Story thread · 2 reports / 2 sources

Did the Forestry Industry Just Get to Write Its Own Emissions Rules?

newrepublic.com · 13h · first reportShare

Is it better for the planet to save a tree or cut it down? Elementary school students fresh off an Earth Day lesson would probably suggest saving the tree. Reasonably well-informed adults would explain that living trees absorb carbon dioxide, growing atmospheric concentrations of which are raising global temperatures. A climate scientist might say that forests around the world emit half as much carbon as they absorb—roughly 1.5 times the emissions of the entire United States. That scientist might add that additional carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is helping many of the world’s forests grow faster and absorb even more carbon. A timber company executive, meanwhile, despite being in the business of harvesting trees, might take credit for that warming-fueled growth because some portion of it is happening on land he owns. With creative-enough accounting, industry representatives could make the case that, like the forests, their companies absorb more carbon than they emit. A proposed chang