Roger Sedjo

Resources for the Future · Director, Forest Economics and Policy Program

Following the introduction, Chapter 2 provides an overview of mitigation in the forest sector, addressing the handling of forests under UNFCCC. Chapters 3 to 5 focus on forest-based mitigation options – afforestation, reforestation, REDD+ and forest management – and Chapters 6 and 7 focus on wood-product based options – wood energy and green buildi...

There is increasing discussion in the US Congress of the desirability of reforming much of the US federal tax code. During the last Congress Representative David Camp (R-MI) introduced his tax proposal that seeks to fundamentally reform the tax code by proposing to lower corporate rates while eliminating various tax write-offs and broadening the ta...

Many environmentalists are concerned that renewable bioenergy, such as corn or wood ethanol will not reduce carbon emissions but will deplete forests. Using a general stylized forest sector management model, our study examines the economic potential of traditional industrial forests and supplemental dedicated fuelwood plantations to produce biomass...

Under discussion in the US Congress is the desirability of reforming much of the US federal tax code. Recent proposals include lowering rates and broadening the tax base by, among other things, eliminating tax expenditure write-offs, preferences, and incentives. This study focuses on tax changes that might apply to the timber sector. The study look...

Four research-based insights are essential to understanding forest bioenergy and “carbon debts.” (1) As long as wood-producing land remains in forest, long-lived wood products and forest bioenergy reduce fossil fuel use and long-term carbon emission impacts. (2) Increased demand for wood can trigger investments that increase forest area and forest...

A concern of many environmentalists is that the use of biomass energy will decimate the forests. Searchinger et al. (2008, 2009) examined this issue related to corn ethanol and suggested that substituting corn ethanol for petroleum would increase carbon emissions associated with the land conversion abroad necessary to offset the decline in corn ava...

Biomass energy is expected to play a major role in the substitution of renewable energy sources for fossil fuels over the next several decades. The US Energy Information Administration (EIA 2012) forecasts increases in the share of biomass in US energy production from 8 percent in 2009 to 15 percent by 2035. The general view has been that carbon em...

Forests can play a large role in climate change through the sequestration or emission of carbon, an important greenhouse gas; through biological growth, which can increase forest stocks; or through deforestation, which can increase carbon emissions. Carbon is captured not only in tree biomass but also in forest soils. Forest management and public p...

Wood bioenergy is touted as carbon neutral because biological regrowth recaptures the carbon released in energy production. However, some argue that using wood as an energy feedstock will result in decreased forest stocks and thereby a net reduction of carbon sequestered by forests. Such arguments fail to recognize that increased demand for wood bi...

There is widespread concern that biomass energy policy that promotes forests as a supply source will cause net carbon emissions. Most of the analyses that have been done to date, however, are biological, ignoring the effects of market adaptations through substitution, net imports, and timber investments. This paper uses a dynamic model of forest an...

This article examines the changing structure and ownership of the forest products industry in North America and the Nordic countries. The authors explore company-specific perspectives on why some private forest products companies divest themselves of timberland ownership and others do not. The focus is on the United States, where the forest product...

This project has explored the hypothesis that public fire suppression in fire‐prone areas acts as a subsidy to landowners, incentivizing conversion of land to residential and commercial development. Landowners do not bear the full cost of their choice to build on land in fire‐prone areas, since they do not pay for suppression, though they reap all...

Tropical deforestation has been a major environmental issue for decades, yet the main focus of the rationale for forest protection has been shifted over time. Recently, in the light of climate change, forests are attracting attention for its function of carbon sequestration and storing. In order to slow down the accelerating emission of carbon aris...

The Energy Independence and Security Act of 20075. Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, Pub. L. No. 110-140, 121 Stat. 1492 (2007). http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=110_cong_public_laws&docid=f:publ140.110.pdf (http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=110_cong_public_laws&docid=f:publ140.110.pdf) V...

Wood biomass has been viewed as "carbon neutral"—its uses as energy have a zero carbon footprint. Some observers argue that the use of wood biofuels will result in a decrease of the forest stock and a net reduction of the carbon cap-tured in the forest. Such assessments take a static, accounting view of forest systems and do not consider the effect...

