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NW Neutral™ Carbon Emissions Offset Program
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The Northwest Natural Resource Group Announces NW NEUTRAL™
A New Carbon Emissions Offset Program That Supports Local Forestland Owners
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Seattle, WA March 12, 2009: The Northwest Natural Resource Group (NNRG) is proud to announce the historic first sale of carbon offsets from northwest small forestlands through NNRG’s new NW Neutral program. The first buyer of these carbon offsets through the program is local green building materials retailer ecohaus. This sale is the first of its type to connect northwest small forestland owners who wish to sequester additional carbon in their forest with a northwest business looking to offset its own emissions.
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NNRG’s new program was formally announced at a celebration in ecohaus’ Seattle showroom on March 12th. Washington State’s new Public Lands Commissioner, Peter Goldmark, was present to make the announcement. The official check handover and cake cutting event included a brief description of how NW Neutral works, guest speakers, and the opportunity to meet the small forest landowners participating in this first sale.
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“Carbon offsets could create a new market for small forest landowners that would keep working forests working,” said Commissioner of Public Lands Peter Goldmark. “In these challenging economic times, we must innovate ways we can simultaneously fight climate change and protect forestlands from conversion.”
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CO2 emissions are widely believed to contribute to global climate change – and forests have a big effect on levels of CO2. Forests in the U.S. currently capture about 10% of total CO2 emissions nationally and approximately 25% of the worlds’ annual emissions of carbon dioxide come through the loss of forestland. The more forestland we have, the more carbon can be captured, and as forestland is lost, even more carbon gets emitted.
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In the Pacific Northwest, where more than 30% of our forests are privately owned, we are seeing an alarming increase in the loss of private forestland due to rising real estate values, increasing competition in commodity timber markets, increasingly complex regulation, and declining rural economies. The loss of this land can be slowed by giving private owners of forest land alternative revenue streams. NW Neutral is the first program of its kind in the Northwest to connect landowners who want to sequester more carbon in their forests with willing buyers of those carbon offsets. This newly available revenue stream creates long term investment in our private forestlands and contributes to the fight against global warming.
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ABOUT The Northwest Natural Resource Group – For over 15 years Northwest Natural Resource Group (NNRG) has been leading efforts to make ecological forestry a paying proposition in the Pacific Northwest. Our Northwest Certified Forestry program uses protocols designed by the Forest Stewardship Council (www.fscus.org) to provide a broad suite of economic, educational and informational benefits to small forest landowners in Washington and Oregon. More info at www.nnrg.org
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ABOUT ecohaus – Since 1992, ecohaus has provided homeowners and professionals the best in green building and remodeling supplies, including certified wood flooring, dual flush toilets, one-of-a-kind countertops and premium quality, zero VOC paints that outperform the top conventional brands. Visit one of their stores in Seattle, Bellevue and Portland. Ecohaus serves all 50 states online at www.ecohaus.com, 1.877.4.ecohaus.
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