Forests are the only systems we have that can suck carbon out of the atmosphere within the timeframe necessary to save humanity.

The month of March includes the International Day of Forests. It is an important time to note our window for avoiding catastrophic climate change is rapidly closing. We will not solve the climate crisis without a massive increase in the protection of forests around the world, including in our own backyard.We will not solve the climate crisis without a massive increase in the protection of forests around the world, including in our own backyard.

This year I am releasing a report I co-authored with Bill Moomaw, a renowned climate scientist from Tufts University, with one simple but urgent message: forest protection needs to be a national priority in the fight against climate change. Through the release of “The Great American Stand: U.S. Forests & the Climate Emergency,” followed by a series of speaking engagements, Dr. Moomaw and I hope to elevate forests into the national climate spotlight and catalyze new action focused on protecting and restoring our nation’s forests in ways that strengthen the resiliency and economic vitality of our most vulnerable rural communities.

The United States produces and consumes more forest products than any country on Earth. Forest disturbance from logging in the southern U.S. alone is four times that of South American rainforests. The rate and scale of logging are significantly diminishing the extent to which our nation’s forests would otherwise be removing and keeping carbon out of the atmosphere, protecting communities from floods and stabilizing fresh water supplies. We simply cannot afford to ignore this critical fact any longer.