PORT ANGELES — A new carbon consciousness could put foresters in league with environmental activists, state Sen. Jim Hargrove said Monday.
The turnabout could make it politically proper not just to plant trees but to thin forests, harvest timber and make things out of wood, he said.
Hargrove, D-Hoquiam, spoke to the Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce luncheon meeting at the Port Angeles CrabHouse Restaurant.
With no opponent to his bid for re-election, he said he was free to review accomplishments of the last legislative session.
Among them was a bill instructing state departments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to work with other states on a carbon credit plan.
The Western States Climate Initiative includes Arizona, California, New Mexico, Oregon and Utah, plus the Canadian provinces of British Columbia and Manitoba.
States that engage in “carbon sequestration” — absorbing carbon emissions with trees — could bank credits under the plan, Hargrove said.
