Letter to Kerry Graham Lieberman on Forest Sequestration

The Center supports the goals in this letter.

The Honorable John Kerry
218 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

The Honorable Lindsey Graham
290 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

The Honorable Joseph Lieberman
706 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

March 22, 2010

Dear Senators Kerry, Graham, and Lieberman,

Thank you for all your hard work to secure action on energy and climate change. We strongly believe that any successful comprehensive energy and climate change legislation must include forests and farms as a significant part of the solution. By providing anaffordable means to address climate change, public and private incentives (such as offsets) for forests and farms can help Americans save money while leading the way to a low carbon economy.

American agriculture can play a major role in sequestering carbon and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Providing strong incentives to American farms and ranches can help feed and fuel the world and do it in a way that involves American agriculture in the energy and climate solution – while bringing increased prosperity to rural America.

American forests, including working forests and wood, already sequester about one eighth of U.S. carbon emissions, with the potential for much more. Strong incentives for reforestation, sustainable forest management, and forest conservation will create jobs and safeguard America’s energy future.

Conservation, restoration, and sustainable management of tropical forests must also play asignificant role. By providing public and private incentives for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation activities (REDD), we can address the 15 percent of greenhouse gas emissions that come from tropical deforestation while helping keep energy costs affordable for U.S. agriculture, forest products industries, and consumers. Protecting these forests will also help level the playing field for U.S. agriculture and forest products industries by reducing illegal logging and forest conversion in tropical countries, ensuring fair competition in wood, pulp, beef, leather, soybeans, and other global markets.

We look forward to working with you to ensure that forests, farms and ranches help deliver an effective and affordable solution to climate change and a new energy future.

Sincerely,

American Bird Conservancy * American Electric PowerAmerican Forest and Paper Association * American Forest Foundation * Avoided Deforestation Partners * Coalition for Emission Reduction Projects * Conservation Forestry * Conservation International * Dominion * Duke Energy * Environmental Defense Fund * Green Diamond Resource Company * Hardwood Federation * Maine Forest Service * Marriott International * National Alliance of Forest Owners * National Association of State Foresters * National Farmers Union * National Wildlife Federation * New Forests * NorthWestern Energy * Ohio Corn Growers Association * Pacific Forest Trust * PG&E Corporation * Pinchot Institute * Sierra Club * Society of American Foresters * The Nature Conservancy * Trust for Public Land * Union of Concerned Scientists * Wildlife Conservation Society (The Hill E2Wire, 3/22/10, hat tip: Matt Bevens-Glover Park Group)