Daily Archives: September 20, 2019

Today’s Takeaway

US using attrition to disable WTO’s dispute mechanism

September 20, 2019
Category: Today's Takeaway

The US is refusing to nominate replacement panelists, effectively disabling the WTO’s dispute settlement system, putting paper and softwood reviews on hold. In related news: the softwood dispute is blamed for Kenora, Ontario’s mill closure, and COFI outlines policy choices to renew BC’s forest sector—60 in all. Meanwhile, a former BC mayor suggests gov’t inaction on spruce beetles is deliberate (and caribou recovery related).

In Forestry/Climate news: Nova Scotia to consider forest carbon offsets; BC seeks more energy efficient construction; a Sierra Club call to action; Amazon guardians stalk illegal loggers; Malaysia’s forests are more sustainably managed that you thought; and past warnings and gov’t action on BC logging road with fatal bus crash. 

Finally, entrepreneur John Brink supports the future of BC’s forest sector with college donation.

Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor

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Business & Politics

The U.S. May Strike a Fatal Blow to the WTO Sooner Than Expected

By Bryce Baschuk
Bloomberg Economics
September 19, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, United States

A U.S. lawyer… may resign in December, a move that would cripple the global conflict settlement system. The voluntary departure of Thomas Graham… would accelerate the appellate body’s looming demise and force countries to fundamentally rethink their reliance on the WTO to settle the surging number of trade disputes. …President Donald Trump… and other U.S. critics argue that the WTO dispute settlement system threatens America’s sovereign rights. In response, the European Union, Canada and other member countries are discussing ways to reform the appellate body. …The Trump administration… has refused to consider nominees to replace the four vacancies on the panel. …“Tactically, the U.S. is getting what it wanted by disabling the appellate body.” About a dozen appeal cases are pending, including a dispute over EU restrictions on Russian natural-gas imports and a pair of U.S.-Canadian disputes over paper and softwood lumber.

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Brink donates $1 million to College of New Caledonia

By Mark Nielsen
Prince George Citizen
September 19, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Saying he sees a viable future for the forest industry in northern B.C., Prince George lumber manufacturer John Brink committed $1 million to trades and technology training at the College of New Caledonia on Thursday. …Brink presented a giant cheque for the amount to the school’s interim president Tara Szerensci. …”Especially in light of all the things that are happening and all the things that government is trying to do, …we believe that we have to step up to the plate and try to assist in bringing us forward to a new industry,” Brink said. …The announcement comes 20 years after Brink …donated $500,000 to the school. …”The current challenges, although there are many of them, are temporary,” he said. “The industry is going to get smaller but I see still lots of opportunities.” Indeed, Brink said his company is in the process of expanding its operations in Prince George, Vanderhoof and Houston.

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Forests Minister “gets” COFI

By Cheryl Jahn
CKPG Today
September 19, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

PRINCE GEORGE – Forests Minister Doug Donaldson says he has thoroughly read a report completed by the Council of Forest Industries on the future of the industry. The report, entitled “SMART FUTURE: A path forward for B.C.’s forest products industry,” sets out some dramatic changes to the industry in the coming years, adding it is already a very efficient industry out necessity. It sets out 60 recommendations, with its Number One recommendation being to “define the working forest land base. Like conservation areas, designate the area that will be available for harvesting and lock in the commitment.” “Generally speaking, there are many of the recommendations that align with what we’re trying to do as a government, which is focusing on maximizing value rather than maximizing volume,” says Donaldson.

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COFI issues long-term plan to renew forest industry

By Mark Nielsen
The Prince George Citizen
September 19, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

The BC Council of Forest Industries is calling on government and industry to pursue a series of “policy choices”. …There are 60 in all… entitled “Smart Future: A Path Forward for B.C.’s Forest Products Industry.” “In addition to addressing today’s challenges, many people are asking what the future holds for forestry in BC, and where will we be once we have moved through this transition,” COFI president Susan Yurkovich said. …The proposals are divided among five themes that include steps to “double down on market and product diversification.” On that note, authors suggest an export tax credit for products shipped to non-U.S. markets and increasing the proportion of value-added manufacturing in the province to at least 20 per cent within five years. …The plan also calls for securing a land base for harvesting. …Specific proposals on that theme include salvaging timber within two years of a wildfire and switching a portion of forest licenses from volume-based to area based.

