FYI...Climate Change Solutions Debate At Root of Tree Plantings
Mr. Tek Jung Mahat
By Michael Hill
Source: The Associated Press
URL: http://tinyurl.com/2hxysz
Published date: 28 May 2007
ALBANY, N.Y. - If you plant some trees, is it OK to drive an Escalade?
The question isn't as silly as it sounds. People worried about global
warming increasingly are trying to ``offset'' the carbon dioxide - the
leading greenhouse gas - they spew into the atmosphere when they
drive, fly or flick on a light. One idea popular with the eco-
conscious is to have trees planted for them. You get to keep driving
and flying, but those trees are supposed to suck in your trail of
carbon.
Whole forests have been funded by tree-loving celebrities such as
Leonardo DiCaprio and the members of the band Coldplay, and more
modest packages tailored to typical consumers are proliferating.
But some researchers say planting trees - while a good thing - is at
best a marginal solution to global warming. Still others decry tree
planters who continue to jet off to Cannes, drive their SUVs or
generally fail to reduce their fuel-hungry lifestyle. To those
critics, plantings and other carbon offsets are like the medieval
practice of selling indulgences to wash away sins: It may feel good,
but it doesn't solve much.
``The sale of offset indulgences is a dead-end detour off the path of
action required in the face of climate change,'' says a report by the
Transnational Institute's Carbon Trade Watch.
Groups that offer tree offsets typically rely on Web calculators
requiring users to type in how many miles they drive, how much
electricity they use and how far they fly. Figure out how much CO2
someone is responsible for (output), compare it to the work average
trees can do (input), and you have a formula for neutralizing a
person's ``carbon footprint.''
While the band Coldplay famously funded 10,000 mango trees in India to
soak up emissions related to the production of a CD, the average
consumer can get off far easier. For $40, Trees for the Future will
plant 400 trees in a developing country to handle your car emissions.
In June, Delta Air Lines will allow online ticket buyers to help
offset emissions of their flights through tree plantings in the United
States and abroad: $5.50 for domestic round trips, $11 for
international.
``It's easy to do and it makes a big difference,'' said Jena Thompson
of the Conservation Fund, Delta's partner and one of many groups that
will plant trees on your behalf.
The science is sound: Trees take in carbon dioxide as part of
photosynthesis and store the carbon. But even conservationists caution
it's not as simple as planting a sapling so you can crank up the air
conditioning without guilt.
Offset groups use averages to estimate how much carbon a given tree or
forested acre can capture. For instance, the nonprofit Conservation
Fund figures that each tree planted captures less than 1 1/2 tons over
100 years.
To put that in perspective, consider that about 7.3 billion metric
tons of carbon dioxide was produced from the burning of fossil fuels
worldwide in 2003, the most recent estimate available.
And how much carbon dioxide a tree can soak up varies, said John
Kadyszewski of Winrock International, a nonprofit that works on
environmental projects. A huge California redwood might have 30 tons
of carbon stored while a 100-year-old pine might have less than a
ton.
``Trees are all different,'' said Kadyszewski, coordinator for
ecosystem services for Winrock, ``and the amount of carbon in the tree
depends on how old it is and where it's growing and what kind of tree
it is.''
Kadyszewski says most of the calculators use conservative numbers, so
they're not likely to exaggerate benefits. The Conservation Fund and
Carbonfund.org say they plant more than enough trees to deliver on
promised offsets.
There are other potential problems, however. Some researchers suggest
forests in the snowy North might actually increase local warming by
absorbing sunlight that otherwise would be reflected into space. And
dead, decaying trees release some of that captured carbon back into
the atmosphere.
Maybe most importantly, some researchers say it's simply not possible
to plant enough trees to have a significant effect on global warming.
Michael MacCracken, chief scientist at the nonpartisan Climate
Institute in Washington, said tree planting has value as a stopgap
measure while society attempts to reduce greenhouse gases. But
University of Victoria climate scientist Andrew Weaver fears tree
offsets could steal the focus of a problem that requires technological
advances and behavioral changes.
``The danger is that you could actually think you're solving a
problem,'' he said. ``It makes you feel good ... But the reality is
it's not going to have a significant effect.''