Nelly Wogberg <[email protected]>
Re: Troubling Role Of CCAs In Jul 28 Event: Climate Center Partnered With Ranchers Calling For Shooting Tule Elk
1 message
Nelly Wogberg <[email protected]> Fri, Jul 22, 2022 at 9:05 PM To: Nelly Wogberg <[email protected]>
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Eric Brooks <[email protected]>
Date: Wed, Jul 20, 2022 at 1:41 PM
Subject: Troubling Role Of CCAs In Jul 28 Event: Climate Center Partnered With Ranchers Calling For Shooting Tule Elk
To: Shalini Swaroop <[email protected]>, Martha Serianz <[email protected]>, Daniel Settlemyer <[email protected]>, Alex DiGiorgio <[email protected]>, Girish Balachandran <[email protected]>, <[email protected]>, [email protected] <[email protected]>, <[email protected]>, <KSchwind@ peninsulacleanenergy.com>, <[email protected]>, <[email protected]>, <[email protected]>
Cc: Hale, Barbara <[email protected]>, <[email protected]> Hi all at CalCCA, MCE Clean Energy, Peninsula Clean Energy, and Silicon Valley Clean Energy, *Please make sure that this communication is forwarded to all Board members of your respective CCAs and of CalCCA.*
It is with great respect for all of the work you do to reverse the climate crisis, and the work you have done with myself and other climate organizers, that I express my deep concern at the involvement of MCE Clean Energy, Peninsula Clean Energy, and Silicon Valley Clean Energy in The Climate Center's "Investing in Farmers for Nature-based Carbon Sequestration" webinar next Wednesday July 28.
As a long time climate and environmental activist I need to point out the spurious nature of the 'regenerative' ranching 'carbon farming' being promoted by The Climate Center, and how its partner in the event Straus Family Creamery (and other ranchers/grazers) are using such events to greenwash their bad environmental practices (including calling for the killing of rare California Tule Elk for competing with their livestock). These ranchers are deeply harming the Point Reyes National Seashore ecosystem in a manner totally at odds with everything the environmental movement represents.
Below is a letter that I wrote to The Climate Center a year ago when they hosted a very similar event (a letter which they apparently ignored) detailing the problem with these ranches/dairies (including Straus specifically) and how they have been openly hostile and harmful to wildlife. Please see this letter for evidence and links showing why we should all be opposing what The Climate Center and Straus are promoting.
Also see the following three links which show very clearly that the ranching/grazing methods being promoted simply do not work and would actually increase carbon emissions if they were expanded broadly as a climate 'solution'. 1) Graphic showing the far longer time to slaughter weight of grazed livestock. This makes clear that carbon emissions will be higher, not lower, under widespread replacement of feedlots with grazing because of the vastly longer timelines on which livestock would emit methane and CO2. https://extension.okstate.edu/fact-sheets/images/carbon-footprint-comparison-between-grass-and-grain-finished-beef/afi-3292fig.png 2) Livestock and climate: Why Allan Savory is not a saviour https://terrastendo.net/2013/03/26/livestock-and-climate-why-allan-savory-is-not-a-saviour 3) Holistic Management: Misinformation on the Science of Grazed Ecosystems https://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijbd/2014/163431/
*IMPORTANT: Because of these realities, and the details shown below, I must urgently ask that all CCAs remove their involvement and name from this and future such events. ~ Eric Brooks Californians for Energy Choice, and Sierra Club National, Grazing Team, 415-756-8844*
Here is the letter to The Climate Center.
On 5/21/2021 7:00 PM, Eric Brooks wrote:
I was concerned to see that a Climate Ag event hosted by The Climate Center also prominently features Albert Straus of 'Straus Family Creamery'. Straus has been openly asking the National Park Service to kill and remove rare Tule Elk from Point Reyes National Seashore park (which was founded in large part to restore the elk). Straus and others are pushing this because the elk compete with cows and other ag herd animals on dairy farms and ranches that are outrageously still allowed to operate in the park (and are destroying it).
In short, Albert Straus is not at all the face that the regenerative agriculture movement should be putting forward.
Here are the details, with links to the comments of Straus and other Point Reyes farming operations, made to to the National Park Service, calling for the removal of the elk.
Point Reyes Crisis
As you might know, there is an urgent crisis in the Point Reyes National Seashore park in Marin County in which its National Park Service managers have established a plan to cull the wild Tule Elk in the park to keep them from competing with grazing livestock and farming operations there.
Some making profits from so called 'sustainable' 'regenerative' dairy and ranch operations that are devastating the Point Reyes National Seashore habitat are demanding the killing of returning wild Tule Elk. (Note: See the video links near the end of this email for two documentaries that lay out the destruction caused to the park and the elk by the agricultural operations.)
