Dr. Patrick Moore, co-founder of Greenpeace and chairman and chief scientist of Greenspirit Strategies Ltd., published an article today debunking a lot of the apparent bullshit spewed in Hollywood's latest doomsday documentary: Leonardo DiCaprio's The 11th Hour. The good doctor says he's "concerned that we're losing sight of some indisputable facts." Facts? What are those? Science and politics aren't about facts! They're about emotions and opinions, duh.

Annnyway, Dr. Moore, bless his soul, has attempted to use the tediously dull medium of the written word to try to talk some sense into people. Zzzzzz. No powerfully dramatic soundtrack? No theatrical images and special effects in fast-forward? Booooring. And what's all this talk about trees? Yawn.

As a lifelong environmentalist, I say trees can solve many of the world's sustainability challenges. Forestry is the most sustainable of all the primary industries that provide us with energy and materials. Rather than cutting fewer trees and using less wood, DiCaprio and Berman ought to promote the growth of more trees and the use of more wood.

Wait, so Greenpeace is encouraging us to cut down trees to promote environmenal renewal? Environmentalists and the timber industry, hand-in-hand, singing "Kumbaya" together? Can this crazy world get any weirder? But Dr. Moore is not alone. Earlier this month, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer published an article titled 'Green' allies see environmental value in logging.

Environmentalists and leading Democrats are advancing a new way to "green up" the state's portfolio by setting aside $70 million of state money to buy forestland for logging.

That may seem odd, but global warming has been redefining the rules of nature -- and politics, too. Environmentalists and their political allies say in the long run, logging is better for the planet than unchecked development.

Dr. Moore offers a scientific explanation of why using more wood can be beneficial for the environment.

The relationship between trees and greenhouse gases is simple enough on the surface. Trees grow by taking carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and, through photosynthesis, converting it into sugars. The sugars are then used as energy and materials to build cellulose and lignin, the main constituents of wood.

Although old trees contain huge amounts of carbon, their rate of sequestration has slowed to a near halt. A young tree, although it contains little fixed carbon, pulls CO2 from the atmosphere at a much faster rate.
When a tree rots or burns, the carbon contained in the wood is released back to the atmosphere. Since combustion releases carbon, active forest management -- such as removing dead trees and clearing debris from the forest floor -- will be imperative in reducing the number and intensity of fires.

To address climate change, we must use more wood, not less. Using wood sends a signal to the marketplace to grow more trees and to produce more wood. That means we can then use less concrete, steel and plastic -- heavy carbon emitters through their production. Trees are the only abundant, biodegradable and renewable global resource.

He ends by calling The 11th Hour "another example of anti-forestry scare tactics," and encourages us all to start putting cold, hard science before Hollywood-hype. Hear that, Leo? Put down the hand-mirror and plant a goddamned tree.

Synthiviper

Chicago, IL

June 2004

AUG 29, 2007 04:15 PM

Pretty sure I did my part when I checked the box to have tree planted when I ordered my new Dell XPS megacomputersystem. It was the least I could do, and I brag about it every chance I get because I'm an American!

brucejuice

Brooklyn, NY

February 2004

AUG 29, 2007 04:36 PM

It is factually inaccurate to associate Patrick Moore with Greenpeace. True, he was involved with the organization in the early 70s but that relationship was severed more than a decade ago. His stated policies are routinely at odds with the now International organization Greenpeace. The two couldn't be farther apart.

aaronthere

San Francisco, CA

September 2003

AUG 29, 2007 04:39 PM

Hey didn't Brad Pitt buy enough forest to compensate for his co2 production?

SockPuppet

I'm lost

July 2006

AUG 29, 2007 05:12 PM

I agree we need to be using more wood.

However, Moore omits the fact that old trees and dead wood are essential to a healthy woodland ecology.

And this

North Americans are the world's largest per-capita wood consumers and yet our forests cover approximately the same area of land as they did 100 years ago.

takes absolutely no notice of the sources of much of the wood North America actually uses for furniture and other long-term carbon sequestration in wood.

Take this guy's statements with a pinch of salt.