Carbon Issues


Legislation

Climate legislation moving through Congress could create new income opportunities for family woodland owners - in the form of carbon markets and incentives, where woodland owners are rewarded for carbon sequestration and storage in the woods.  A bill titled "Reduction in Emissions from Manufacturing and Agriculture Partnership Act of 2009" (S 2729) has been introduced by Debbie Stabenow (D-MI).  The Stabenow bill contains many important elements that will aid woodland owner participation -- including flexible contract lengths, rewards for early actors, and a strong carbon incentives program for woodland owners who don't quite fit in carbon markets.  For more details, the bill description, and talking point so that you can contact your legislator, click here.

Climategate

The recent controversy about falsified global warming data could have an impact on markets for carbon.  If you would like to follow the ongoing discussion about the validity of the global warming data, these web sites are a good place to start.
     CO2 Science
     Science and Environmental Policy Project

Links

Woodlands Carbon Company is the Oregon-based, American Forest Foundation supported, company that is willing to include Washington Tree Farmers in their aggregated groups of forest land owners who are selling their carbon credits on the Chicago Climate Exchange.

Climate legislation moving through Congress could create new income opportunities for family woodland owners - in the form of carbon markets and incentives, where woodland owners are rewarded for carbon sequestration and storage in the woods.  A bill titled "Reduction in Emissions from Manufacturing and Agriculture Partnership Act of 2009 (S 2729) has been introduced by Debbie Stabenow (D-MI).  The Stabenow bill contains many important elements that will aid woodland owner participation -- including flexible contract lengths, rewards for early actors, and a strong carbon incentives program for woodland owners who don't quite fit in carbon markets.  For more details, the bill description, and talking point so that you can contact your legislator, click here.

Chicago Climate Exchange is North America's only Greenhouse Gas Registry, Reduction and Trading System.


Articles and Publications

 Carbon neutrality of energy from forest biomass.  Published by National Alliance of Forest Owners. 2010.

The carbon neutrality of forest biomass used to produce electricity is a long-established convention in greenhouse gas accounting.  However some are questioning this presumption.

We're all in this together: decisionmaking to address climate change in a complex world.  Ralph Alig.  USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, Science Findings Issue 116, September 2009.  

Research at the PNW Station has shown that there is substantial room for increased carbon storage on public and private forest land.  Because climate change is such a far-reaching topic, policy alternatives must be evaluated in terms of land-use changes, forest management strategies, and connections to other sectors of the economy.

Measurement guidelines for the sequestration of forest carbon.  T.R.H. Pearson, S.L. Brown, R.A. Birdsey.  USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station, General Technical Report NRS-18. 2007. 42 p.

Provides guidance on defining boundaries; measuring, monitoring, and estimating changes in carbon stocks; implementing plans to measure and monitor carbon; and developing quality assurance and quality control plans to ensure credible and reproducible estimates of the carbon credits.

CVal: A Spreadsheet Tool to Evaluate the Direct Benefits and Costs fo Carbon Sequestration Contracts for Managed Forests.
USDA Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory, General Technical Report FPL-GTR-180. 2009.

This free Microsoft Excel spreadsheet is fairly complex and intimidating, but the 30 page user guide that you can download will thoroughly explain the data, terms, and formulas in the worksheet.  CVal has been specifically written to make the carbon offset market feasible for family forest landowners.

Developing forest inventory guidelines to meet the requirements of the Chicago Climate Exchange
Western Forester, May/June 2009

Mason, Bruce and Girard, Inc., a Portland, Oregon forestry consulting firm, is working with Woodlands Carbon Company to develop forest inventory guidelines and protocols that meet the requirements of the CCX and are also amenable to small properties.

Family Forests and Climate Change
American Forest Foundation, June 2009

Learn more about how climate legislation, if constructed properly, can provide new revenue streams for family forest owners.

Maximizing forest contributions to carbon mitigation: the science of life cycle analysis
CORRIM Fact Sheet 5.  March 2009.

The Consortium for Research on Renewable Industrial Materials (CORRIM) has developed a database that makes it possible to track carbon from the forst to post harvest uses, following the carbon from one pool to the next, measuring the interaction between them.  Carbon tracking charts display the impacts on all carbon pools making it possible to understand the impact of management and policies on the total carbon across all pools.

COLE: Carbon On Line Estimator! 
COLE v2.0 enables the user to examine forest carbon characteristics of any area of the continental United States. COLE data are based on USDA Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis and Resource Planning Assessment data, enhanced by other ecological data. It is an inexpensive, easy-to-use tool for estimating forest carbon stocks.



Updated: July 31, 2010
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