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Wed, 11 Oct 2006

Pew Center Reports spotlight role of farms and forest in reducing Global Warming

From the Pew Center for Global Climate Change, 9.21 Washington DC.

SV Comment: From reading these two reports, I'm encouraged by the positive and practical alternatives to hand-wringing on the Green Side, or the ostrich approach of The Other Side. It's encouraging to think about agricultural activities which will reduce global warming, instead of increasing it as they do now. (Although I'm not convinced that biofuels are the best use of crops or the best fuel alternative.)

The Pew Reports stress that government must play a critical role in financing and implementing these strategies. However, it seems to me that the solutions outlined in the reports could be implemented through grass roots activism or spontaneous change. As we know too well, by the time government does anything about anything, it's always a day late and a dollar short!

Maybe I'm overly optimistic, but I find it hard to believe that the agriculture and forestry sectors won't embrace the proposed solutions without substantial government incentives. They'll make changes themselves if they believe it'll help them survive and thrive. For that to happen, we need massive infusions of consciousness, not cash. Still, the reports are worth reading, to give us a bit of hope for once about global warming.

Intro: Pew Center Press Release: "America's farms and forestlands have a major role to play in reducing the threat of climate change, according to two reports released by the Pew Center on Global Climate Change. Changes in agricultural practices coupled with foresting marginal agricultural lands could offset up to one fifth of current U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, while at the same time creating potential new sources of farming income. In addition, the nation could reduce emissions by 10 to 25 percent by replacing fossil fuels with biofuels made from agricultural crops."

The two reports are: Agriculture’s Role in Greenhouse Gas Mitigation by Keith Paustian, John M. Antle, John Sheehan, and Eldor A. Paul, and Agricultural and Forestlands: U.S. Carbon Policy Strategies by Kenneth R. Richards, R. Neil Sampson, and Sandra Brown.