The Dakota Access oil pipeline dispute set Native Americans against fossil-fuel interests.
In contrast, the Chugach Alaska Corp. has struck a deal to generate income for indigenous people by keeping coal in the ground and managing timber sustainably.
Chugach will sell its coal rights along the Bering River to New Forests, which will give them to The Nature Conservancy to retire.
New Forests will help Chugach maintain high carbon stocks in its forests near the Copper River Delta and sell greenhouse gas credits on California’s carbon markets.
That deal shows that “the combination of creative private investment and a price on carbon pollution can deliver positive financial, environmental and social returns,” said New Forests’ Brian Shillinglaw.
Photo credit: New Forests
