"... [Carbon] offsets can only be credible in B.C. if, among other things, the revenue from their sale is the tipping point in moving forward on a project. It must be an incentive, not a subsidy, for the reduction of GHGs. Yet neither project was able to demonstrate that the potential sales of offsets were needed for the project to be implemented. Encana’s project was projected to be more financially beneficial to the company than its previous practices, regardless of offset revenue, while the Darkwoods property was acquired without offsets being a critical factor in the decision. In industry terms, they would be known as ‘free riders’ – receiving revenue ($6 million between the two) for something that would have happened anyway..."Continue reading Recommend this post
I guess the mentality is... Hell we would like to give you six million taxpayer's dollars cause hey they won't know! We spent twice that pitance on the bollywood awards! The kid's in foster care sure don't need anymore! What's the problem.
ReplyDeleteThese dummies just want a hip and sexy premier right? right???
Norm, I haven't found this info here or elsewhere... though it may just be my selective reading: 1.) Who owned Darkwoods before we bought the carbon offsets? (I sure hope we didn't buy it from ourselves — and pay some traders $millions for the negotiations.)
ReplyDelete2.) The Darkwoods people: did they buy if for a song before selling it to us for an opera? 3.) Do we actually OWN Darkwoods... or do we pay the owners a fee, just to keep the trees upright? If the latter: if we stop paying for the offsets... do we lose our share of Darkwoods?
Just asking!
The Province newspaper, July 24 2008:
Delete"Pluto Darkwoods Forestry Corp., which is owned by the Duke of Wuerttemberg, a wealthy German who envisioned the land as a possible refuge in hard times."
So: if we don't continue to pay him offsets to keep the trees upright, the Duke will threaten to cut them down?
ReplyDeleteAh... I'm seeing more clearly now: the Duke is out of the picture now. (Feel free to scrub my 1:12 remark, as it only adds confusion to the situation.) The Nature Conservancy of Canada (a private non-profit organization) now owns the land. More on this at: http://www.enn.com/press_releases/2592
ReplyDeleteStill some unanswered questions though: if NCC is a non-profit organization... who is making the money off these carbon offsets? We know who's losing the money.
No so fast. Maybe there is more to the story than first appears. Here is something from the Nelson Daily News, Sept 1, 2005:
Delete"A local land developer has purchased a 425-acre parcel of land on the waterfront near Procter with hopes of creating a major subdivision.
"Kootenay Lake Estates Development Corporation (KLEDC) plans to build 46 houses in the near future on almost three kilometers of waterfront, and an unspecified number on the upland part of the property in the longer term.
"...The owners of KLEDC are Nelson residents Oliver and Siara Berkeley and Jon and Karen Long. Oliver Berkeley is also one of the proponents of the Silver Basin project, which would see a new ski hill just outside Nelson and a major ski resort within the city.
"...KLEDC purchased the property in December, 2004, from the Pluto Darkwoods Corporation, a timber company."
More research needed.
Yes, there could be a story here. The timelines would be a good starting point.
ReplyDeleteThe KLEDC website says: "Formerly protected from development through inclusion in the then BC Forest Land Reserve, the lands comprising Kootenay Lake Village only became developable after the dissolution of that reserve in 2004. At that time, the lands were purchased by the current owners, the Berkeley Family who have over the course of the last seven years master planned and developed the property."
Website:http://www.kootenaylakevillage.com/