Today, the public comment period closed for Golden State Natural Resources (GSNR)’s draft environmental impact report (DEIR). The contentious proposal, introduced late last October, would bring two industrial-scale facilities to manufacture 1,000,000 metric tons of wood pellets annually and a storage and export terminal for foreign energy markets.
Despite GSNR’s efforts to avoid public scrutiny, tens of thousands of people weighed in to oppose the project, elected officials displayed their dismay, and over 185 grassroots, environmental, justice, health, climate, and financial organizations urged the state to reject the proposal. As we spell out in our technical comments, NRDC and our allies agree the project is deeply flawed and is an ineffective attempt at wildfire prevention.
GSNR’s own documents clearly detail what the project would entail: significant increases in pollution and greenhouse gas emissions in Tuolumne County, Lassen County, and Stockton and a significant increase in logging of California’s forests.
California must reject this project on its face; there is more than enough reason to do so. It would demonstrate California’s leadership by heeding the call of environmental justice communities across the country that have spoken out against this industry for a decade and echo the concerns of Californian communities that stand to suffer the most from this project.
While we wait for the state to prepare its final environmental impact report, we are gearing up for what comes next. Already, we’ve seen GSNR, and its parent company, the Rural County Representatives of California, face mounting pressure. When GSNR released its draft report, civil society, the Humboldt Board of Supervisors, and the California Air Resources Board all asked it to schedule adequate public meetings–GSNR refused. Thus, communities in impacted areas like Stockton and Tuolumne county have been forced to hold their own educational forums. As we look ahead, NRDC, our allies, and our coalition stand with the communities that will be impacted by GSNR’s proposal. Industrial-scale biomass production has never had a foothold in California and, if we have anything to do about it, they never will.
