WASHINGTON, DC (November 4, 2009) – The National Alliance of Forest Owners (NAFO) offered support for the direction of the Clean Energy Partnerships Act, introduced by Senator Debbie Stabenow, D-MI, and others, to capture the opportunities missed in Kerry-Boxer to include forests in the solution to climate change.
David P. Tenny, President and CEO of NAFO, said, “Private working forests should be our front line for reducing greenhouse gases. The fact that responsibly managed forests play a critical role in removing carbon from the atmosphere is beyond dispute both domestically and internationally. Congress must acknowledge this in legislation and allow for vibrant markets that will tap the full potential of these forests.
“The legislation makes significant forward progress by calling for the development of programs, which take immediate advantage of the carbon captured through forest management projects and the long term storage of carbon in harvested wood products. This approach is key to realizing cost efficiencies that are critical to the successful implementation of a cap and trade system and a significant improvement to the legislation pending in the Senate.
“Additional work is necessary to ensure that domestic, working forests contribute their full potential to any climate change solution, and we look forward to continuing to work with Senator Stabenow, a leader in promoting the value of working forests.”
Tenny commended Senators Baucus, D-MT, Begich, D-AK, Brown, D-OH, Harkin, D-IA, and Klobuchar, D-MN, for being original cosponsors of the legislation.
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NAFO is an organization of private forest owners committed to promoting federal policies that protect the economic and environmental values of privately-owned forests at the national level. NAFO membership encompasses more than 75 million acres of private forestland in 47 states.
Tags: climate
