Climate watch: CCL highlights upcoming panel on forest carbon storage, carbon fee progress
There is a walking path I like to take in State College that passes through a small wood. I know why this area exists. The land it stands on is too boggy and low to be a part of the adjacent farm field or housing development.
Yet every time I pass through it, I feel fortunate to have these trees shade my walk and provide cover for a wood thrush that serenades me. In addition to providing shade and animal habitat, this accidental sanctuary filters water and cleans the air. It is also quietly sequestering and storing carbon.
About 740,000 Pennsylvanians own forested land, accounting for almost 70% of all forests in the commonwealth. Most of these are small family-owned woodlands. According to a survey conducted by the Center for Private Forests at Penn State, these landowners value their lands for the beauty, solitude, wildlife habitat and recreation they provide. They also deliver an ecological service that we need more of right now. And they can benefit landowners financially when owners tap into carbon markets.
According to Calvin Norman, a forestry and wildlife educator at Penn State, trees are the best carbon capture and storage technology around. But it is not a matter of just letting the forests that we have now grow old. Good forest management techniques are essential, and family forest owners may not always have the resources to manage their woodlands effectively. Harvesting timber provides valuable wood products and supports rural economies. Urban areas need trees planted to control heat as well as for carbon storage.
How can we increase forest carbon sequestration and storage, while benefiting private forest owners and the wood products industry? Citizens’ Climate Lobby (CCL) has assembled a panel of experts to explore potential answers in a live online panel discussion on Oct. 12 at noon. Whether you own a forest, or just enjoy them, you are welcome to be a part of the conversation. It’s free and you can register at https://exploringforestcarbon.eventbrite.com.
-Catherine Cullen
Senate considering carbon fee and dividend
There are clear signs that the U.S. Senate Finance Committee is considering the inclusion of a price on carbon in the federal budget.
Details remain to be finalized, but national media is widely reporting that Senate lawmakers are crafting legislation for a fee on carbon emissions that would start at $15 per ton and increase over time. A good portion of the revenue would be given to households to cover increased energy costs.
In a national lobbying push this summer, CCL volunteers generated more than 52,000 calls and emails to Senate offices asking for a carbon price in the budget.
A carbon price is only one of many climate-focused policies in the budget package, which Senate Democrats are designing with an eye toward President Biden’s goal of cutting carbon emissions in half by 2030. Nearly all climate scientists and economists agree, however, that a carbon price is the most essential tool required to reach that goal.
Senators are also looking to include other climate measures in the budget package, such as a fee on methane and tax credits for clean energy and electric vehicles and the Clean Electricity Payment Plan.
-Richard W. Jones