Marin Carbon Project Greenwashing
Three of the 'sustainable' 'regenerative' dairies/ranches making a profit from ranching in the Point Reyes National Seashore park, Straus Family Creamery, Stemple Creek Ranch, and Gilardi Family Farm, are greenwashing themselves as the three showcase farms of the Marin Carbon Project.
The involvement of these dairies/ranches directly implicates Marin Carbon Project with animal agriculture attacks on wildlife - the opposite of ecological sustainability.
Here is the link to the Marin Carbon Project page which shows the involvement of these three dairies/ranchers in the project
https://web.archive.org/web/20220408120427/https://www.marincarbonproject.org/carbon-farming/carbon-farm-profiles Dairies/Ranches/Farms Calling For Tule Elk To Be Removed - To see Straus Family Creamery founder Albert Straus pushing in public comments for dairies to continue to be allowed to operate in Point Reyes National Seashore and calling for the restored Tule Elk herd to be removed search for "2683" in the document at the following link. In those remarks Straus specifically invokes Marin Carbon Project to justify his statements, and says "As part of prioritizing organic agriculture as a vital contributor to Marin County's economy, I ask that GMP Amendment process includes removing all free-range Tule elk from the Pastoral Zone and all farmlands."
https://www.nps.gov/pore/getinvolved/planning_gmp_amendment_initial_public_comments_2501-2750.htm - To see Brian Gilardi of Gilardi Family Farm (who directly profits by selling grain and hay to the dairies and ranches operating in the park) pushing in his public comments for the farms to remain in the park and for the Tule Elk to be 'managed' (which would mean their being removed from much of their current habitat) so that they don't interfere with the farms, search for "Gilardi" at: https://www.nps.gov/pore/getinvolved/planning_gmp_amendment_initial_public_ comments_2501-2750.htm
- To see beef and lamb ranchers Loren and Lisa Poncia of Stemple Creek Ranch also using their involvement in Marin Carbon Project to justify their remarks asking that ranches like theirs continue to be allowed to operate in the park, search for "Stemple" at: https://www.nps.gov/pore/getinvolved/planning_gmp_amendment_initial_public_ comments_2001-2500.htm
If you take the time to search for the word "carbon" at all of these web links you will see many other comments invoking 'carbon sequestration' and Marin Carbon Project specifically, to justify the dairies and ranches in the park.
Webinar: Investing in Farmers for Nature-based Carbon Sequestration Thursday, July 28, 2022, 10 to 11:30 AM PT
Credit: Tablas Creek Vineyard
This webinar is the seventh in The Climate Center’s Investing in Climate Action for Jobs, Health, and Equity webinar series.
Farmers and ranchers can and should be a big part of the solution to the climate crisis. Climate-smart agricultural practices can sequester significant amounts of carbon while also improving soil health, increasing water retention in the soil, and making the land more drought-resilient and productive. On this webinar, policymakers, conservationists, and farmers will discuss the transition towards more resilient farming and ranching practices and what investments are needed to scale climate-smart agricultural practices in a way that supports the growers of our food. Additional speakers to be announced.
Here is the link the documentary "The Shame of Point Reyes" which shows the unacceptable destruction that dairy/ranch operations are causing to the park: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=z9OEQOy3v0E Also see the page of the group Restore Point Reyes National Seashore, with its 8 minute film "Tule Elk: The Killing of a Native Species". Both the page and film also detail the crisis dairy/ranch operations are causing https:// restoreptreyesseashore.org/elkfilm
Please take time to learn about what is happening to the Point Reyes National Seashore in the name of 'sustainable' dairy farming and ranching. The proposed removal of the elk herd is imminent.
Eric Brooks
Californians for Energy Choice, and,
Sierra Club National, Grazing Team
415-756-8844
On 7/19/22 4:02 PM, Barry Vesser, The Climate Center wrote:
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Speakers
Patricia Hickey is the Managing Director at
the Carbon Cycle Institute. Over the course of
her career, Patricia has worked for universities,
conservation districts, and agricultural land
trusts to advance natural resource
conservation and the development and
adoption of innovative conservation programs.
Albert Straus is the founder and CEO of
Straus Family Creamery—the first 100%
certified organic creamery in the United States.
Albert has been a leader in sustainable organic
farming practices for many decades. He is a
strong advocate for organic, non-GMO dairy
production, environmental stewardship, family
farms, and the true cost of production.
Baani Behniwal joined The Climate Center in
June of 2022 as the Natural Sequestration
Initiative Manager. Throughout her career,
Baani has worked as a community organizer,
organic farm apprentice, and registered
lobbyist. The focus of her work and studies
have ranged from sustainable development
and climate-smart agriculture to the circular
economy.
Emilie Winfield is the Regional Coordinator for
the North Coast Soil Hub, where she works to
increase understanding of how to manage
agro-ecosystems for soil health and advance
adoption of climate-friendly practices.
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