An industrial-scale wood pellet production scheme is underway to sell California forests to overseas energy markets. The mastermind behind this project, Golden State Natural Resources (GSNR), seeks to profit by positioning forest biomass production (in the form of wood pellets) as an agent of forest resiliency.
New to California but all too familiar in the Southeast, wood pellet biomass provides few, if any, benefits to the communities where it is produced, and it degrades stored forest carbon at a time when we need to be addressing climate disruption. GSNR’s proposal will cut down California forests, manufacture wood pellets, and sell them to overseas markets for countries to meet their misguided renewable energy goals, all under the guise of “improved” forest management. The project will not only waste time and drain funding intended for legitimate wildfire…