MAINE PUBLIC • November 3, 2022
A small but growing number of Maine groups — from timber companies and conservation organizations to the Passamaquoddy Tribe — have now done the same thing: they’ve set aside portions of their land and sold credits that require them to lock up a certain amount of carbon in the trees that cover it. These offset projects are meant to tackle multiple aspects of the climate crisis. If humans are to avoid the worst effects of global warming, there’s a growing recognition that forests such as Maine’s North Woods must remove more carbon from the atmosphere and that forest owners need better incentives to maximize their sequestration. Supporters say that well-regulated offset markets make it cost-effective to pursue better forestry while giving polluters a way to compensate for any emissions. But critics argue that projects can overstate how much carbon they’re offsetting and enable big corporations to avoid the harder work of reducing their fossil fuel dependence.