ABSTRACT This paper addresses the effectiveness of tree planting and forest conservation strategies to increase the sink of carbon in global forests. Because forests are expected to sequester additional carbon without explicit human intervention, a baseline case is presented. The baseline predicts that forests will sequester an additional 17.9 Pg (...

Despite the economic and environmental significance of the world’s forests, we have limited data about them. Estimates of deforestation in tropical countries and rates of reforestation or afforestation in boreal and temperate countries are inconsistent. Accordingly, estimates of emissions released in deforestation vary widely and range from 7% to 1...

Biomass offers an alternative renewable energy source to fossil fuels andcan be used to produce energy directly or through the production of iquid biofuels, e.g., ethanol, as a substitute for liquid transport fuels. Biomass also offers a vehicle to sequester carbon dioxide, thereby reducingatmospheric carbon, which contributes to global warming. Ho...

Biomass, a renewable energy source, has been viewed as "carbon neutral" - that is, its use as energy is presumed not to release net carbon dioxide. However, this assumption of carbon neutrality has recently been challenged. In 2010 two letters were sent to the Congress by eminent scientists examining the merits - or demerits - of biomass for climat...

Wood has great potential as a bioenergy source, both as a feedstock for liquid biofuels for the transport sector and also as biomass, a direct source of energy that can be used to produce electric power. Trees, however, are generally slow growing, and some species that do grow quickly are not widely adapted, hence the interest in genetically engine...

Regulatory restrictions have increased in recent years on organisms produced using recombinant DNA and asexual gene transfer, a process commonly called genetic engineering or genetic modification. Regulatory agencies have raised special concerns and required additional scrutiny for perennial grasses and woody plants of interest for biofuels; these...

In a recent issue of PNAS, Hansen et al. (1) did an excellent job of arguing for the need for a more consistent data set to investigate changes in global forest cover. The indicator they chose, gross forest cover loss (GFCL), marks an improvement both in reproducibility and comparability. However, it does so by using data that the authors themselve...

William Nordhaus's proposal to tax fossil fuel at the source could be improved by taxing carbon emissions instead and thereby providing incentives for carbon capture and storage technology, according to Roger Sedjo.

Global reliance on the use of fossil fuels has increased dramatically over the past century but we are now at a crossroads. Questions have been raised about the long-term availability of the energy resource supply, as shown by the Hubbard Curve for petroleum. (Hirsch RL. The Shape of World Oil Peaking: Learning from Experience. Available from: URL:...

Introduction: The purpose of this chapter is to provide an overview of the benefits of forests and biodiversity in the LAC region and to move toward the selection of cost-effective solutions for the protection of these resources. It draws from the literature to describe the situation with forests and biodiversity, both generally and within the cont...

This paper is based on a World Bank–sponsored effort to develop a global estimate of adaptation costs, considering the implications of global climate change for industrial forestry. It focuses on the anticipated impacts of climate change on forests broadly, on industrial wood production in particular, and on Brazil, South Africa, and China. The aim...

When the automobile was developed near the beginning of the last century, it was the relatively new fuel gasoline, not the familiar ethanol that became the fuel of choice. We examine the intersections of the early development of the automobile and the petroleum industry and consider the state of the agriculture sector during the same period. Throug...

Despite many dozens of research projects, hundreds of field trials, and a long commercialized fruit tree, virus-resistant papaya, there continues to be very little public or private sector activity in the United States that is directed toward development of transgenic forest trees. We therefore undertook a survey of scientists knowledgeable in fore...

Against the Cartagena Protocol and widespread scientific support for a case-by-case approach to regulation, the Convention on Biological Diversity has become a platform for imposing broad restrictions on research and development of all types of transgenic trees.

