by @jacobresneck #EricStone #EdwardBoyda & #ClaytonAldern in @grist:

"The world depends on the Tongass, seen by many as 'the lungs of North America,' a vital resource for sequestering carbon. The Tongass currently holds 44 percent of all the carbon stored by U.S. national forests. While other forests often burn in wildfires, releasing the carbon sequestered by photosynthesis right back into the atmosphere, the rainforest of Southeast Alaska is different. Forest fires are relatively rare here. In fact, climatologists believe this part of the world will generally get wetter as global temperatures rise. So the Tongass isn’t just a carbon sink, it is a steady one — vital to the long-term fight against climate change. The Tongass 'is some of the most carbon-dense, old-growth rainforest in the world,' said Dominick DellaSala, an ecologist and chief scientist at the nonprofit Wild Heritage. 'Even more dense in carbon storage [per acre] than the tropical rainforest … What it comes down to is really abusive use of the rainforest. When you come in and you clear-cut — and you take out all the trees over an area as large as 40 acres, in some cases, private lands, it’s even larger — that just takes out all of the value of the forest. You lose most of the carbon, which goes up into the atmosphere.'”

https://grist.org/project/accountability/tongass-national-forest-roadless-rule-loophole/

#Tongass #Alaska #logging #trees #ClimateCrisis #ClimateChange #climate #environment #Grist

by #NaveenaSadasivam & #ClaytonAldern in @grist:

"According to the latest public data, Oxbow still emits more sulfur dioxide than any facility in Texas aside from five coal- and gas-fired power plants. One simple but pricey solution is to install sulfur dioxide scrubbers, which run emissions through a slurry of chemicals to mitigate their toxicity. But for at least three decades, in four different states, Oxbow has been trying to outrun environmental regulations that might require this expensive step. Oxbow’s creative use of real-time official regulatory data has not only helped it stay in business — it’s also helped the company rake in an estimated $80 million in sales a year."

https://grist.org/project/accountability/koch-oxbow-port-arthur-texas-clean-air-act-pollution/

#Koch #Oxbow #PortArthur #Texas #CleanAir #AirQuality #pollution #environment #regulations #Grist