The First Chapter

So I've decided to start a blog. Hopefully it won't become a futile exercise. I also hope it won't be too drab.

It's raining today but luckily I was able to finish a non-forest plot I had outside of Nichols before it started. The plot fell in this soybean field and afterwords it left a bad taste in my mouth. The crop was not harvested. It was just left to rot. This incenses me. I guess the farmer was given a subsidy by the government to not harvest his crop. I don't know enough about subsidies to go into a full tirade but I think that there is a better use for the land. If that farmer is not going to harvest his/her crops on that field, than why not plant trees instead? He could enter into the Conservation Reserve Program and get subsidies through it. Carbon sequestration markets are becoming en vogue. He could do that and also be helping to clean up the atmosphere.

You see, as plants grow, they produce glucose through photosynthesis. They take carbon dioxide and make sugar. The by-products are oxygen and water. As trees continue to grow and add volume, that sugar is stored in the cells of the tree. The carbon that was used to make sugar is taken out of the atmosphere and stored as biomass. New laws are being passed that would provide tax credits and subsidies for those who decide to plant trees for carbon sequestration. In turn, they promise not to harvest the trees for pulp or timber or whatever else. The farmer could also earn extra income through hunting leases. I know that this market is years away from taking off but I hope that it will and that more land being used for idle crop production will revert back to forest. One can only hope.

It's surprisingly quiet at the library today. Usually phones are going off or people are talking above a whisper. Not today. Maybe the rain has dampened everyone's spirits.

I'm nervous about the UGA/LSU game tomorrow. I don't think that the Dawgs will win. Baton Rouge is a tough place to play and the Dawgs are very bi-polar. If they don't win then any championship implications can be forgotten. With Florida looming in the foreground it will be tough for the Dawgs to win the SEC East if they lose to LSU and Florida. Let's hope for a better outcome.