US builder confidence is unchanged in November, as single-family housing starts rose 6.4%, and multi-family starts plunged 24.1%. In related news, the US Fed is expected to cut interest rates today. In other Business news: Drax looks to build US bioenergy plants with carbon capture and storage; GreenFirst sells its entitlements to softwood lumber duty refunds; and the US criminally charges Oregon’s shuttered JH Baxter company owner.
In Forestry news: BC’s forest minister tours Vancouver Island, as the province’s tree planting program shrinks in line with its harvest levels; Mississippi acquires forest land to establish a coastal learning laboratory; and Virginia looks to use fire to prevent wildfires. Meanwhile: the Forest Stewardship Council celebrates 30 years; the US Softwood Lumber Board released its Q3 Report and a BC Forest Practices Board audit found issues at Valemount Community Forest.
Finally, a civil society-led assessment of the world’s forests in 2024.
Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor
WASHINGTON — U.S. single-family homebuilding rebounded in November as the drag from hurricanes faded, but the threat of tariffs on imported goods and potential labor shortages from mass deportations could hamper new construction next year. Single-family housing starts, which account for the bulk of homebuilding, jumped 6.4% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.011 million units last month, the Commerce Department’s Census Bureau said. Data for October was revised to show homebuilding declining to a rate of 950,000 units from the previously reported pace of 970,000 units. …A National Association of Home Builders survey on Tuesday showed a measure of sales expectations in the next six months surging in December to the highest level since April 2022. …But economists were less enthusiastic, warning of even higher lumber prices and severe worker shortages if Trump followed through with tariffs and expulsions of undocumented immigrants, which would undermine the housing market.
The federal government has pushed its target to achieve a net-zero electricity grid back 15 years to 2050 as part of new clean electricity regulations announced Tuesday — though officials maintain that target date was always the goal. Canada had previously signalled an aim to fully decarbonize electricity grids by 2035. But some provinces, namely Alberta and Saskatchewan, said that was simply not doable. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith swiftly responded to Ottawa’s plan by saying her province would immediately mount a legal challenge because the regulations wade into provincial jurisdiction. …The country’s electricity grid is already substantially green, with 85% of Canada’s power supply coming from non-emitting sources. But four provinces — Alberta, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick — still rely on coal and natural gas. Committing to a net-zero electricity grid is an easy move for the other six provinces, which are already more than 90 per cent of the way there.
The European Council has formally adopted the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation, meaning it will now enter into force in EU law. As the final step in the ordinary legislative procedure, the Council’s approval of the Regulation allows it to be published in the EU’s Official Journal; in turn, its rules will apply eighteen months after its entry into force. It is hoped that the rules will cut down on the generation of new waste by encompassing the full life cycle of packaging. Among the Regulation’s targets are minimum recycled content thresholds, ranging from 10% for contact-sensitive packaging made of non-PET plastic by 2030 to 65% for single-use plastic bottles by 2040. The amount of recycled content in a pack, its material make-up, and other sustainability-related information must be provided to consumers through on-pack labelling, marking, and information. …Reuse targets have also been set for 2030, alongside indicative targets for 2040. 
British Columbia’s government expects to plant nearly 60 million fewer trees next year — a 23 per cent drop from this year’s planting season at a time the province has seen a major spike in wildfire activity. The projections come from presentation slides obtained by Glacier Media and shown to industry in September, less than 10 days before the B.C.’s provincial election campaign kicked off. During the campaign, the BC NDP promised to plant 300 million trees annually across the province to “help increase forest resilience.” That promise came off the back of two of the most destructive wildfire seasons in B.C.’s history. In 2023 alone, more than 6,000 fires torched 15 million hectares of land, an area larger than England, according to Natural Resources Canada. But according to the province’s own projections, the government expects the number of trees planted to sink to 233 million in 2025, down from 291 million in 2024 and far short of its election promise.
