Climate Communications Coalition

Our #forests are home to 80% of terrestrial life and vital for #CO2 #sequestration. To log forests and BURN them - releasing all CO2 back (plus emissions from logging), is insanity during the current climate and extinction crises. #notobiomass #worthmorestanding #KeepItintheForest #publichealth #biodiversity #climatecrisis #nofalsesolutions #greenwashing #corporategreed #breakbigbiomass Be part of the International Day of Action against woody biomass: https://lnkd.in/ewMWMw6B

It’s insane that we don’t count the emissions from logging. Instead, the Forest Service is trying to position their aggressive and destructive forest management tactics as good for the climate.#KeepItintheForest #worthmorestanding #ecosystem #biodiversity #natureknowsbest #letthemgrowold

This short presentation about CCS is eye-opening: https://lnkd.in/gGXTqXeA CCS-based technologies, at the heart of many governments and corporations' climate strategies, remain poorly known, extremely expensive, and not very reliable despite the serious risks involved. On top of that, pressurised CO2 underground can stay active for decades and centuries, continuing the risk of contamination,failure, leakage, and loss of storage. Governments have to stop investing in false solutions and focus on eliminating emissions by using 100% clean energy only: Solar, wind, and geothermal. There are not shortcuts. Extinction Rebellion Sunrise Movement Mongabay The Washington Post NEWYORKTIMES.COM The Wall Street Journal Greenpeace NAACP Sierra Club Foundation GreenLatinos #nofalsesolutions #keepitintheground #CCS #climateemergency Martin Pigeon Scot Quaranda Adam Colette John Muir Project

“Sterman and his colleagues calculated that it would take between 44 and 104 years for new trees to absorb as much CO2 as the amount generated by wood bioenergy that displaces coal. Despite claims that it helps the fight against global warming, he says, “our conclusion is no, it actually makes climate change worse”. https://lnkd.in/evYdWkuF Woody biomass for heat or energy destroys our forests eliminating active carbon sequestration, in addition to all the other vital ecosystem services. Burning woody biomass for energy or heat also pollutes more than coal per megawatt of energy produced when all lifecycle emissions are counted. The biomass industry harms the health of those communities who lose the forests, live close to a biomass burning plant, a “CHP” (Combined Heat and Power facility), or a biomass pellet production plant – usually low income, underserved communities – and in the long run it harms everyone. This industry has hurt communities across the South and is now eager to expand across the West, the Mid-Atlantic, and the North-East of the U.S.  #stopburningstuff #nofalsesolutions #worthmorestanding #keepitintheforests #biomasslies #energy #cleanenergy

We have to STOP incentivizing woody biomass for energy- in the U.S. and across the globe - burning wood is more polluting and less effective than burning coal for energy! #nofalsesolutions #worthmorestanding #forests #cleanenergy #stopburningstuff #zeroemissions #biomass American Forests Dogwood Alliance Sierra Club Foundation League of Conservation Voters John Muir Project Sunrise Movement Climate Resolve The Climate Reality Project Maryland Department of Natural Resources Maryland Department of Health U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) USDA Forest Service USDA https://lnkd.in/egmTABfh

