Letter: Don’t forget that Maine trees sequester carbon

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In response to an April 30 letter in the Bangor Daily News, the writer calculated the carbon dioxide generated by burning gasoline and the amount of CO2 saved by his solar collectors. His calculations may be correct, but I think he misses an important point.

According to government figures, the trees in Maine consume most of the CO2 generated in Maine by all sources, cars, people, animals, factories and other sources, and have a lot of capacity left over. The trees use the carbon to make wood that sequesters carbon and produces oxygen, which we need.

We are spending millions of dollars trying to solve a problem that for Maine, at least, is a meaningless effort. Maybe we owe it to the world to take some of their CO2 and convert it for them, but should it be the focus of our lives here?

I think politicians want this concealed because they are committed to taking millions and billions of dollars for this wasted exercise. The triumph of politics over science again. We use CO2 to grow plants that feed people and trees that sequester a lot of carbon.

Donald Lewis

Brewer