I keep seeing folks plant trees in the wrong spots for carbon offsets

Last month I walked past a new housing development where they put 20 saplings right under power lines. Those trees will get chopped in 5 years tops, so what's the point of counting them as carbon capture? Has anyone else noticed projects like this just wasting the effort?

2 comments

2 Comments

troy_owens1mo ago

oh come on, you're way too harsh on these projects. those saplings under power lines aren't meant to be permanent, they're just temporary carbon sponges while they're growing fast. in those first 5 years they'll suck up way more CO2 per tree than a mature tree would in the same time, so by the time they get cut you've already banked a decent amount of credit. and honestly, planting anywhere is better than not planting at all because you're still creating a microhabitat for bugs and birds and soil health even if the tree doesn't live forever. look at it like a crop rotation thing, you plant a quick growing tree, get the carbon benefit, and then the utility company has to manage the lines anyway so the wood can get chipped and used for something else. plus most carbon offset programs actually account for this kind of stuff, they don't just count every sapling as 50 years of storage, they use conservative estimates.

linda_clark1mo ago

Kind of like how fast-growing weeds can help a garden, then you pull them. @troy_owens has a point there.