1     
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION ON CARBON SEQUESTRATION

2     
ON RANGELANDS

3     
2015 GENERAL SESSION

4     
STATE OF UTAH

5     
Chief Sponsor: Michael E. Noel

6     
Senate Sponsor: David P. Hinkins

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8     LONG TITLE
9     General Description:
10          This concurrent resolution of the Legislature and the Governor calls on the President of
11     the United States to direct federal agencies that implement management practices that
12     increase soil carbon sequestration to develop comprehensive plans that achieve the
13     maximum amount of carbon sequestration possible and increase the economic and
14     environmental productivity of rangelands and urges similar action within each state.
15     Highlighted Provisions:
16          This concurrent resolution:
17          ▸     declares that emphasizing improved soil health as the primary means of removing
18     atmospheric carbon dioxide represents a win/win solution to the current climate
19     change controversy;
20          ▸     calls on the President of the United States to direct those federal agencies currently
21     permitted by law to implement management practices that increase soil carbon
22     sequestration to develop, in a timely fashion, comprehensive plans to achieve the
23     maximum amount of carbon sequestration possible in ways that will increase the
24     economic and environmental productivity of rangelands;
25          ▸     finds that these actions, if taken by the President of the United States, fit firmly
26     within the purposes of the President's Executive Order 13653 and other statements
27     made by the President;
28          ▸     calls upon the leader of each legislative house in each of the other states to
29     implement improved soil health as the primary means of removing atmospheric

30     carbon dioxide to the maximum extent possible; and
31          ▸     urges Utah state agencies with authority to manage lands to increase soil carbon
32     sequestration, or that may encourage greater soil carbon sequestration on private
33     lands, to also develop plans to accomplish these goals for the benefit of the
34     environment and citizens of the state of Utah.
35     Special Clauses:
36          None
37     

38     Be it resolved by the Legislature of the state of Utah, the Governor concurring therein:
39          WHEREAS, the national debate over whether and to what extent human activity is
40     contributing to climate change is increasingly heated and divisive;
41          WHEREAS, the federal government has identified carbon dioxide as a pollutant and as
42     the major contributor to climate change;
43          WHEREAS, many of the proposals and technologies being considered by the federal
44     government to reduce carbon dioxide emissions would, if implemented, cause major
45     dislocation and great economic harm to the state of Utah and the nation;
46          WHEREAS, because of these negative impacts, many citizens strenuously oppose
47     implementing the current carbon dioxide reduction proposals;
48          WHEREAS, forests, rangelands, and agricultural soils have long been recognized as
49     major carbon sinks for removing and storing atmospheric carbon;
50          WHEREAS, these terrestrial carbon sinks have become less effective in storing
51     atmospheric carbon in recent decades;
52          WHEREAS, due to sub-optimal management practices on vast acreages, terrestrial
53     carbon sinks are actually releasing previously stored carbon into the atmosphere as carbon
54     dioxide and therefore contributing to atmospheric carbon dioxide loading;
55          WHEREAS, in recent years, scientific research has resulted in much better
56     understanding of the dynamics of healthy soil communities that are the active mechanism to
57     sequester atmospheric carbon;

