Greenwashing Oregon's Clearcuts
"Greenwashing" is a term to describe the act of using intentionally misleading information to present an environmentally responsible public image for a product or activity. The Oregon Department of Forestry and timber interest groups have a vested interest in making clearcutting look good - it's the practice that makes timber companies the most money, and it's regulated by the outdated and inadequate Oregon Forest Practices Act (OFPA) - enacted in 1972, when we still painted houses with lead.
Nobody is very surprised to see logging interests pursue their own greenwashing efforts, after all, in Oregon "green" sells! What might be a surprise is that Oregon's state agencies are a part of it.
Nobody is very surprised to see logging interests pursue their own greenwashing efforts, after all, in Oregon "green" sells! What might be a surprise is that Oregon's state agencies are a part of it.
|
OFRI vs the public/us
Maybe you’ve seen this commercial. It opens with two men who introduce themselves as Bob and Kirk. Holding a glass of water, they explain to you that Oregon has “strong laws” that protect “cool, shady streams.” They even say that protecting water is “the right thing to do.” As Bob and Kirk go on to tell us about Oregon’s strong logging laws, the camera flies over the river, showing how clean it is, showing salmon in the water, and finally Bob drinks the water. This commercial, like others you may have seen, is from the Oregon Forest Resources Institute (OFRI), a tax-funded public relations arm of the timber industry. OFRI tries to convince us that logging rules in Oregon are strong, but they’re actually considered the weakest in the region. In fact many streams, including the one Bob and Kirk are standing in, regularly violate cold water and pollution standards. |
This is the watershed Bob & Kirk are standing in. It is full of clearcuts, many of which go right over streams.
|
Cross-laminated Timber, photo by the Oregon Department of Forestry, CC BY 2.0
"Green" wood products?
Timber products are often billed as being a renewable, sustainable resource. While wood is technically renewable, the clearcuts so many wood products come from come with a cost.
For example, a new product called "cross-laminated timber" or CLT is all the rage right now, being billed as a "green" alternative to building with steel and concrete. The logging industry, with support from the State of Oregon and the City of Portland, are celebrating this product, and has launched a massive greenwashing effort to hide one very important fact about it: This is still wood that comes from clearcuts that harm communities, their drinking water, and important wildlife habitat.
CLT is simply a technology for laminating smaller pieces of wood together into larger beams and other materials suitable for structural components in buildings. Its environmental effects are determined by where the wood used to fabricate CLT components came from, how it was harvested, and the carbon impacts of that harvest and of the product throughout its lifecycle. In addition, CLT manufacturing produces air pollutants that must be accounted for.
To claim the "sustainable" and "green" labels, CLT producers must be required to account for the harvest practices used for its wood, and should be certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). While FSC certification is not perfect, it is currently the only credible standard to judge whether logging companies are seriously committed to sustainability. Without such a requirement, using CLT for “sustainable buildings” is encouraging the already rampant clearcutting of Oregon’s forests. Read more in our letter to Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler.
Timber products are often billed as being a renewable, sustainable resource. While wood is technically renewable, the clearcuts so many wood products come from come with a cost.
For example, a new product called "cross-laminated timber" or CLT is all the rage right now, being billed as a "green" alternative to building with steel and concrete. The logging industry, with support from the State of Oregon and the City of Portland, are celebrating this product, and has launched a massive greenwashing effort to hide one very important fact about it: This is still wood that comes from clearcuts that harm communities, their drinking water, and important wildlife habitat.
CLT is simply a technology for laminating smaller pieces of wood together into larger beams and other materials suitable for structural components in buildings. Its environmental effects are determined by where the wood used to fabricate CLT components came from, how it was harvested, and the carbon impacts of that harvest and of the product throughout its lifecycle. In addition, CLT manufacturing produces air pollutants that must be accounted for.
To claim the "sustainable" and "green" labels, CLT producers must be required to account for the harvest practices used for its wood, and should be certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). While FSC certification is not perfect, it is currently the only credible standard to judge whether logging companies are seriously committed to sustainability. Without such a requirement, using CLT for “sustainable buildings” is encouraging the already rampant clearcutting of Oregon’s forests. Read more in our letter to Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler.
