John and Julie Christensen’s property in Corbett east of Portland is dedicated to carbon capture. (Rian Dundon/Oregon Capital Chronicle)
In March, Western agency officials, governors, business leaders, conservationists and scientists gathered in Portland for two days of workshops on “Decarbonizing the West.”
Panelists discussed different ways to leverage natural resources in the West to combat climate change while bringing in revenue. One way is to dedicate the millions of acres of Northwest forests to carbon capture and storage, generating carbon credits that can be sold to polluters to offset their emissions.
That caught the interest of Capital Chronicle reporter Alex Baumhardt, who was there.
She questioned whether it would work: Would paying forest owners not to clear-cut help slow climate change?
She wondered how much money was pouring into these deals and who would benefit and whether it was a giant pay-to-pollute scheme or would move the U.S. closer to other nations that are beginning to cap emissions and mandate that polluters pay for the damage they’re causing.