What are Carbon Credit Offsets and what timberlands qualify for selling Carbon Credits?
Carbon that is sequestered (pulled out of the atmosphere) by trees during photosynthesis is now considered a valued offset to the carbon that is put into the atmosphere by industries reliant on fossil based fuels for energy. Industries that have joined the Chicago Climate Exchange have voluntarily made legal obligations to reduce carbon emissions 6% by 2010 with the ultimate goal to become carbon neutral some time in the future. This will be accomplished with a combination of real reductions in emissions and the purchase of offsets. The Carbon Credits are marketed to US based companies on the Chicago Climate Exchange, which operates similar to Wall-Street. Currently there is only one approved program by the Chicago Climate Exchange for trees which is for all “afforested” pine and hardwood timberlands in the United States planted after January 1, 1990. Afforested means trees planted in previously non-timbered areas; for example, tracts that were pasture or row-crops prior to being plant