![Figure][1] I was very disappointed to find out (“Fame inflation,” Newsmakers, 1 February, p. [553][2]) that I, like Steven Running, am not a Nobel laureate. According to the “Dear colleagues” letter I received from Ogunlade Davidson and Bert Metz on behalf of the IPCC, I am indeed a

The Report by T. Searchinger et al. (“Use of U.S. croplands for biofuels increases greenhouse gases through emissions from land-use change,” 29 February, p. [1238][1]) adds to the growing concerns regarding the inadequacies and risks associated with corn biofuels [e.g., ([1][2])]. The study

This article examines the competitiveness of the US timber industry under different exchange rate policies using a dynamic optimization model of global timber markets. Recent exchange rate adjustments by economies that compete with the United States in the timber sector suggest that it is important to consider how future trends in exchange rates ma...

Changing temperature and precipitation pattern and increasing concentrations of atmospheric CO2 are likely to drive significant modifications in natural and modified forests. Our review is focused on recent publications that discuss the changes in commercial forestry, excluding the ecosystem functions of forests and nontimber forest products. We co...

Purpose This paper aims to examine the effects of the use of environmental easements and forest certification on the output of ecosystems services from private forestlands in the USA. Design/methodology/approach The discussion of the changes in ownership and management of private forest lands in the USA is based on a review of the literature, the...

This paper examines the potential role of carbon sequestration in forests under a range of exogenously chosen carbon price paths. The price paths were chosen to simulate several different climate change policies. The results indicate that global sequestration could range from 48�147 Pg C by 2105 for carbon prices ranging from $100 to more than $800...

This paper assesses the potential of transgenic trees to generate substantial financial returns in an environmental where there are substantial investment costs in research and development, deregulation and deployment. The formidable obstacles and in addition to the usual research and development costs, include the costs of obtaining requisite inte...

Amid widespread reports of deforestation, some nations have nevertheless experienced transitions from deforestation to reforestation. In a causal relationship, the Forest Identity relates the carbon sequestered in forests to the changing variables of national or regional forest area, growing stock density per area, biomass per growing stock volume,...

This paper examines the potential role of carbon sequestration in forests under a range of exogenously chosen carbon price paths. The price paths were chosen to simulate several different climate change policies. The results indicate that global sequestration could range from 48Ð147 Pg C by 2105 for carbon prices ranging from $100 to more than $800...

Canada and the United States have many similarities, but major differences in the ownership and tenure of forestlands. These differences generate substantial differences in the way stumpage prices are determined in the two countries. These differences, including the argument that the absence of stumpages markets results in the de facto subsidizatio...

Although anticipation of a biotechnology revolution has led to expectations of high rates of adoption and substantial financial returns, one area that has been slow to develop is that of tree biotechnology, particularly genetically engineered (GE) trees designed for the production of wood for industrial purposes (e.g., lumber and paper). Although t...

Governments often use fiscal, exchange rate, monetary policy as well as export promotion tax increases, privatization, and land reform as part of comprehensive adjustments packages for addressing economic imbalances, balance of payments, and structural weaknesses. Such approaches, however, have come under heavy criticism for failing to recognize th...

Genetically improved trees are playing a greater role in meeting the world’s industrial wood requirements. Genetically engineered trees, trees created by asexual means, offer potential to provide higher-quality and lower-priced industrial wood as well as environmental benefits. However, there may also be environmental risks. A regulatory system exi...

This paper examines the hypothesis that changes have been brought about in the forest industry that allow it to participate fully in globalization. The forest industry has undergone profound changes in recent years in large part by new technologies. Whereas traditionally it was primarily an extractive industry that relied on local sources for its b...

This paper examines potential climate change impacts in North American timber markets. The results indicate that climate change could increase productivity in forests in North America, increase productivity in forests globally, and reduce timber prices. North American consumers generally will gain from the potential changes, but producers could los...

The forestry industry provides a good illustration of the active roles that industry associations, environmental nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), national governments, and international organizations can play in developing and promoting codes of conduct that are formally sanctioned and certified. It also reflects some of the challenges of diss...

This article suggests that for transgenic trees to have an opportunity to have a major impact on global production requires that they be developed, deregulated, and commercialized. One question is what effect international agreements may have on this process. The "Cartagena Protocol on Bio-safety to the Convention of Biological Diversity," recently...