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Guns, taxes, climate change and more at North Okanagan forum

By Brendan Shykora
Penticton Western News
September 19, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

North Okanagan-Shuswap residents got their first side-by-side look at their riding’s federal candidates at the first All Candidates Forum of 2019. …B.C’s forestry industry was an early-mentioned concern, and candidates were eager to convey their support of the industry to a community that saw reductions announced at the Armstrong Tolko mill earlier that day. NDP candidate Harwinder Sandhu is from Mackenzie, a town that’s been rocked by recent mill shutdowns, and she spoke to her connection to this community. “My family relied on sawmills, and forestry was the backbone of many towns like Mackenzie and Terrace.” Sandhu pointed to a report with 60 recommendations put out by the B.C. Council of Forest Industries on Tuesday. “They align very well with the NDP platform,” she said. “I will be committed to working with (the council) because I know that for a lot of people forestry is bread and butter.”

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Susan Yurkovich: A path forward for B.C.’s forest products industry

By Susan Yurkovich, BC Council of Forest Industries
The Vancouver Sun
September 19, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Susan Yurkovich

Forestry has long been a cornerstone of the B.C. economy, supporting 140 communities and many thousands of families throughout the province. Today… that forestry is an industry in transition in BC. While we have always had to manage through market and price volatility, we are currently facing something of a “perfect storm” — an array of market and operating challenges, along with a structural shift in the cost and availability of fibre. …BC has become a high cost producer just at the time we are facing volatile market prices, punitive U.S. tariffs, and increasing global competition. As an industry, we have no choice but to make the difficult decision to rebalance our milling capacity to match the lower level of sustainable harvest. As we do so, workers and communities need to be supported. Then, we need to ensure that the facilities that remain have secure access to enough fibre to run consistently and efficiently. But there is much more that we can do. Smart choices, made now, can help attract the investment required to secure a bright future for our forest industry.

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Pumps at Cowichan Lake shut down

By Robert Barron
The Chemainus Valley Courier
September 19, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

The pumps in Cowichan Lake were shut down as of 4 p.m. Wednesday. Brian Houle, environmental manager for Catalyst Crofton which operates the weir at Cowichan Lake, said water levels in the lake have continued to rise due to the rain over the past two days. …But Houle pointed out that the water issues this year may not be over yet. …Catalyst had to resort to pumping water into Cowichan River over its weir at Cowichan Lake on Aug. 29 to maintain water flows in the river. It’s the first time the company, which depends on water from the Cowichan River to run its pulp and paper mill operations in Crofton, has had to take such action since the weir was first constructed in the 1950s.

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Union says mediated negotiation with WFP has been ‘disappointing’

By Mike Davies
North Island Gazette
September 19, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

The union representing striking Western Forest Products (WFP) employees says it is disappointed that neither negotiations nor mediation seem to be bearing fruit in its labour dispute with the company, but WFP itself says it’s the union that has walked away from the talks. In a press release, United Steelworkers (USW) Local 1-1937, says mediators met with both sides on Sept. 13. USW, the release says, “tabled a revised set of proposals” for WFP to consider, including a revised wage proposal, but “mediators then spent four of the six hours in mediation meeting with WFP, returning on two occasions to advise that WFP’s positions were relatively unchanged with no anticipated movement.” …“We are disappointed that talks have broken off and firmly believe that resuming discussions with the assistance of an independent-mediator is the best way for both parties to resolve our differences,” says Don Demens, President and Chief Executive Officer of WFP in the release.

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10th annual Global Softwood Log & Lumber Conference

Forest Economic Advisors
September 20, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

MARK YOUR CALENDARS! For Our 10th Annual Global Softwood Log & Lumber Conference scheduled for June 17-18, 2020 in Vancouver. The conference will again feature in-depth coverage of key global markets for softwood logs, lumber and the supply dynamics in major exporting and importing countries. This two-day international log, lumber, industry and markets conference includes a cross-section of North American and international speakers. Over 20 speakers and a dozen panelists discuss the most current perspectives and outlooks on what lies ahead in various domestic and international regions. This conference remains vital to market planning and strategy setting to better assess developments in key global markets and supplying regions. The Global Conference is organized by FEA Canada and is held immediately after International Pulp Week (organized by Pulp & Paper Producers Council Annual Meeting) at the same hotel.

