An Econometric Analysis of the Costs of Sequestering Carbon in Forests

The Kyoto Protocol and the U.S. Climate Change Plan recognize afforestation as a potential means of reducing atmospheric CO₂ concentrations. To examine the cost-effectiveness of afforestation, we use econometric land use models to estimate the marginal costs of carbon sequestration in Maine, South Carolina, and Wisconsin. Our findings include the following: (a) earlier studies of afforestation programs tend to underestimate carbon sequestration costs, (b) afforestation still appears to be a relatively low-cost approach to reducing CO₂ concentrations, (c) Wisconsin offers the lowest-cost opportunties for carbon sequestration, and (d) projected population changes have the largest effect on costs in South Carolina. Copyright 1999, Oxford University Press.