The wildfires that have raged across Oregon and Washington this year burned millions of acres. But beyond the immediate destruction, the fires have destroyed something less visible: tens of millions of dollars in California carbon credits, paid for by businesses and consumers under the state’s climate mandates. The fires have scorched tens of thousands of acres enrolled in forest-carbon projects under California’s cap-and-trade program. The system allows companies to meet part of the state’s climate rules by purchasing credits from forest owners… sometimes outside of the state. The destruction is the latest evidence that California’s forest-offset program is ineffective at best, counterproductive at worst. …California has tried to account for wildfire risks by establishing a “buffer pool,” to which each project is required to contribute as a kind of insurance policy. When a fire destroys a forest-carbon project, credits from the pool are canceled to cover the loss. But this approach has proven inadequate.