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International trade dispute on softwood lumber strikes home

By Reg Clayton
The Kenora Daily Miner
September 19, 2019
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada East

The double edge sword of international trade struck home late last week. The announcement by Prendiville Industries of the temporary closure of the family-owned company’s Kenora Forest Products stud mill came as a shock to the community. The Prendivilles cited the soft market for softwood lumber both domestically and internationally as the reason for suspending operations as 95 percent of production is exported to the U.S. The loss of 115 mill jobs… will not only impact the company, it’s workers and their families but the city as well through the loss of tax revenue and spin-off benefits to the local economy in terms of jobs and related services. …Kenora MP Bob Nault… didn’t mince his words criticizing U.S. tariffs on Canadian lumber imports for imposing an unnecessary financial burden on domestic producers.

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Wood, Paper & Green Building

Flooring 101 for first-time buyers

By Kathleen Freimond
The Vancouver Sun
September 20, 2019
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, Canada West

As one of the largest surface areas in any home, flooring must be durable, look good and be at a price point that works for your budget – no easy ask. …Describing it as “a floor for a lifetime,” solid hardwood floors that have been in place for more than 100 years are still being refinished, says Kjell Nymark, VP of the BC Floor Covering Association. A solid hardwood floor probably provides the best value of any of the flooring options, says Nymark. …Engineered hardwood floors… can also be refinished a number of times, says Nymark. …“Laminate is a wood look-alike and even though the core is typically made of MDF, laminate is not considered wood flooring,” he says. Laminate is often a choice dictated by budget. …Vinyl is making a comeback.

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Timber is top of the class

By David Wylie
The Journal of Commerce
September 20, 2019
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, Canada West

ABBOTSFORD, BC — Located 70 kilometres east of Vancouver in the Fraser Valley, Abbotsford Senior Secondary School features wood as part of a major rehabilitation and replacement project. Central to its design, and crowning the school’s three-storey structure, is an intricate and  impressive timber rotunda roof built of exposed  glue-laminated timber and wood decking. School  principal and educator Rob Comeau shares how  wood is making the school a place where students  feel at home. …”I think you definitely feel better once you’ve been in a space that incorporates wood. It  clears your head. We often have students that  just come to the rotunda to be there, enjoy the  space, and hang out. It’s open and the wood  beams are beautiful and inviting. I think it helps  with anxiety.”

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Forestry

Extensive study finds number of North American birds has dropped by 3 billion since 1970

By Bob Weber
The Canadian Press in The Globe and Mail
September 19, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada

An extensive study of hundreds of bird species across decades worth of data has for the first time estimated how badly numbers of even the most common birds have shrunk. The paper… concludes the total number of North American birds has dropped by three billion since 1970 – about 30 per cent. Some of the most familiar species have been the hardest hit. “The species like pigeons and house sparrows and starlings…are in steep decline,” said Adam Smith, an Environment Canada scientist and the paper’s co-author. The study, conducted through nine universities and government agencies in Canada and the United States, looked at 529 different kinds of birds. …The current study doesn’t address reasons for the drops, but Mr. Smith said previous research points to probable causes. “Habitat loss and degradation… The loss of that ecological space is the primary driver of population decline for almost all of these birds.”

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Sierra Club memoir all about dedication

By Lindsay Kines
The Times-Colonist
September 19, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada

Elizabeth May says she experienced a “Frank Capra moment” while reading Diane Pinch’s new history of the Sierra Club in B.C. Just as Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life imagined …Canada’s Green Party leader began to wonder what BC might look like today if activists behind the Sierra Club had never existed. …May says she envisions walking through one bad development after another in a “dark place.” …That hasn’t happened, of course, as Pinch documents in her detailed history of the club. Instead, dozens of successful campaigns over the years… have helped preserve vast swaths of B.C.’s wilderness. …The book ends with a… call to action in a time of climate change, and Pinch admits it’s a “scary issue for most people these days, with all the changes going on with forest fires and extreme weather.”.

