Great piece by @mckelmer on county’s next steps on the ill fated climate action plan. One answer: do not approve GPA sprawl projects not accounted for in General Plan & reduce reliance on carbon offsets which don’t exactly have a great track record. 1/ voiceofsandiego.org/topics/governm…
A report by the European Commission showed that as many as 75% of offsets projects were going to occur regardless. /2 insideclimatenews.org/news/19042017/…
According to climate activists and @sciam, showed that as many as a third of Kyoto Protocol offsets are fraudulent. 3/ scientificamerican.com/article/greenh…
In depth reporting in @propublica by @lisalsong breaks down exactly how offsets are harmful to the environment as it allows polluters and developers to continue harmful behaviors. /4 features.propublica.org/brazil-carbon-…
Importantly, carbon trading ends up shifting the pollution burden onto underprivileged communities while offshoring the benefits of climate projects elsewhere. /5 journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/a… 
The US market for carbon offsets is fairly robust, about 20 million metric tons annually. Incredibly, according to the County, thanks to the 15+ GPA sprawl projects in San Diego County, local demand is equivalent to ONE FIFTH of nationwide market (3.6 million metric tons). /6
In summary, the current Board of Supervisors will have a lot of important decisions to make. @SupLawsonRemer, @NoraVargasSD and @SupFletcher are considering a regional sustainability plan and hopefully offsets will be a last resort and not the main vehicle for executing the CAP.
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
