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With Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s help, part of the Lompico
Headwaters forest — 202 acres of redwood forest east of Loch Lomond and
west of Zayante Creek in Felton — will help fight climate change.
With Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s help, part of the Lompico Headwaters forest — 202 acres of redwood forest east of Loch Lomond and west of Zayante Creek in Felton — will help fight climate change.
PG&E’s Climate Smart program purchased the rights to 202 acres of carbon credits from the Sempervirens Fund, the owner of the Lompico Headwaters forest.
“This is the primary concentration of larger trees (in the area),” said Sempervirens Fund director Brian Steen.
The area has been identified as being a valuable source of carbon sequestration, because the older redwoods take in more carbon than they produce, significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the air. The Sempervirens fund owns 425 acres of forest in the area.
Over the next 100 years, the Lompico forest will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 28,000 metric tons, the equivalent of about 6,000 cars not being driven for one year, according to the Sempervirens Fund Web site.
“This project sets significant precedent by establishing an economic value for redwood forestland other than timber harvest or development potential,” Steen said in a prepared statement.
PG&E paid about $150,000 for the carbon credits as part of its Climate Smart program, Steen said.
The Climate Smart Program is paid for entirely by individual PG&E customers who make a voluntary contribution to neutralize the impact of their consumption on the environment.
In the Climate Smart program, PG&E calculates the greenhouse emissions each home produces with its energy use. The company then adds a charge to each participating customer’s bill to buy carbon credits with the funds.
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