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Canadian National Railway and Tree Canada Announce Major Investment to Support Winnipeg’s Tree Canopy

By Canadian National Railway
Globe News Wire
September 19, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

WINNIPEG — On the occasion of CN’s 100th anniversary, CN is announcing its participation in Mayor Brian Bowman’s Million Tree Challenge. This investment in Winnipeg’s greenspaces is being done with the support, partnership and expertise of Tree Canada, the leading national organization dedicated to improving the lives of Canadians by planting and nurturing trees. CN’s contribution to the Mayor’s Million Tree Challenge is part of CN’S multi-year commitment to Tree Canada to improve and expand urban canopies in major Canadian cities. Winnipeg was selected by CN and Tree Canada as the recipient of the 2020 donation.  The million dollar commitment will enable CN and Tree Canada to plant tens thousands of trees in Winnipeg. CN invites other Winnipeg based companies to join the cause.

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Mayor challenges Winnipeggers to plant 1 million new trees as canopy faces threats from disease, pests

CBC News
September 19, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Brian Bowman

As disease and pests threaten the future of Winnipeg’s tree canopy, Mayor Brian Bowman is asking Winnipeggers to get involved in saving one of the city’s defining features. The mayor issued a challenge to the city’s residents: plant one million trees over the next 20 years, or by the time Winnipeg’s population is expected to crack the seven-digit mark. …The mayor said threats like the emerald ash borer beetle and Dutch elm disease pose a serious risk to Winnipeg’s trees — affecting up to two-thirds of the city’s trees. …Bowman said the initiative will challenge individuals, non-profits and private businesses to help by planting trees on their property, volunteering to plant trees in other spaces or donating to Tree Canada who will support efforts to plant more trees in Winnipeg. The charity also received a $1-million donation from the Canadian National Railway to kick start the One Million Tree Challenge. 

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Northern Sask. residents want boreal forest off the chopping block

CBC News
September 19, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Sylvia McAdam

Sylvia McAdam remembers the medicine she once picked from the land near Big River, Sask. She can’t find it now — and says it never returned after the forested area was chopped. She described how the area has changed post-clearcut. More wind passes through the exposed land, but there is an absence of wildlife. The waterways have changed and the trees on the fringes of the cut are falling. There will be more tree-harvesting in the north, as Sakâw Askiy Management Inc. moves forward on its 20-year plan for the 3.3 million hectares of boreal forest north of Prince Albert. About 19,900 hectares per year are scheduled for harvest in the first decade, and 18,800 hectares in the second. Forestry follows mining as one of the biggest industries in the province.  “​I’m not going to see it come back in my lifetime, maybe my grandchildren, and it’s not going to come back the same way,” McAdam said. 

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How a new tree movement is taking root across Canada

By Mark and Ben Cullen
The Toronto Star
September 20, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

…Fortunately for all of us, the value of trees is coming into focus, and sharper than ever. Science has proven the many benefits of planting trees and maintaining mature trees. According to a report on the Toronto’s Parks, Forestry and Recreation website, there are 10.2 million trees in the city, which provide 18,000 hectares of canopy cover. …The city is investing in community-led tree planting and stewardship on private land to help reach the 40 per cent target. …To achieve the canopy-cover goal, the Toronto city budget included planting costs for 120,307 trees planted in 2017, with 120,000 more in 2018 and another 120,000 this year and next. …Six years ago, a new not-for-profit organization was born from this column in the Toronto Star. …The coalition is called Trees For Life.

