California Governor Gavin Newsom announced a new program to use “more than half of its land to fight the climate crisis.” The program includes 81 targets for nature-based solutions intended to help California achieve its world-leading climate goals, including reaching carbon neutrality by 2045 through land management efforts that include:
- 33.5 million acres managed to reduce wildfire risk, mostly through beneficial fire
- 11.9 million acres of forest managed for biodiversity protection, carbon storage, and water supply protection
- 7.6 million acres conserved with protections
- 3.4 million acres of croplands managed to boost healthy soils, drought resilience, and below-ground biodiversity
- 4.2 million trees planted to protect California communities from the climate crisis, remove carbon and increase access to nature where it’s needed most
- 2.7 million acres of shrublands and chaparral managed for carbon storage, resilience, and habitat connectivity
- 1.6 million acres of grasslands managed to restore native grasslands and protect biodiversity
- 1.5 million acres of sparsely vegetated lands (deserts, beaches, etc.) to protect fragile ecosystems
It is unclear exactly what the state plans to do with the carbon credits expected from the programs – will they will be considered state assets and exclusively applied against emissions generated by governmental operations, or will the state sell any on the open market? My prediction is that both scenarios will end up happening. The revenue opportunity is simply too great a temptation.
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