QUICK NEWS, July 23: Climate Crisis Requires Ideal Plants; Where New Energy Can Grow

Climate Crisis Requires Ideal Plants Can 'Supercharged' Plants Solve The Climate Crisis? Crops already suck up a lot of carbon dioxide. One scientist thinks they can do much more.

Ravi Agrawal/ Joanne Chory, July 20, 2019 (Foreign Policy)

“…Every year, humanity emits 37 gigatons of carbon dioxide; photosynthetic life can process and capture nearly half of that amount…[Salk Institute for Biological Studies botantist Joanne Chory is] creating plants that absorb more carbon dioxide—and then hold on to it for longer—than their wild cousins through a larger and deeper network of carbon-storing roots, creating so-called Ideal Plants…[The Harnessing Plants Initiative would genetically modify plants to create] a cost-effective and efficient way of actually pulling carbon dioxide down from the atmosphere and sequestering it down into the soil…

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Our ecosystem can naturally take up 17 gigatons of [the 37 gigatons of the carbon dioxide now generated annually] in the soil and the ocean. But the other 20 gigatons is what’s been heating up the atmosphere and wreaking havoc with our weather systems…The Ideal Plant project [is working to make plants produce more suberin,] a compound that all plants make in their roots…[I]t’s the perfect carbon storage device…[The objective is to] make them about 2 percent more efficient at redistributing carbon than they are right now…[The scientists say pulling] down 10 percent of those 20 gigatons of effect is proven, incentives would be justified] for farmers who have crops that suck up carbon dioxide…” click here for more

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Where New Energy Can Grow Harnessing Renewable Energy on our Public Lands

Joshua Axelrod, July 19, 2019 (Natural Resources Defense Council)

“…[New legislation] balances renewable energy production with enhanced environmental stewardship and is a key tool to help limit global climate change…[The Public Land Renewable Energy Development Act of 2019, introduced by Representatives Mike Levin (D-CA) and Paul Gosar (R-AZ),] creates key tools and benchmarks for accelerating the deployment of solar, wind, and geothermal projects [on public lands. It has] bi-partisan support and strong industry endorsement, and it represents a major collaborative effort between conservation organizations, outdoor enthusiasts, the renewable energy industry, states, and counties. Its key provisions provide for… the establishment of a fish and wildlife conservation fund that would support expanding recreational access, conservation and restoration work and other important stewardship activities…[funds] for preserving and improving access, including enhancing public access to places that are currently inaccessible or restricted…

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…[It also includes an ambitious renewable energy production goal for the Department of the Interior to permit and provide incentives for] a total of 25 gigawatts of renewable energy on public lands by 2025—nearly double the current generating capacity of projects currently on our public lands…[and] criteria for identifying appropriate areas for renewable energy development…Key criteria to be considered include access to transmission lines and likelihood of avoiding or minimizing conflict with wildlife habitat, cultural resources, and other resources and values…[Revenues] raised from renewable energy development on public lands…[would be shared with] local communities near new renewable energy projects…[and to support] the efficient administration of permitting requirements…[This legislation allows for rapidly deploying renewable energy projects in ways that are thoughtful, efficient, and promote positive environmental, economic, and social outcomes…” click here for more

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