This paper examines the competitiveness of the US timber industry under different exchange rate policies using a dynamic optimization model of global timber markets. We assume that exchange rates affect the cost structure of harvesting and managing forests and simulate the model for baseline conditions and four additional exchange rate policies. Tw...

This paper explores the potential effects of climate change on natural and managed forested ecosystems, and the consequent economic impacts on timber markets. Most forests within the U.S. are, or have been, managed at some time. However, large areas of forests receive minimal direct human management and, thus, are considered natural forests for the...

The responsibility for protecting U.S. agriculture from pests and diseases is assigned by the Federal Plant Pest Act (FPPA) to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) of the Department of Agriculture. The Plant Protection Act (Title 7 U.S.C. Sections 7701 et seq.) gives Aphis statutory authority over genetically modified organisms (G...

While genetically engineered food continues to be a source of controversy for citizens and trade officials alike, transgenic wood may well pass into the global marketplace without all that uproar. The same propagation techniques—the artificial insertion of genes into plants to give them traits desired by humans—that have been applied to core agricu...

9 Permit trading among polluting parties is now firmly established as a policy tool in a range of environmental 10 policy areas. The Kyoto Protocol accepts the principle that sequestration of carbon in the terrestrial biosphere can 11 be used to offset emissions of carbon from fossil fuel combustion and outlines mechanisms. Although the lack 12 of...

This report compares the approaches of the governments of Japan, Canada, and the European Union member countries toward using carbon sinks to meet their respective Kyoto Protocol carbon reduction targets. Various policies have been proposed by which governments can sequester carbon by promoting afforestation and reforestation, slowing deforestation...

Extreme weather events such as the ice storm that affected eastern Canada and the Northeastern US in January of 1998 have significant impacts on both human populations and forests. This case study examines the economic impacts of the ice storm on the residential market for fuelwood. It is hypothesized that demand for fuelwood will increase due to t...

In recent years, the application of biotechnology to agriculture has resulted in a host of changes and innovations. Transgenic (genetically modified) crops are now common in much of North American agriculture. Transgenic forestry is not yet at that level of commercial application. However, there are numerous biotechnological innovations under devel...

There has been growing concern over the build-up of greenhouse gase(GHGs) in the atmosphere, particularly carbon dioxide (CO2), as acause of global warming. The IPCC Third Assessment Report (2001) suggests two ways in which the choice of materials could berelevant. First, some materials, particularly wood, have the advantage thatthey continue to ho...

International environmental organizations propose voluntary eco-labeling as a market incentive to promote industry to operate in an ecologically sustainable and environmentally friendly manner. A microeconomic analysis questions whether voluntary eco-labeling will cause producer profits in a competitive industry to decline and whether eco-labeling...

In its attempt to provide quantitative limits on greenhouse gas emissions, the Kyoto protocol accepts the principle that sequestration of carbon in the terrestrial biosphere can be used to offset emissions of carbon from fossil-fuel combustion. Whether or not the Kyoto protocol ever comes into force, it is worthwhile to understand how carbon seques...

Using data for loblolly pine from Georgia's Piedmont, we find that, although the transition from natural to artificial regeneration leads to increased and better distributed stems, the control of competing vegetation results in a dramatic boost to the growth rate from previous- to current-generation plantations. Our results indicate that the margin...

Over the past 30 years, industrial plantation forests have become a major supplier of industrial wood. There are several reasons for this, including the improved economics of planted forests due to biotechnological innovations, the increases in natural forest wood costs due to increasing inaccessibility, and rising wood costs from natural forests d...

A major problem being faced by human society is that the global temperature is believed to be rising due to human activity that releases carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, i.e., global warming. The major culprit is thought to be fossil fuel burning, which is releasing increasing amounts of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The problem of increasing...

Chapter 8 of the IPCC Third Assessment Report: Climate Change 2001 is titled Global, Regional, and National Costs and Ancillary Benefits of Mitigation. This Chapter viewed the actions in the dual context of climate change and sustainable development to gain mitigation benefits as well as sustainability benefits.

