The Alaska Senate unanimously passed a bill that would set up a system for selling credits by preserving forested state land to offset carbon burned or released elsewhere. Via AlaskaBeacon
The Interior boreal forest is seen on Sept. 20. 2022, from an overlook along the Parks Highway on the edge of Fairbanks. The Alaska Senate on Monday passed a bill that aims to generate state revenue from a carbon-credit system that would preserve tracts of forested land.
It is a high priority for Gov. Mike Dunleavy. The Republican governor introduced it early in the session andas a potential source of billions of dollars of future revenue. In floor remarks leading to the vote, Sen. Bill Wielechowski, D-Anchorage, said the program that would be established through the bill is a new opportunity for the state to generate much-needed revenue.
Among the types of development contemplated for land leased for carbon-offset credits is logging — even though most state-owned forested land is in the boreal region, which has traditionally not supported much commercial logging in Alaska. Moving more slowly than this measure is the governor’s companion bill that would set up a system for storing carbon gases in old oil and gas wells with the purpose of sequestering the greenhouse gases emitted by petroleum production and other industrial activities. Versions of that bill, dubbed the “hole” bill, are pending in both the Senate and House as Senate Bill 49 and House Bill 50.
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