In the fight against smog, Dow branches out
The company unveils idea to plant trees.
Updated 9:12 pm, Thursday, February 7, 2013
Earlier this week, we read about a new idea worthy of one of those breathless TED talks: Dow Chemical Co. is considering a plan to meet federal air-quality guidelines not by installing smokestack scrubbers, but by... wait for it... planting trees ("Chemical makers may turn to trees to clean air," houstonchronicle.com, February 4).
Forests of water hickory, Texas red oak and certain other native species could be a cost-effective alternative to higher-tech smog-fighting methods, according to research by Dow, the Nature Conservancy and the University of Florida. Over the course of three decades, a hypothetical new thousand-acre forest near Freeport, where Dow hopes to expand, would remove an estimated 202 tons of nitrous oxides from the air - and would do so at a lower cost per ton than the usual concrete-and-steel methods.
Notably, that hypothetical thousand-acre scrubber forest is just a starting point. In the Houston region, researchers have identified 165,000 acres available for air-cleaning trees.
"This is applied environmental science," Laura Huffman, state director of the Nature Conservancy, told Chronicle reporter Matthew Tresaugue. "It is not just planting trees. There are compounding benefits."
Those benefits are easy to love. Trees provide habitat. They lock carbon dioxide into soil, where it doesn't contribute to global warming. Their shade cools the surrounding area. And those forests could do double duty as parks.
Is this all too good to be true? We hope not.
But we're also glad that for once, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality isn't rushing to approve an industry plan.
Even supporters note that scrubber forests need to be approached with care. For instance, since trees release volatile organic compounds, planting the wrong species would actually contribute to pollution, not fight it.
Before the TCEQ signs off, the forests' results must be proven quantifiable, permanent and enforceable.
We're hoping that the plan crosses those hurdles.