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Court halts timber activity in Southwest over threatened owl

By Felicia Fonseca
Associated Press in Helena Independent Record
September 19, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Kathleen Ramsay

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — A U.S. judge has halted tree-cutting activities across 18,750 square miles of the Southwest until federal agencies can get a better handle on how to monitor the population of a threatened owl. The order issued by the U.S. District Court in Tucson, Arizona, covers all five New Mexico national forests and one in Arizona. It’s unclear exactly what activities will be sidelined. Forests across the Southwest are using a mix of logging, mechanical thinning and prescribed burns to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires that threaten the Mexican spotted owl and its habitat. …The Fish and Wildlife Service said …on a pilot project to evaluate trends in the owl population based on occupancy monitoring, but it doesn’t have a strategy or funding to do the work across the owl’s entire range. WildEarth Guardians had asked for an injunction on all 11 national forests in Arizona and New Mexico…

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There’s a new craft beer that aims to tackle climate change

By Danielle De Wolfe
Shortlist
September 20, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: International

If, however, you’re a beer drinker who enjoys nothing more than kicking back and cracking open a cold one, you can now do so safe in the knowledge that you’re doing your bit for the environment. Yes, one Glasgow-based brewery has created a ‘Reforestation’ craft beer that aims to actively fight climate change. Named Scorched Earth, the beer is the first of its kind in Europe and was born out of a collaboration between the Drygate Brewing Company and social carbon offsetting enterprise Offset.Earth. A limited-edition 11.5% ABV imperial stout, the new brew has been aged in Islay whisky barrels to create its unique taste. And when we say limited edition, we really do mean it. Yup, there are only 200 individually numbered bottles on offer. All proceeds from the sales of the beer will be donated to the Offset.Eath initiative, meaning that for every bottle sold, 50 trees are set to be planted. 

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Fighting fire with fire, Amazon ‘forest guardians’ stalk illegal loggers

By Leonardo Benassatto and Ueslei Marcelino
Reuters in the National Post
September 20, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: International

ARARIBOIA INDIGENOUS TERRITORY — Near midnight, a group of six Guajajara tribesmen with their faces painted for battle listen to the rumble of heavy trucks about 19 miles (30 km) from their village in the Amazon rainforest. They suspect a caravan of illegal loggers felling trees on their reservation. The police are not coming, but the natives have a plan to fight back. The “forest guardians,” as they call themselves, hurry to a choke point in the local network of rutted dirt roads and lay in wait, armed with rifles and handguns. As the trucks approach, they ready themselves to spring an ambush, apprehend the loggers and deliver the culprits, along with their equipment, to the nearest federal police station, hundreds of miles away. The men say they are among some 180 guardians patrolling their tribal land against loggers on night missions.

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Malaysia’s forests are sustainably managed

By Datuk Dr Freezailah Che Yeom
The New Straits Times
September 20, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: International

MALAYSIA — …In spite of what has been alleged by certain groups, Malaysia is still a green country with 54 per cent of its land area under forest cover, the bulk of which has been legally constituted as PRFs (permanent reserved forests) and TPAs (totally protected areas) to ensure forest cover. …To give effect to Malaysia’s commitment to sustainably manage its PRFs, a National Committee on Sustainable Forest Management was established in 1994 to operationalise the International Tropical Timber Organisation (ITTO) Criteria for Sustainable Management of Tropical Forest. …Globally, at the end of 2018, 24 per cent of non-tropical forests have been certified compared to a meagre 1.8 per cent of tropical forests. Malaysia can be proud as 35 per cent of our PRFs have been certified and our forest managers are doing their utmost to strengthen forest management so that other areas may also be certified.

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Spruce beetles chomping away at our forests

By Evan Saugstad, former mayor of Chetwynd, BC
The Alaska Highway News
September 19, 2019
Category: Forestry

 …If you have driven through the Pine Pass the past two summers, you will have noticed all the red trees between Mt. Lemoray and Mackenzie Junction. …Today, we have another pest, doing the same type of thing all over again, and it is called the spruce bark beetle. …What you don’t see, and likely won’t, is any government action to stop this invasion. And quite to the contrary, what you do see is government implementing polices that prevent anyone from doing anything about this. …They have a very simple strategy. It is called stall and wait. …Keep the loggers out and in a couple of years government will be able to announce that the forest industry has no real reason to go into these areas, as there are no commercially valuable trees left to harvest. …The problem is we are told these same spruce trees play an important role in caribou survival.