A good paper about forestry’s flawed carbon accounting: https://lnkd.in/eYE3qB8D We need policies that: 1)     Incentivize alternative building and pulp material to remove the pressure from our forests instead of incentivizing biomass and pursuing offsets. 2)     Stop burning wood - pelletized or not. It is hands down the worst we can do for climate and biodiversity: it is comparatively inefficient as a source of energy; it releases the carbon stored over decades or centuries back into the air harming our health and the environment, AND it eliminates CO2 sequestration potential at a time that we need it most. (Young forests need decades or centuries to reach the levels of carbon sequestration of the forests we cut down.) 3)     Protect mature forests and let them grow old: Mature and old-growth, are far more effective at sequestering and storing CO2 than any young forest; Eastern mature forests have the biggest carbon storage potential- if we just leave them be. The IPCC calls for “proforestation.” 4)     Limit timber extraction to tree farms and permanently protect the forest ecosystems that remain: 80% of all life on land (including plants, insects, and animals) live in forests and need their habitat protected if we want to hold off the ongoing anthropogenic mass extinction (75% of loss of wildlife is considered a mass extinction, we’ve lost 69% since 1970.) For this reason, the Global Biodiversity Framework calls for 30% of all lands and waters to be permanently protected from any sort of extraction by 2030 - is your state doing that? #Maryland is not and it's not alone. Extinction Rebellion Greenpeace International Mongabay Sierra Club LCV Project Drawdown American Forests The Climate Reality Project Environmental Law & Policy Center Southern Environmental Law Center Timothy Whitehouse John Talberth Grist washingtonpost.com The New York Times Comptroller of Maryland Josh Kurtz Kim Pezza Saif R. Rebecca (Beck) Mordini JD Clean Water Action Conservation International Elizabeth Underwood, Ph.D. Emily E. D. Coffey Frans Schepers Heather Hillaker Hansae Song Maryland Department of Natural Resources National Wildlife Federation National Park Service Palmer Morse National Parks Conservation Association Quinten Versmissen Lily Qi Rewilding Europe Wuillam Urvina USDA Forest Service WWF Gov. Wes Moore

Please read our Press Release regarding the (embedded) letter to Chief Moore, United States Forest Service, here: https://lnkd.in/ezCe5NbS #forests #ecosystem Mongabay American Forests Inside Climate News Grist Cain Blythe Chris D'Agorne Conservation International Florent Kaiser Greenpeace National Wildlife Federation NAACP The Climate Reality Project USDA Forest Service WWF Project Drawdown Extinction Rebellion Sunrise Movement Climate Defiance Dogwood Alliance

Please read our open letter here: https://rb.gy/cnn39c How does your State compare?

*30 x 30* How does your State compare? Less than 3% of lands and waters, not 30% are protected in MD. Read our Open Letter to Governor Moore here: https://rb.gy/cnn39c The picture below shows a mature forest on the Eastern Shore that was just logged. This clearly is not good for biodiversity or carbon sequestration. The USGS sets clear guidelines: Only GAP 1 and GAP 2 lands are managed consistent with conservation as required to halt biodiversity die off, maximize carbon storage, and sequestration. GAP 3 lands do not qualify because they allow extractive activities such as mining and logging and vehicle traffic, including Off-Highway Vehicle Recreation. Maryland includes GAP 3 lands - we can and must do better! Rhett Ayers Butler Cain Blythe Chris D'Agorne Conservation International City Harvest Eric Davidson Frans Schepers Florent Kaiser Greenpeace Environmental Law & Policy Center George Burba, Ph.D. ☑️ Comptroller of Maryland National Wildlife Federation NAACP Palmer Morse Quinten Versmissen Scot Quaranda The Redford Center The Climate Reality Project Sophie Gallois Sierra Club Foundation Timothy Whitehouse Joan Maloof Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi #30x30

https://lnkd.in/eKd9w7xU We respectfully disagree with Governor Moore: Less than 3% of Maryland's Lands and Waters meet GAP 1 and GAP 2 criteria as defined by the USGS, the official standard as internationally agreed upon with the UN and IUCN. Since 80% of terrestrial species (fauna, flora, insects) live in forests, this is the most important land to preserve and protect- not to mention for carbon capture and storage. Only 10% of forests are currently preserved in Maryland (https://lnkd.in/eWqXn6XF) according to the MDFS and this includes urban forests. We need more Wildland Designations! Maryland's forest conservation approach is also not consistent with the biodiversity and climate goals of 30x30 proposals. "Conservation" in MD means they are being actively managed, including for timber. According to the MD Forest Stewardship Disalignment Report, overharvesting of private forests also prevent these forests from providing the ecosystem services we need. Maryland must adhere to the agreed upon GAP 1 and GAP 2 designations - coming up with our own accounting is unacceptable. Sierra Club Foundation Dogwood Alliance Extinction Rebellion Sunrise Movement Rhett Ayers Butler Timothy Whitehouse Joan Maloof Kim Coble Josh Tulkin Kim Pezza Lily Fountain Saif R. Gov. Wes Moore Inside Climate News #30x30 #50x50 #biodiversity #climatechange #climateemergency #nofalsesolutions #forests #CCS