First Name | Torri |
---|---|
Last Name | Estrada |
Email Address | testrada@carboncycle.org |
Affiliation | Carbon Cycle Institute |
Subject | Natural and Working Lands, Scoping Plan Comments |
Comment | On behalf of the Carbon Cycle Institute, we are writing to offer comments, suggestions, and amendments to the Discussion Draft of the 2030 Target Scoping Plan Update, with emphasis on agriculture and working lands. We would like to direct you to our December 2016 comments on the earlier draft of the Scoping Plan Update and our comments in response to “Carbon Sequestration Modeling Methods and Initial Results for the Natural and Working Lands Sectors”, as those comments are still highly germane and should be reflected in this latest version. We will provide further comment and suggestions related to the proposed actions to “enhance” and “innovate” in the Natural and Working Lands sectors (Chapter IV, Section D4). We want to highlight our disappointment that this Final Draft of the Scoping Plan Update does not take appropriate and reasonably achievable efforts to define robust goals, actions, and strategies for the 2030 timeframe for Natural and Working Lands. We strongly feel that the lack of completion of the modeling efforts for baseline for the Natural and Working Lands sector should not preclude the development and discussion of near-term goals and actions, including setting a robust overall goal. To that point, there are considerable existing and near-term efforts on carbon sequestration and management of working and agricultural lands that alone could make significant contributions to the 2030 Target, as well as help advance our knowledge and on-the-ground impacts on climate change, resilience, and the drought. The Carbon Cycle Institute’s mission is to stop and reverse climate change by advancing natural, science-verified solutions that remove atmospheric carbon while promoting environmental stewardship, social equity and economic sustainability. To that end, we support projects that promote climate-beneficial management practices on working lands throughout California, work to build the technical capacity of land managers and producers to plan and implement impactful projects that reduce GHGs and sequester carbon in the lands base, and are heavily engaged in gathering scientific data on the important role these practices can play in sequestering carbon from the atmosphere. California’s working lands and rangelands naturally capture carbon from the atmosphere through photosynthesis and transfer it to the soil, where it provides important ecological services, including the enhancement of soil water holding capacity. Land managers can dramatically increase carbon storage in California’s soils by employing a number of practices recognized by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) as climate beneficial, including compost application, riparian restoration, no-till farming, windbreaks, agroforestry and other practices. Along with increasing long-term carbon sequestration in soils and plant material, these practices also offer additional water, habitat, and economic viability benefits for farmers and working land managers. We would like to see increased emphasis on the potential role of soils in helping the state meet its 2030 GHG reduction goal of 40 percent below 1990, in light of both the tremendous demand from producers to implement carbon-beneficial practices and the robust infrastructure and leadership at the regional and local level ready and able to move projects forward at scale. The State’s GHG and carbon reductions targets for 2030 and 2050 are extremely ambitious, which we applaud, but they are deeper than what has been accomplished to date. Without the natural and working lands sector, in general, and carbon sequestration and soils, specifically, it is difficult to see how the State will meet its 2030 and 2050 climate goals. As detailed below in our comments, the IPCC and leading climate experts agree that we must engage our soils in agricultural and working lands in a significant manner to address climate change, and we need to take significant steps now to scale our efforts in this arena if we want to reap the benefits in the 2030 (and 2050) timeframe. Thank you for your just consideration of our comments and recommendations. |
Attachment | www.arb.ca.gov/lists/com-attach/150-scopingplan2030-UTABdVEyBwtRJABj.docx |
Original File Name | ARB Scoping Plan Comments - Jan 2017.docx |
Date and Time Comment Was Submitted | 2017-04-10 14:47:48 |
If you have any questions or comments please contact Clerk of the Board at (916) 322-5594.