July 2, 2023 - Your Scoop in CDR!

The Italian farmers saving an ancient fruit with solar power - BBC Antonio Lancellotta, a 35-year-old farmer, shows the reporter around one of his family's unorthodox 1.8-acre (7,280 square metre) greenhouse in Scalea, southern Italy. Rows of lush citron trees (Citrus medica), heavy with white flowers fill the space. Yet, above the trees, at about 12.5ft (3.8m) above the ground, alternating lines of transparent plastic sheets and photovoltaic panels roofed the field. The Lancellotta family was one of the first in Italy to experiment with "agrivoltaics", where crops are grown underneath solar panels.

What if producing energy could support the production of the local endangered citron that, to grow well, needed some natural or artificial shade?

DNR Sued Again for Logging Carbon Rich Legacy Forests- June 30th (Thanks Daphne!) The Center for Sustainable Economy (CSE), Save the Olympic Peninsula (STOP) and the Legacy Forest Defense Coalition (LFDC) today sued the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) over its plans to clearcut over 100 acres of carbon rich 80- to 110-year-old ‘legacy’ forests in the Tolt and Snoqualmie River basins northeast of Seattle in King County. Legacy forests are rare, naturally regenerated stands that provide exceptional levels of carbon storage, biodiversity, and water quality.

The complaint (notice of appeal) for the Wishbone Timber Sale cites Hilary Franz, as Commissioner of State Lands and DNR for violating State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) requirements to disclose and mitigate climate impacts and consider climate smart alternatives, such as the thinning of densely stocked young plantation trees rather than the big, old trees in legacy forests. The groups are being represented by attorney Claudia Newman of Bricklin and Newman, a Seattle-based firm.

Prior to filing the lawsuit, the plaintiffs submitted extensive scientific and technical evidence to DNR documenting that as proposed, the timber sale is likely to generate nearly 50,000 metric tons of carbon pollution, eliminate carbon sequestration entirely for ten to fifteen years, and make the land more susceptible to heat waves, droughts, landslides, floods and wildfires. (See link)