not only help balance out our enrolled customers’ greenhouse gas emissions, they also help protect California’s natural resources.”
The Big River and Salmon Creek Forest carbon project will also provide meaningful employment in the area as workers implement sustainable forest practices and restore watersheds. In addition, these activities will protect habitat for species such as northern spotted owl and coho salmon.
“The sustainable management of the Big River and Salmon Creek forests made possible by the ClimateSmart program will help ensure that the redwood and Douglas fir forests surrounding Big River and Salmon Creek will be permanently protected from fragmentation, development and conversion to non-forest uses,” said Chris Kelly, California program director of The Conservation Fund.
This is the second contract between PG&E’s ClimateSmart program and The Conservation Fund. In February 2008, the ClimateSmart program purchased 200,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emission reductions from The Conservation Fund’s Garcia River Forest project, located on California's North Coast. The forest is further protected by a conservation easement on the forest held by The Nature Conservancy. This project was among the first forest carbon projects to be registered with the Climate Action Reserve.
Earlier this month the ClimateSmart program permanently “retired” the first 40,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emission reductions from the Garcia River Forest project through the Climate Action Reserve. The ClimateSmart program retires greenhouse gas emission reductions once they have been independently verified through the Climate Action Reserve’s rigorous processes. This retirement ensures that these reductions will not be used for any purpose other than for making enrolled customers carbon neutral.
“Retiring 40,000 metric tons of GHG emissions is a significant milestone, and it is notable that the retired emissions are from a project that is well respected for its quality and many benefits to the environment,” said Gary Gero, president of the Climate Action Reserve. “This retirement will ensure that no other entity can claim these emission reductions in the future.”
The ClimateSmart program is a voluntary, tax-deductible program that allows enrolled PG&E customers to balance out the greenhouse gas emissions produced by the energy they use. To participate, customers pay a separate amount on their monthly energy bill, based on their actual energy use. The average residential participant pays less than five dollars per month. The ClimateSmart program invests all payments in new, independently verified projects that reduce or absorb greenhouse gas emissions.
PG&E enrolled as the first participant in the ClimateSmart program by committing approximately $1.5 million of shareholder funds over the first three years of the program to make the energy use in the company’s facilities completely carbon neutral. To date, more than 30,000 customers, including homes, businesses and cities, have enrolled in PG&E’s ClimateSmart program.
For more information about PG&E’s ClimateSmart program, visit www.joinclimatesmart.com .
The Conservation Fund forges partnerships to conserve America’s legacy of land and water resources. Through land acquisition, community and economic development and training and education, the Fund and its partners demonstrate balanced conservation solutions that emphasize the integration of economic and environmental goals. Since 1985, the Fund has helped protect more than 6 million acres throughout America while consistently earning top rankings for efficiency by review groups such as Charity Navigator and the American Institute of Philanthropy. For more information, visit www.conservationfund.org .
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“The 24 founding members of the California Invasive Species Advisory Committee (CISAC) have a challenging task ahead of them,” said Secretary A.G. Kawamura of the California Department of Food and Agriculture, chairman of the council. “They will lay the groundwork that will enable this council to enhance our collective ability to protect California’s environment, food systems, human health and economy from invasive and destructive pests, plants and diseases.”
The group includes Lake County's own Victoria Brandon of Lower Lake, as Lake County News reported last week.
The ISCC, formed earlier this year, is chaired by Secretary Kawamura and vice-chaired by Mike Chrisman, Secretary for the California Natural Resources Agency. Also serving on the council are Secretary Linda Adams of California’s Environmental Protection Agency; Secretary Dale Bonner from the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency; Secretary Kim Belshe from the California Health and Human Services Agency; and Matt Bettenhausen, Acting Secretary of the California Emergency Management Agency.
The CISAC is tasked with making recommendations to the CISAC, including drafting an invasive species rapid response plan. The committee will take input from local government, tribal governments and federal agencies, as well as environmental organizations, academic and science institutions, affected industry sectors and impacted landowners.
Members of the California Invasive Species Council Advisory Committee include the following:
Linda Arcularius, supervisor, Inyo Board of Supervisors;
Ted Batkin, president, California Citrus Research Board;
Victoria Brandon, member, Sierra Club;
Mike Chapel, wildlife biologist, U.S. Forest Service;
Gabriela Chavarria, national science director, Natural Resources Defense Council;
Christiana Conser, project manager, Cal-HIP & PlantRight Sustainable Conservation;
Ricardo De Leon, microbiology unit manager – quagga, Metropolitan Water District;
Joseph M. DiTomaso, weed specialist, University of California Davis Cooperative Extension;
Robert Dolezal, executive director, California Association of Nurseries and Garden Centers;
Dennis Faria, aquaculture, Imperial Catfish;
Andrea Fox, governmental affairs division, California Farm Bureau Federation;
Larry Godfrey, vice chair, Department of Entomology, U.C. Davis;
Robert Hoffman, assistant regional administrator for habitat, National Marine Fisheries Service, Southwest Region;
Doug Johnson, executive director, California Invasive Plant Council;
Mary Maddux-Gonzales, Sonoma County Public Health officer;
Karen McDowell, environmental planner, San Francisco Estuary Partnership;
Leigh Melander, founder, Imaginal Institute;
David Pattison, member, California Association of Pest Control Advisors;
John Randall, associate science director, Nature Conservancy;
Kristina Schierenbeck, research leader, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service;
Zea Sonnabend, policy specialist, California Certified Organic Farmers;
Rick Tomlinson, technical committee, California Strawberry Commission;
Greg Van Wassenhove, county agricultural commissioner, Santa Clara County;
Keith Douglass Warner, lecturer, Santa Clara University.
For more information on the Invasive Species Council of California, please visit www.iscc.ca.gov .
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