An RFF Workshop brought together experts from around the world to assess the feasibility of using biological sinks to sequester carbon as part of a global atmospheric mitigation effort. The chapters of this proceeding are a result of that effort. Although the intent of the workshop was not to generate a consensus, a number of studies suggest that s...

The nature of society's wood supply is changing. Traditionally, industrial wood has been harvested from natural forests created by nature. In the recent past, however, this situation has been changing. Planted forests have become common in some regions, e.g., much of Europe, over the past 200 years. Recently, since about 1960, intensively managed f...

This report assesses the scientific, technical, environmental, economic and social aspects of the mitigation of climate change. Research in climate change mitigation1 has continued since the publication of the IPCC Second Assessment Report (SAR), taking into account political changes such as the agreement on the Kyoto Protocol of the UNFCCC in 1997...

This report assesses the scientific, technical, environmental, economic and social aspects of the mitigation of climate change. Research in climate change mitigation has continued since the publication of the IPCC Second Assessment Report (SAR), taking into account political changes such as the agreement on the Kyoto Protocol of the UNFCCC in 1997,...

Several papers have now estimated the impact of climate change on national timber markets, but few studies have measured impacts globally. Further, the literature on impacts has focused heavily on changes in productivity and has not integrated movements of biomes as well. Here, a dynamic model of ecological change and economic change is developed t...

How serious are the damages associated with global warming? - Volume 3 Issue 3 - ROGER SEDJO

This paper examines the potential role of carbon sequestration in forests under a range of exogenously chosen carbon price paths. The price paths were chosen to simulate several different climate change policies. The results indicate that global sequestration could range from 48�147 Pg C by 2105 for carbon prices ranging from $100 to more than $800...

By 2050 most industrial wood could come from a small area of plantation forests, much of it in subtropical and tropical developing countries, while natural forests could remain for environmental and other non-wood services.

This paper presents estimates of the gain in carbon sequestration withforest areas set aside from future timber production. Three alternative scenarios ofecological processes on the set-aside land are considered. The results suggest thatset-asides are not likely to be cost-effective methods for enhancing carbon storage inglobal forests, although th...

Forestry has been considered to have potential in reducing the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide by sequestrating carbon in above-ground timber and below-ground roots and soil. This potential has been noted in the Kyoto Protocol, which identified specific forestry activities for which carbon sequestration credits could be obtained. To dat...

.---This paper assesses the economic impact of climate change on global timber markets. The results of a large scale ecological model are linked to an optimal control model of global timber markets. The results suggest that climate change may enhance global timber production and reduce prices. The results are driven by several important intertempor...

International environmental groups propose to implement new standards of forest management through programs that certify producers who meet criteria to enhance biodiversity or sustainability. These producers could earn an "eco-label" that identifies their products for consumers. We consider whether a market economy might generate feedbacks that pro...

This paper presents carbon flux estimates arising from the effect of increasing demand on harvests and management of industrial forests in a global timber market. Results are presented for specific regions and the globe. Harvests and management of forests are predicted to store an additional 184 Tg (1 Tg = 1012 grams) of carbon per year in forests...

This paper addresses the potential impact of the introduction and development of biotechnology on planted forests. It includes a description of some recent innovations in forestry including the use of traditional breeding, and also more recent innovations involving biotechnology, including the development of clonal propagation and the use of modern...

This paper examines the question of the likely effects on global forests of a further reduction in wood products tariffs including both solid wood products and pulp and paper, as has been proposed to the World Trade Organization (WTO) by the Asia Pacific Economic Community (APEC). The tariff reductions would be an extension of the tariff reductions...

El Niño events are likely to affect maple syrup production since it is very sensitive to weather events. A statistically significant direct correlation has not been found in our preliminary analysis, however. This may be because many other factors affect production and because weather anomalies also occur in non-El Niño years. Few defensive activit...

A member of the Committee of Scientists sees in its report a new mandate for the Forest Service--a mission that conflicts with existing statutory objectives. If such a change is warranted, he argues, it should reflect the judgment of the American people rather than the values of the appointed scientists. In any case, he believes, without basic refo...