Natural History Wanderings

The Revelator has an article on how Public lands are an important part of slowing climate change. But only if we can turn them from sources of carbon emissions to sinks.

To slow climate change, we’ll need to not just cut emissions, but sequester them. And for that we’ll need to protect healthy ecosystems, experts say.

A stunning 23% of the nation’s greenhouse gases can be traced directly to public lands. Much of these emissions come from the extraction of fossil fuels under leases issued by the Bureau of Land Management. States have limited control over what takes place on federal property, even when that land is within their borders. The BLM and U.S. Forest Service set the terms for oil and gas leasing, mining permits and logging.

Read story at  Achieving Net-Zero Climate Targets Will Depend on Public Lands • The Revelator