Santa Cruz Mountains redwoods lure cash for trapping carbon

PG&E is handing over tens of thousands of dollars to the nonprofit Sempervirens Fund to protect a 425-acre stand of redwoods once slated for logging deep in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

The deal, expected to be completed next month, is part of the utility's efforts to combat greenhouse gas emissions, in this case safeguarding trees for carbon absorption, and is helping to drive a new marketplace where people and business are offered an incentive to offset pollution.

"We're finding a new financial model here for doing things to capture greenhouse gases that wouldn't have been done otherwise," said Robert Parkhurst, climate protection and analysis manager for PG&E.

"It's a new paradigm for protecting the environment."