Planting a Trillion Trees Will Not Halt Climate Change

by Kay Ledbetter (Farm Progress/Southwest Farm Press) Tree planting in natural grasslands can destroy plant and animal habitat and won't sequester enough carbon to compensate for fossil fuel emissions. -- A group of 46 scientists from around the world, led by Dr. Joseph Veldman, assistant professor in the Department of Ecosystem Science and Management in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Texas A&M University, are urging caution regarding plans to address climate change through massive tree planting.

These scientists teamed up with Veldman, whose research focuses on the fire ecology of savannas and forests of Texas and Tropical America, to publish a message of concern in the journal Science.

“While tree planting can be good in some deforested areas, tree planting in Earth’s natural grasslands destroys plant and animal habitat and will not sequester enough carbon to compensate for fossil fuel emissions,” Veldman said. “Few people realize that planting trees in the wrong places can actually damage ecosystems, increase wildfire intensity and exacerbate global warming.”

The new publication is a critique of a recent paper in Science, which claimed global tree planting could capture 205 gigatons of carbon, or one-third of the carbon dioxide emitted since the industrial revolution.

“Because the estimate of 205 gigatons of carbon was so large, last summer headlines around the world declared tree planting to be the best solution to climate change,” Veldman said. “We now know those headlines were wrong.”

In their critique, Veldman and his collaborators write that serious methodological flaws led to a five-fold overestimate of the potential for new trees to mitigate climate change. Among the problems, they point out that the original study assumed that soils in ecosystems without trees contain no carbon, when in fact many ecosystems such as savannas and peatlands, contain more carbon in soils than in the above-ground vegetation.

Co-author Vicky Temperton of Leuphana University in Germany also commented. “Ecological restoration could contribute so much more to natural climate solutions if we work to restore not just forests, but also grasslands, savannas, shrublands and peat bogs.” READ MORE

Excerpt from Politico's Morning Energy: BRAUN TO OFFER SENATE TRILLION TREES BILL: Indiana Sen. Mike Braun (R) said Tuesday that he will introduce the Senate version of the GOP's Trillion Trees Act in the coming weeks and is looking for co-sponsors. Braun gave no timing on the introduction other than "soon" but said he is optimistic he can garner bipartisan support for the bill.

Back in the House, Natural Resources Chairman Raúl Grijalva has said he won't bring up the Trillion Trees Act, H.R. 5859 (116), for a vote. Many Democrats say they are supportive of planting trees but are concerned the GOP is trying to divert attention from addressing carbon emissions from industry. But Braun said the trees bill is just a first step for GOP climate policy. "I think that anybody who would say we shouldn't start here does not have a good reason," Braun said at a press conference Tuesday. "This just gets the ball rolling."

Just where that ball will roll remains unclear. After the press conference, ME heard one GOP member express concern that the media will think the Trees Act is "all we want to do." But none of the lawmakers assembled would commit to any other climate actions during the press conference. "I've heard the argument that trees aren't enough but … tell me something that's more pragmatic, proactive, large-scale to take carbon out of the atmosphere but trees," said Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.), the lead sponsor of the House bill. "There's not anything. So trees are not the answer to the problem but they are a big part of the equation." READ MORE