58          WHEREAS, in recent decades the development and application of advanced forestry,
59     rangeland management, and agricultural practices have been demonstrated conclusively at the
60     experimental, farm, and landscape scale to improve the health of these soil communities,
61     thereby generating a wide range of economic and environmental benefits;
62          WHEREAS, these benefits include increased productivity and profitability of lands,
63     restored native bio-diversity, improved watershed health and quality, improved quality and
64     quantity of water, better wildlife habitat, increased resistance to drought, and in the long term,
65     the sequestration of vast amounts of atmospheric carbon in the soil;
66          WHEREAS, while these advanced practices have been widely demonstrated in various
67     locations, including Deseret Ranch in Utah, they have not been incorporated into federal land
68     management practices to any significant degree;
69          WHEREAS, current unwise and unscientific rangeland management practices
70     mandated by the federal government are not only the major cause of the continued widespread
71     deterioration of public rangeland, and all the associated economic and environmental harm, but
72     also are contributing to atmospheric carbon dioxide loading through the loss of carbon dioxide
73     sequestered in these soils;
74          WHEREAS, far superior grazing policies, including those widely demonstrated at
75     Deseret Ranch and other locations, could easily be adopted by federal management agencies
76     and would not only reverse this current decline but would also heal ecosystems;
77          WHEREAS, these more effective grazing policies would produce a wide range of
78     economic and environmental benefits;
79          WHEREAS, proven advanced forestry practices would, if adopted by federal land
80     management agencies, substantially improve the health and productivity of forest lands, greatly
81     reduce the risk of catastrophic fire, restore native biodiversity, and generate a wide range of
82     other economic and environmental benefits while vastly increasing the amount of atmospheric
83     carbon being sequestered;
84          WHEREAS, productive partnerships between federal, state, and local government
85     agencies and private entities have shown great promise as they have implemented these best

86     management practices on a landscape scale;
87          WHEREAS, terrestrial carbon sinks offer immense potential for removing vast amounts
88     of atmospheric carbon;
89          WHEREAS, scientists calculate that if best management practices were applied to
90     forests, rangelands, and agricultural lands, the lands have the potential to sequester all of the
91     atmospheric carbon produced by human activities from the beginning of the Industrial
92     Revolution to the present day;
93          WHEREAS, unlike the disruptive, unaffordable, and economically unsustainable
94     approaches now being pursued, applying these techniques to sequester carbon long-term will
95     result in net benefit to the public and private interests;
96          WHEREAS, this approach to carbon sequestration is clearly a win/win solution to the
97     climate change debate;
98          WHEREAS, this approach effectively meets the concerns of those who believe that
99     atmospheric carbon dioxide levels must be reduced while alleviating the concerns of those who
100     oppose current approaches due to the harm to consumers, the state of Utah, and the nation
101     because this approach generates major economic and environmental benefits at little or no net
102     cost;
103          WHEREAS, Presidential Executive Order 13653 was signed in November 2013 and
104     directs federal agencies to prepare to deal with the effects of climate change; and
105          WHEREAS, this executive order has set as a goal for all federal agencies with any
106     responsibility for natural resource management to "increase...carbon sequestration":
107          NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of the state of Utah, the
108     Governor concurring therein, declares that emphasizing improved soil health as the primary
109     means of removing atmospheric carbon dioxide represents a win/win solution to the current
110     climate change controversy.
111          BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature and the Governor call on the
112     President of the United States to direct those federal agencies currently permitted by law to
113     implement management practices that increase soil carbon sequestration to develop, in a timely

114     fashion, comprehensive plans to achieve the maximum amount of carbon sequestration
115     possible in ways that will increase the economic and environmental productivity of rangelands.
116          BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature and the Governor find that these
117     actions, if taken by the President of the United States, fit firmly within the purposes of the
118     President's Executive Order 13653 and other statements made by the President.
119          BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature and the Governor call upon the
120     leader of each legislative house in each of the other states to implement improved soil health as
121     the primary means of removing atmospheric carbon dioxide to the maximum extent possible.
122          BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature and the Governor urge all state
123     agencies with authority to manage lands to increase soil carbon sequestration, or that may
124     encourage greater soil carbon sequestration on private lands, to also develop plans to
125     accomplish these goals for the benefit of the environment and citizens of the state of Utah.
126          BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution be sent to the President of
127     the United States, the Majority Leader of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the United
128     States House of Representatives, the United States Secretary of the Interior, the United States
129     Secretary of Agriculture, the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services, the United
130     States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the United States Secretary of
131     Commerce, the United States Secretary of Energy, the United States Secretary of
132     Transportation, the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the leader of each
133     legislative house in each of the other states, and the members of Utah's congressional
134     delegation.