Draft Report Available: Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Contemporary Wildfire, Prescribed Fire, and Forest Management Activities

Posted on January 4, 2021January 4, 2021 by Alexandra Reagan

December 31, 2020
California Air Resources Board

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) staff has prepared an analysis that estimates the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from wildfire and prescribed burn and the amount of ecosystem carbon transformed by forest management activities (which may include tree harvest and other vegetation fuels management to reduce fire risk). A report that describes the methodologies and summarizes the estimation results is now available for informal public comment and review.

How to Send Comments or Questions

Please send comments or questions via email to Anny Huang, Manager of the Emission Inventory Analysis Section. CARB staff requests input on contemporary wildfire and forest management activities by February 28, 2021. A separate two-month public comment period will be provided for the historical fire report after it is available.

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As Trump Again Rejects Science, Biden Calls Him a ‘Climate Arsonist’

Posted on September 14, 2020September 15, 2020 by Alexandra Reagan

By Peter Baker, Lisa Friedman and Thomas Kaplan | September 14, 2020 | The New York Times

The Environmental Council of Sacramento was mentioned in the New York Times! Our Board President Ralph Propper was quoted regarding Trump’s denial of climate change as California burns.

Mr. Trump flew to California after weeks of public silence about the flames that have forced hundreds of thousands of people from their homes, wiped out communities and forests, burned millions of acres, shrouded the region in smoke and left at least 27 people dead. But even when confronted by California’s governor and other state officials, the president insisted on attributing the crisis solely to poor forest management, not climate change.
…
“Raking the leaves and forest floors is really inane. That doesn’t make sense at all,” said Ralph Propper, the president of the Environmental Council of Sacramento. “We’re seeing what was predicted, which is more extremes of weather.”

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Smoke still hurting Northern California air quality, but LNU Fire isn’t main culprit

Posted on August 31, 2020August 31, 2020 by Alexandra Reagan

By Michael McGough | August 31, 2020 | The Sacramento Bee

Smoke has sullied the skies in Northern California for two weeks, ever since dozens of large fires and hundreds of smaller ones sparked during a powerful thunderstorm that brought down thousands of lightning strikes.
For much of that stretch, Sacramento’s air pollution has come primarily from the LNU Lightning Complex, which as of Monday had scorched more than 375,000 acres in parts of Napa, Sonoma, Solano, Yolo and Lake counties west of the capital. That fire continues to output smoke as it is 63% contained, Cal Fire said Monday morning.
But now the poor conditions are coming from the August Complex, a 220,000-acre blaze that’s been burning in the Mendocino National Forest since Aug. 17, according to a special smoke statement issued Sunday by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for the mid Central Valley, which has since been extended through Tuesday.

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