A New Orleans organization is trying to help fund coastal restoration by quantifying Louisiana wetlands, using hard numbers as a way to offset global carbon emissions.
Companies that send lots of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere — such as power plants and oil refineries — need to offset some of that pollution. So they invest in green carbon projects by spending money on things like protecting forests. One Louisiana company wants to expand that tactic to the Gulf Coast.
Sarah Mack is president and founder of Tierra Resources, a wetlands conservation organization.
"We haven’t really heard that much about blue carbon, which is the carbon stored in wetlands" says Mack. "So in Louisiana we’re talking about salt marshes, cypress, mangroves, and only recently it's been introduced as a way that you can transact, because they've found wetlands systems to be so complicated."
So far, Mack has identified two projects that will put blue carbon to the test this year. One involves planting mangroves on the gulf coast to create natural storm protection. The other uses treated waste water to boost plant and soil productivity in St Charles Parish.
