Purpose
- Investigates the causes of economic imbalances.
- Investigates causes tending to destroy or impair the free-market system.
- Explores and develops market-based solutions.
Summary
In 2026 and 2027 CSE seeks support to extend our work on forest carbon pricing and market-based solutions to deforestation and forest degradation by (1) advocating for a no-net-forestland-loss policy in Oregon to respond to new opportunities contained in Governor Kotek’s Executive Order 25-26; (2) drafting and promoting model forest carbon tax and reward legislation in multiple states; (3) building on legal victories in Washington State to ensure that all market and non-market benefits and costs are factored into new “alternatives analyses” being prepared for every large timber sale, and (4) with researchers at the University of New Mexico, preparing a peer-reviewed paper documenting the socio-economic costs of unsustainable logging activities across the US.
Description
Project update 9-24-26
CSE received funding in May of 2026 to advance work on market-based solutions to deforestation and forest degradation primarily in the Pacific Northwest. These include legislative interventions to establish a no-net-loss program for forestlands that mimics the national compensatory mitigation program in place for wetlands, forest carbon tax and reward, and rescinding of harmful subsidies. Major progress has been achieved on all fronts. Key highlights from work completed through the end of September 2026 include the following:
1. Presentation at the Global Earth Repair Summit
In May, CSE presented the climate case for ending deforestation and forest degradation in Washington and Oregon to a large gathering of sustainability leaders who attended the Global Earth Repair Summit in Port Townsend. Over 1,000 people attended this conference. Dr. John Talberth presented alongside Policy Advisor Kate Dean, who represented the Department of Natural Resources. The PowerPoint presentation provided the details of how industrial logging activities on DNR lands is exacerbating the climate crisis by increasing greenhouse gas emissions, reducing carbon sequestration, and making the land more susceptible to wildfires, water shortages, and other climate stressors. Dr. Talberth wrapped up this presentation by outlining the components of a legislative agenda for Washington’s forests to remedy the situation through five interventions, including the three market-based solutions that are the focus of this grant’s activities.
2. A Legislative Agenda for Washington Forests
In June, and with our 501c4 partner organization This Land, CSE released a comprehensive legislative roadmap for ending deforestation and forest degradation in Washington in a 20-page report that describes five measures and the justifications for these measures. The three market-based solutions were included alongside two others – a primary forest protection act and an act to repeal statutory drivers of deforestation, such as exemption of state forest logging activities from the Administrative Procedures Act. Copies of the agenda were sent to all active members of the Agriculture and Natural Resources and Energy and Environment committees in both the House and Senate. Since that time, we have met with six members to help lay the groundwork for bill introduction.
In addition to releasing the report, CSE and This Land have drafted brief resolutions that organizations can use to formally endorse the legislative package one measure at a time, and model legislative vehicles based on Washington’s required legislative formats. Over a dozen conservation, community, and environmental justice organizations have now endorsed. In addition, we are pleased to report that the Washington Democratic Party has formally endorsed all four, including a floor vote on the forest carbon tax and reward measure that passed at the statewide convention in Spokane by a vote of 640-101. The other resolutions were first passed by the party’s Environment and Climate Council, and then unanimously adopted by the party at a statewide meeting on September 19th.
3. Advancing Ecosystem Service Valuation and No-Net-Loss as Land Use Tools
CSE teamed up with Whidbey Island Environmental Action Network to produce a detailed report on ecosystem services in Island County, WA. The report discussed how ecosystem service valuation is a tool that Island County and others can use in several regulatory processes involving land use decisions to ensure that valuable natural lands are not lost to development without proper accounting of their economic value. One of those processes is Island County’s no-net-loss policy for wetlands, critical resource areas, and shorelines - a policy that would be extended to forestlands if and when our no-net-loss legislation at the state level moves forward. The report lays out components and cost for a research program to quantify ecosystem service values that have yet to be addressed by existing studies and to fine tune such values for use in the no-net-loss program and other land-use decisions.
4. Research – Deforestation and Rural Poverty
CSE has teamed up with a colleague from the University of New Mexico (Professor Alok Bohara) to begin an investigation into the links between deforestation, forest degradation, and rural poverty in the US. Dr. John Talberth met with Dr. Bohara in Albuquerque in early September to review the overall approach, data sources, and research agenda and has now been compiling and analyzing preliminary data sets. Data sets for the four top logging states – Georgia, Oregon, Alabama and Mississippi have now been compiled. One interesting data set Dr. Bohara recommended is the experimental Multi-Dimensional Poverty Index (MDI) available at the county level. For the southeast states, preliminary correlation analysis has revealed a fairly strong positive relationship between MDI and per capita logging activities but for Oregon, the data is inconsistent and may require an alternative approach.
5. PERC Collaboration – No-Net-Loss for Maine
CSE has been meeting with staff at the The Property and Environment Research Center (PERC) to discuss potential areas of collaboration on market-based solutions. Serendipitously, in May of 2026, PERC published an excellent new report on the status of old growth forests in Maine, which included a discussion of several policy options for protecting and restoring these endangered ecosystems. CSE’s proposed no-net-loss of carbon sequestration capacity proposal for Oregon and Washington is a great fit, and we have now begun to explore what that a productive collaboration could look like in Maine. Ideally, CSE would head up the policy-development process – including model legislation – with PERC taking the lead on communications and advocacy. Stay tuned for additional updates on this new line of work.
Purpose
Climate change has been referred to as the most spectacular market failure ever. The market’s failure to incorporate the costs of climate change into prices of wood and paper products supports a tremendous level of over-production, over-consumption, and wasteful uses of these commodities. Putting a price on high-emissions logging operations is a critical market-based solution for internalizing the catastrophic costs associated with climate change and rebalancing markets to support efficient use of energy resources, forestlands, and wood products. With respect to forestlands, CSE has pioneered the development of several market-based policy interventions that decision makers can use to help expedite the transformation of industrial forest practices to climate smart alternatives. These include forest carbon tax and reward, subsidy reform, cap and invest, no net loss and climate resiliency plans for large owners.
Scope
Over 95% of US forestlands are in moderately or severely degraded condition as a result of extreme logging pressure. The US is the leading producer and consumer of wood products in the world and the economic imbalance caused by this excessive resource extraction is evident in every major forested region in the form of lost ecosystem services that are far more valuable than timber. Underpriced wood products derived from unsustainable forest management flood the world markets with goods that outcompete more sustainable alternatives like carbon negative concrete, green steel, bamboo, hemp. All of the policy changes CSE seeks are designed to scale back the extent and severity of harmful logging practices that exacerbate these imbalances.
Project Link https://www.sustainable-economy.org/a-legislative-agenda-for-washington-forests
Amount Approved$50,000.00
on 5/20/2026
(Check sent: 6/1/2026)
