Sierra Solutions: PRICE OF A SUNSET Pilot Carbon Credit Program
Underway
Released
on: September 30, 2008, 8:23 am
Press
Release Author: Velocity7
Industry:
Environment
Press
Release Summary: The Sierra Business Council created the Sierra
Nevada Carbon Cooperative in 2008 with start-up funding through
a Sierra Nevada Conservancy grant. The SNCC is actively engaged
in the first pilot project based on avoided deforestation—carbon
credits for preventing the planned residential and golf course
development.
The Waddle Ranch project in Martis Valley will be registered and
verified this month with the California Climate Action Registry
(CCAR). Based on the inventory of the carbon pools on the forest
and a calculation of the baseline, CCAR serializes each ton of
carbon registered. These can be permanently retired once purchased
or held in the project’s account. The SNCC acts as a liaison,
connecting buyers of carbon offsets, landowners, and CCAR, to
develop, register, and market these forest carbon offsets. Funds
are returned to land owners, allowing owners to finance the conservation
and ongoing stewardship of their land.
Press
Release Body: The Sierra Nevada Carbon Cooperative (SNCC) can’t
tell you the price for watching the Alpenglow sunset over Waddle
Ranch, but they can tell you the price for carbon offsets created
by preserving this 1,500 acre property. As fine a vision as open
spaces in the setting sun may be, the bigger benefit here is the
potential for a model that finances forest conservation.
The
Sierra Business Council created the Sierra Nevada Carbon Cooperative
in 2008 with start-up funding through a Sierra Nevada Conservancy
grant. The SNCC is actively engaged in the first pilot project
based on avoided deforestation—carbon credits for preventing
the planned residential and golf course development.
The
Waddle Ranch project in Martis Valley will be registered and verified
this month with the California Climate Action Registry (CCAR).
Based on the inventory of the carbon pools on the forest and a
calculation of the baseline, CCAR serializes each ton of carbon
registered. These can be permanently retired once purchased or
held in the project’s account. The SNCC acts as a liaison,
connecting buyers of carbon offsets, landowners, and CCAR, to
develop, register, and market these forest carbon offsets. Funds
are returned to land owners, allowing owners to finance the conservation
and ongoing stewardship of their land.
The
Sierra Nevada region is a prime location for carbon offset projects.
SNCC forest projects are certified under the highest standards,
ensuring multiple co-benefits, such as protecting California’s
upper watershed lands, maintaining wildlife habitat, and fostering
a new green economy in a region with a long history of resource
extraction.
“We’re
examining how to maintain the Sierra Nevada as a carbon sink rather
than a carbon source in order to draw more [carbon] out of the
atmosphere than we are emitting. The Sierra Nevada will be a model
and we must begin examining alternative forest management methods
if we want to mitigate and plan for climate change in the state
of California.” Betony Jones, Sierra Business Council
Come
hear SNCC program director Betony Jones discuss this project,
and other important carbon impact reduction programs from the
Environmental Defense Fund and The Nature Conservancy at the Sierra
Solutions conference.
Web
Site: http://www.sbcouncil.org/Events/Schedule
Contact
Details: ABOUT THE CONFERENCE: SIERRA SOLUTIONS—Tools for
Sustainable Communities, Economies and the Environment
October 3-4, 2008
Mammoth Resort Conference Center
Mammoth Lakes, CA
Hosted
by The Sierra Business Council and the Sierra Nevada Conservancy,
SIERRA SOLUTIONS highlights leading sustainability speakers.
More on Sierra Nevada Carbon Credits
http://www.sbcouncil.org/Projects/SNCC
CONTACT
Media: Pamela Biery pamela@velocity7.com, 530.470.9292
Conference: Nikki Streegan nstreegan@sbcouncil.org, 530.582.4800
Details on Sierra Nevada Carbon Cooperative, Betony Jones, 530.582.4800
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