A harvested tree is replaced by more trees that sequester additional carbon.
Regarding “Carbon Offsets Prompt Forest Purchase” (Business & Finance, Nov. 3): Someone should make an allowance for the carbon that is sequestered in harvested lumber. That lumber isn’t burned or decomposed and returned to the atmosphere as greenhouse gas. It is turned into housing, furniture and other products that last for decades. That is sequestered carbon, too. Meanwhile, a harvested tree is replaced by more trees that sequester additional carbon.
It isn’t clear that if there were a true reduction in timber harvest from these lands, it would actually reduce greenhouse gases.
Jay Lott
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