Purpose
- Investigates the causes of economic imbalances.
- Investigates causes tending to destroy or impair the free-market system.
- Explores and develops market-based solutions.
Summary
In 2025 and 2026 CSE seeks support to extend our work on forest carbon pricing and market-based solutions to deforestation and forest degradation by (1) advocating for a no-net-forestland-loss policy in key land use planning processes; (2) continuing to publicize and disseminate our peer reviewed paper and model legislation for a forest carbon tax and reward program; (3) researching and advocating for carbon border adjustments both in the US and internationally that include a price on forest carbon; (4) building strategic alliances with wood alternative industry leaders to help combat logging subsidies and timber industry disinformation, and; (5) defending and extending legal victories holding public agencies accountable for the social cost of forest carbon emissions under state environmental policy acts.
Purpose
Climate change has been referred to as the most spectacular market failure ever. The market’s failure to incorporate the costs of climate change into prices of wood and paper products supports a tremendous level of over-production, over-consumption, and wasteful uses of these commodities. Putting a price on high-emissions logging operations is a critical market-based solution for internalizing the catastrophic costs associated with climate change and rebalancing markets to support efficient use of energy resources, forestlands, and wood products. With respect to forestlands, CSE has pioneered the development of several market-based policy interventions that decision makers can use to help expedite the transformation of industrial forest practices to climate smart alternatives. These include forest carbon tax and reward, subsidy reform, cap and invest, no net loss and climate resiliency plans for large owners.
Scope
We are working at the federal level by participating in new regulatory processes initiated by the Biden-Harris Administration via Executive Order 14008, Executive Order 14072, and the new US pledge to end deforestation and forest degradation by 2030. Despite being rescinded by President Donald Trump the processes initiated by the executive orders nonetheless are continuing with IRA funds that cannot be recalled and thus require our engagement. There are also a slew of new threats to US forests caused by the Trump Administration’s executive orders and resetting of federal agency priorities. Although limited, we do envision working at the federal level to push back against these emerging threats. We are also working at the state level in parallel executive-order processes, primarily in the states of Maine, North Carolina, Washington and Oregon.
