ABSTRACT
Information I am providing is not to be taken as current policy of the United States Government except where I explicitly state it as such. The whole policy arena involving carbon sinks, particularly involving agriculture, is unclear. The Kyoto Protocol (United Nations, 1997) leaves many unanswered questions that must be resolved in subsequent meetings of international bodies. As has been stated by members of the Administration: “The Treaty is a work in progress” (Eizenstat, 1998). Even in the case of forestry, where the Protocol explicitly provides for credits for activities that sequester carbon, uncertainty abounds regarding the definitions of the activities (afforestation, reforestation, and deforestation) and the mechanisms for crediting. Until the United States Senate ratifies the Kyoto Protocol — or some manifestation thereof — nothing in the treaty represents U.S. policy unless there is precedence in existing law. That said, let me try to present the preconditions, from the perspective of government, that would most likely have to be satisfied in order for a market in soil carbon credits to develop.
