The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources this week convened a Pennsylvania Carbon Management Advisory Group that will help the agency develop a Carbon Management Plan by June 2007.

The Group also discussed a draft update of the 2003 Pennsylvania Greenhouse Gas Inventory which makes projections of what those emissions would be by 2020 if state policies did not change.

The carbon management plan is intended to achieve specific estimated greenhouse gas reductions and co-benefits in the near and mid term through a range of specific new policies and programs, including expansion of existing efforts and the development of “learn as you go” pilots and demos, all focused on activities associated with DCNR.

The ultimate goal of the advisory committee is to make recommendations for specific actions that can be adopted and implemented solely by DCNR, or in partnership with other agencies and institutions.

“Global warming is perhaps the single biggest long-term threat to Pennsylvania’s existing natural heritage,” said DCNR Secretary Michael DiBerardinis. “Our stewardship mission demands that we rise to the tasks of understanding and addressing it within the context of our work in a serious, thoughtful and creative manner.”

The key components of DCNR’s Carbon Management Initiative include:

1. Development of assessments to evaluate forestry and geologic sequestration and coal bed methane baselines and best practices;

2. Development of a forest carbon management plan for DCNR;

3. Development of a geologic carbon management plan for DCNR including geologic sequestration and coal bed methane recovery; and

4. Identification of demonstration projects and pilots.

DCNR already has several carbon management projects underway within the agency including participation in the Midwest Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership, identification of potential geologic sinks for carbon and a white paper “Terrestrial Carbon Sequestration” and its application to State Forest Lands.

The draft Greenhouse Gas Inventory reviewed with the Group projects an increase in greenhouse gas emissions from 300 to 335 million tons between 1990-2020 from electric generation, transportation (the two largest sources), industrial processes, residential, commercial, agriculture and waste management in Pennsylvania, if current policies are not changed.

To help put the increase of just over 1 million tons a year in Pennsylvania greenhouse gas emissions in perspective, 1 ton of coal emits from 3,500 to 4,400 pounds of greenhouse gases, 1 cord of hardwood sequesters about 1,830 pounds and 1 gallon of gasoline emits about 20 pounds.

Pennsylvanians use about 6.2 billion gallons of gasoline and diesel fuels a year and electric generators burn 52 million tons of coal a year, 34 million tons from Pennsylvania.

The inventory includes carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluocarbons, pertfluorocarbons and sulfur hexafluoride. Black carbon was considered separately.

The Group was specifically asked to review and comment on the inventory and be in position to give a recommendation on the inventory by the next meeting in October.

Discussion by several Group participants during the meeting echoed comments by Dan Desmond, DEP Deputy Secretary, who said developing recommendations for DCNR on greenhouse gas reduction and opportunities for sequestering carbon cannot be done without considering other public policy changes that need to be made to encourage new technology for removing carbon dioxide emissions from power plants and the market price mechanisms needed to provide power generators with the incentives to install advanced coal-burning technologies.

John Quigley, from DCNR, said it would be appropriate for the Group to “T-up” policy issues for others to follow through on, but the focus of the Group were steps that DCNR can take.

There are several bills and resolutions pending now in the General Assembly on the climate change issue. Among them—

· House Bill 500 (Vitali-D-Delaware) requiring a report on global warming impacts and economic opportunities for the Commonwealth, a greenhouse gas inventory and a greenhouse gas action plan;

· House Bill 2744 (Vitali) providing grants for municipal climate change action plans;

· Senate Bill 1213 (Erickson-R-Delaware) requiring a report on global warming impacts and economic opportunities for the Commonwealth, an inventory of greenhouse gas emissions, creating a global climate stakeholder process, a registry of greenhouse gas emissions and for a climate change action plan; and

· House Resolution 692 (Ross-R-Chester) directing the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee to report on methods to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Membership on the DCNR Advisory Group includes representatives of the Departments of Agriculture, DCNR, DEP as well as: Dr. William Harbert, University of Pittsburgh, Elizabeth Martin Perera, Natural Resources Defense Council, John Hanger, PennFuture, Ronald Ramsey and Dylan Jenkins of The Nature Conservancy, Paul Lyskava, Pennsylvania Forest Products Association, Keith Craig, Pennsylvania Hardwoods Development Council, Will Price and Al Sample, Pinchot Institute for Conservation, Ken Manno, Pennsylvania Sustainable Forestry Initiative, Dr. Coeli Hoover, Rich Birdsey and Jim Smith, USDA Forest Service, Greg Socha, Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, Blaine Puller, Kane Hardwood and Dr. Klaus Keller, Brent Yarnal, Robert McKinstry, William Easterling and Marc McDill from Penn State University.

The Center for Climate Strategies, a policy center of Enterprising Environmental Solutions, Inc., and the Pennsylvania Environmental Council are providing facilitation and staff support services for the project.

The next meeting of the Group is October 23. At least two other meetings of the Group are planned, along with a public input session and conference calls for members between the scheduled meetings.

8/4/2006