Vancouver Sun -- Searching for the 'Sweet Spot' in the Carbon Debate
January 27th, 2011
Excerpted from an OpEd in the Vancouver Sun, "Searching for the 'Sweet Spot' in the Carbon Debate," by our BC Forest Campaigner, Marlene Cummings:
The valuable contribution intact forests make in conserving natural carbon stores to help in the fight against climate change has been largely overlooked in BC. Like a bank account that can store carbon away for hundreds of years, the service of keeping carbon in the ground and out of the atmosphere, is provided free of charge by our intact forests. When forests are logged, the carbon-rich soils, forest floor, and woody biomass release much of that stored carbon into the atmosphere.
Old Growth Forests in Clayoquot Sound. Photo by Mark Hobson. The British Columbia Greenhouse Gas Inventory Report 2008 reveals that logging and slash burning – although not officially included in the accounting -- were responsible for 63,246,000 tons (gross) of CO2-equivalent greenhouse gas emissions. This is higher than the total greenhouse gas emissions from BC’s entire energy sector for that year -- including emissions from road transportation, and fossil fuel and manufacturing industries.
Most climate change experts and conservation organizations, and a growing number of corporations and communities, agree that meeting robust targets to reduce greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, as soon as possible, must be a societal priority. For many companies and communities, it will take time to reduce carbon- and other greenhouse gas-intensive infrastructure. Fortunately, BC’s coastal and other primary forests store vast amounts of carbon for us now, when we need it, not decades into the future, such as when seedlings grow into trees.
For more information:
Check out the letters of support from both the Executive Director of Tofino Long Beach Chamber of Commerce and the Confidential Secretary of the District of Tofino.
