On Friday , Congress go through a 1.3 trillion dollar sign spending billthat , among other things , will continue toenshrinethe controversial whim that biomass fuels are carbon neutral . The day before , a prominent ecologistpenned an articlein a prestigious daybook explaining why that ’s baloney .
William Schlesinger may be an emeritus professor at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies , but retirement is n’t stopping him call BS on the United States Congress and leaders abroad for promoting the idea that wood electrocution is moment - detached bodily process for the climate . And yes , this is something people are really arguing .
Because of aregulatory loopholethatpassedEuropean Parliament recently , the European Union still considers biomass fuel carbon paper - neutral , allowing them to count toward fulfilment of its Paris Agreement commitment . The result ? The U.S. wood industry is shipping millions of gobs of woods shot across the Atlantic each twelvemonth to meet growing requirement .
With the passage of an omnibus outlay bill imminent , the U.S. Congress is about to go a standardised directive to federal agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency . That ’s despite that fact thatmany scientist disaccord , and have argue that burning woodcan in fact be worse for the clime than burn coal .
“ Cutting trees for fuel is antithetic to the important role that woods encounter as a cesspool for CO2 that might otherwise conglomerate in the atmosphere , ” Schlesinger writes in an article published yesterday in the journal Science , bestow later that carbon neutrality “ is only achieved ” if harvested forests are allowed to regrow more biomass than was lose .
Indeed , the whole argument for biomass fuels stem from the fact that trees are giant CO2 vacuums . Let ‘ em produce , they mop CO2 up , burn the Sir Henry Wood , CO2 goes back in the atmosphere . The trouble , as Schlesinger remark , is that the emissions are only last zero if forests can regrow for decade to correct for the carbon copy lose when they are chop up , shipped to distant shore , and burnt for energy .
Not only are the wood shot - producing pine plantations of the southeastern U.S. typically hold open on forgetful rotations that reduce their carbon uptake , the expansion of these plantations to satisfy increase demand for Mrs. Henry Wood product may be harming regional biodiversity , Schlesinger argues .
On the whole , the expenditure invoice that slide by Congress last nightcould have been much worse for the environment . But while the biomass directive work a venial appearance , it also make it easier for our loss leader to keep dragging their feet on climate military action . And since EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt has committed tohelping the biomass manufacture achieve regulatory certainty , this may just be the source .
“ The pick Congress name today will literally watch whether we preserve a livable planet , Kassie Siegel , director of the Center for Biological Diversity ’s Climate Law Institute , assure Earther in reaction to a request for commentary on the budget yesterday . “ Once again , Congress is sacrificing our children ’s future to protect polluter ’ short - terminal figure net . ”
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