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Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy

British Columbia Communities are Unlocking a $3.3 Billion Energy Efficiency Opportunity

By Efficiency Canada
Cision Newswire
September 20, 2019
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada, Canada West

VANCOUVER — Many of BC’s fastest growing cities and towns are incentivizing and/or requiring higher levels of energy efficiency in new construction, spurring healthier, more comfortable, and more durable buildings. …The communities are using the BC Energy Step Code, a recently introduced provincial regulation that allows them to require their builders to exceed the code’s minimum legal energy-efficiency requirements. In doing so, they’re helping drive a $3.3 billion new market for high-efficiency building products, according to a recent Vancouver Economic Commission study. …The province has set a goal that all new buildings must reach an exceptionally high level of energy efficiency performance by 2032.

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Nova Scotia asking for input on carbon credit opportunities

By Stuart Peddle
The Telegram
September 19, 2019
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada, Canada East

Nova Scotia is looking for someone to study the potential in the province to generate carbon offset credits. …Jason Hollett… said the current cap and trade program covers about 80 per cent of all of the emissions in Nova Scotia in about 25 or 30 companies. “There’s potential to generate offsets that would… come from that 20 per cent,” Hollett said. …The RFP stipulates that a successful proponent’s study “will identify the sectors, project types, and protocols that are most viable in Nova Scotia, as well as identify risks and opportunities relating to offset projects.” …“One example you’ll often hear about is forestry,” said Meghan McMorris, community energy co-ordinator with the Ecology Action Centre. Planting trees instead of clearcutting works for carbon offset because large forests capture carbon as the trees grow.

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Federal Ruling On Biomass Subsidies Marks Double Defeat For Timber Sector

By Annie Ropeik
New Hampshire Public Radio
September 19, 2019
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States, US East

Federal regulators said that a state law passed last year to subsidize biomass power plants is invalid, marking the second big defeat in two days for New Hampshire’s forest products industry.  The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is siding with New Hampshire’s ratepayer advocate and a conservative lobbying group, which filed the petition against the 2018 subsidy law. That law requires utilities to buy electricity from six struggling wood-fired power plants in the state. It hasn’t taken effect yet – Eversource and the biomass plants couldn’t agree on contracts, and the state declined to step in. Now, FERC says the law would mean the state is setting an electric rate – something only federal regulators are empowered to do. It means FERC likely wouldn’t approve any contracts filed under the law, making it effectively void despite an ongoing state Supreme Court challenge. 

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Health & Safety

John Horgan promises action after fatal mid-Island bus crash

By Devon Bidal
The Penticton Western News
September 19, 2019
Category: Health & Safety
Region: Canada, Canada West

John Horgan

BC Premier John Horgan acknowledges the need for improvements to the logging road from Port Alberni to Bamfield where two students from the University of Victoria were killed on Sept. 13. …Horgan noted that the problems with the road aren’t new, nor are the concerns. …The premier said it’s unfortunate that it took a fatal tragedy for the province to focus its attention on the road. He promised that he, Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Claire Trevena, the forestry companies and the local Indigenous community would be working together on the matter. Horgan acknowledged that the road itself is privately owned and under the purview of Western Forest Products… but pointed out that the public uses it so the province is “going to have to find a way forward.”

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Forestry watchdog warned B.C. government about Bamfield Road in 2008

By Elena Rardon
The Penticton Western News
September 19, 2019
Category: Health & Safety

The author of a 2008 report on the safety of B.C.’s logging roads is accusing the province of ignoring his findings, in the wake of the fatal bus crash near Bamfield. Ombudsperson Roger Harris’s report on “resource roads,” or logging roads, contained 17 recommendations to improve maintenance and safety, following 16 related deaths in three years. Many of them have been adopted, but not what Harris calls his “cornerstone” recommendation – the creation of a new designation for logging roads that serve as a community’s primary or secondary access roads. This designation would have “clearly defined standards” for maintenance, construction and enforcement. …In a recent statement, the Ministry of Transportation said the issue is complex because the province doesn’t own the road. Private companies own and main it for forestry operations. But Harris argued it hasn’t been primarily used as a logging road for many years. …Bamfield is not the only B.C. community served by resource roads.

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