AUGUSTA - A bill sponsored by Rep. Laurie Osher, D-Orono, to incentivize soil carbon storage received unanimous support this week from the Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Committee.
In accordance with directives from the Maine Climate Council's Natural and Working Land's Working Group, LD 937 calls on the chairs of that group to convene stakeholders to develop recommendations to incentivize carbon storage in Maine soils. Maine would be the first state in the nation to develop such an incentive program.
The vegetation growing in Maine's forests and across Maine's rural lands pulls carbon dioxide (CO2) out of the atmosphere and stores it in soils. Plants do this naturally and research shows that land can be managed so that the amount of soil carbon stored increases. Making Maine's soils a net carbon sink would help lower global atmospheric CO2 concentrations and mitigate the impacts of climate change.
"Thirty years ago I transitioned from working as a field soil scientist for the U.S. Forest Service to being a research soil scientist studying the mechanisms that control soil carbon sequestration and loss," said Osher. "In the last three decades, there has been lots of research that identified the best management practices to increase soil carbon storage. However, very little additional carbon has been stored in U.S. soils because there has been no support for landowners to adopt soil carbon storage management practices."
Incentivizing soil carbon storage supports rural job creation. The jobs will include advising best practices, applying amendments to land, and collecting, analyzing and inputting data. These are jobs for individuals with a range of skills. After the economic losses sustained as a result of the pandemic, the boost from these incentives coupled with the resulting new jobs will bolster Maine's rural economies.
"This resolution is not just a plan to engage Mainers across the state in efforts to address climate change," said Osher. "It is a means to incentivize the practice of improving soil health, a jobs proposal, a vehicle for economic development and an opportunity to lead."
The bill will face further votes in the House and Senate in the coming weeks.
Osher is serving her first term in the Maine House and represents part of Orono. She serves on the Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Committee.
Contact:
Jackie Merrill [Osher], 812-1111