Climate Justice Alliance: Last September Jerry Brown convened a Global Climate Action Summit to promote a world scale cap and trade agenda. Unfortunately for him, hundreds of environmental protectors took to the streets.
This action put a damper on his ability to achieve the “splash” he hoped for. Instead, our messages to reject cap and trade and offsets were featured including our demands to keep dirty fuels in theground, focus on renewable energy, stopping pollution at the source and promoting frontline solutions.
Now, one year later, at the upcoming California Air Resources Board meeting, Mary Nichols, chair of the California Air Resources Board will urge Board members to endorse an offsets measure called the CA Tropical Forest Standard. It is not a coincidence that this timing coincides with the upcoming COP 25 meetings to be held in Chile. California wants to be able to tout this measure and be “recognized” as a leader on climate.
Please send a comment by end of business, Thursday, August 29th, the last day to submit Public Comment: cotb@arb.ca.gov
Below is a simple template that you can use.
If you are in the area, consider attending the hearing on September 19 in Sacramento, CA and join with Indigenous who are coming in from all over the world and California and other environmental protectors to be present and testify.
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Template letter
To the California Air Resources Board
https://www.arb.ca.gov/lispub/comm/bcsubform.php?listname=tfs2019&comm_period=N
[Introduce yourself and include information of environmental groups or climate efforts that you have been involved in]
To Governor Newsom, the California Air Resources Board, Mary Nichols, Chair,
I am writing to urge you to not endorse the California Tropical Forest Standard, and to ensure that these tropical forest offsets never are accepted into California’s carbon trading system, or adopted by out-of-state entities like the International Commercial Aviation Organization (ICAO).
Carbon offsets allow big emitters in California to keep polluting, instead of reducing their carbon footprint. They perpetuate pollution hotspots and prevent California from taking real action on climate change. If the ICAO were to adopt tropical forest offsets, it would allow airline emissions to continue growing while putting tropical forests into the market over the protests of local communities. Its totally unacceptable.
Tropical forest carbon offsets lack integrity, pose unacceptably high risks of violating indigenous and human rights, and are impossible to police across national borders. California should not be encouraging them through the endorsement of the TFS.
Sincerely,