Incorporating Ecosystem Carbon Into U.S. Federal Policies: A 'Win-Win' for Climate and Coastal Habitat Conservation

摘要

Our analysis reveals that it is possible to incorporate carbon services of ecosystems into existing processes used to implement the CWA, CZMA, and OPA's NRDA process. In the case of the CWA and the NRDA, incorporating carbon services would only mean including an additional attribute in the calculations of losses or injuries. Carbon services could also be written into funding priorities, research opportunities, and management elements of the CZMA. Thus, the overall processes remain the same; however, the inclusion of carbon services could result in changes in the outcomes, particularly in terms of assessing how much damage may have occurred or how much mitigation of lost natural resource services is necessary.