Comments on: Senate, Consider Deforestation as Part of Climate Bill

By: David Beebe

David Beebe — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 22:21:55 +0000

Please include in this discussion as “climate forest” America’s only, largely intact, temperate rainforest — the Tongass National Forest. Eighty percent of the land base of Southeast Alaska’s Alexander Archipelago (also referred to as Alaska’s “panhandle”) is federally managed coastal temperate rainforest, which, lacking the catastrophic fire events of most forests, stores the highest volume of sequestered carbon per hectare of any forest in North America. (Leighty,et al. 2006)

Alaska has been ground zero for catastrophic climate change effects including ocean acidification, which threatens the very foundation of the ocean’s food chain. These changes are being observed far sooner than predicted, yet the Tongass is still being regarded as an overseas export timber base, or worse yet, a woody biomass source for “carbon-neutral (sic), renewable energy”. Such claims of carbon neutrality are categorically false while ignoring the region’s true carbon neutral, world class, untapped wind, geothermal, tidal, and hydro resources.

By: Lloyd Apter

Lloyd Apter — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 21:20:31 +0000

Rainforest Reserve, for a new global currency, has the potential to deal with all the crucial global environmental and economical issues we are experiencing in a very systematic way.

Please read about Rainforest Reserve: http://www.eee.coop/rainforest-reserve

And make your comments here…

By: Sasparilla

Sasparilla — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 21:04:36 +0000

While we definitely need to save the rain forests, something that should be kept in mind – is that these same rain forests are supposed to come under increasing drying pressure as the temperatures increase – to the point that they destroy themselves and become huge CO2 sources (the Amazon had a dry summer a few years ago becoming a net CO2 source during that time, scientists said a couple of years of that would have destroyed a good chunk of it – that is supposed to happen much more as things continue to warm up).

So we want to save these places, but don’t bet the farm on it being there in 15 years and structure the legislation to handle that eventuality.

My ears always perk up when I hear people (Republicans, in particular) talking about domestic US CO2 emitters being able to buy their CO2 emissions credits (and keep doing as is cheaply, which is what they want) by paying off some people south of the border where their dollars go so much further, especially if deposited in the right pockets. Just my $0.02.

By: Eduardo

Eduardo — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 19:36:29 +0000

Hello,

If you want to help go to this page http://www.contreebute.com

This is a good iniciative of people that understands why we need to protect the forest.