Proposed California Wood Pellet Facility Raises Justice Concerns

Tuolumne County lumber mill site where Golden State Natural Resources wants to construct wood pellet plant

Louisiana Pacific once ran a lumber mill on the Tuolumne County site where Golden State Natural Resources wants to construct a 300,000 tons a year wood pellet manufacturing plant. Photo by Gary Hughes.

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  • Proposed California Wood Pellet Facility Raises Justice Concerns

Golden State Natural Resources wants to build a large-scale wood pellet manufacturing facility in California’s Tuolumne County. The facility would manufacture wood pellets for export through the Port of Stockton to countries as Japan, Korea, and the United Kingdom. Because biomass is erroneously characterized as a renewable energy source, wood pellets are increasingly used as feedstock for burning with, or in the place of, coal at electricity generating facilities, even though the climate impacts of burning woody biomass are now well understood.

Terra Verde Host Gary Graham Hughs joins California Environmental Justice Coalition Strategy Director Matt Homes in the field in Tuolumne County to take a look at the site of the proposed wood pellet facility and explore the environmental impacts, public health risks, and social justice implications of the extractive forest product industry in California.

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