CHEVROLET JOINS GRASSLANDS PROJECT

Auto manufacturing company Chevrolet is the first
corporate participant in an initiative that pays farmers
not to convert rolling grasslands, like those pictured
here in North Dakota's prairie pothole region

 

First corporate participant.  As part of program, carmaker has purchased carbon credits equal to taking 5,000 cars off the road.

 

By The Associated Press - Chevrolet is the first corporate participant in a public-private initiative that pays farmers not to convert natural prairie to large-scale crop production, which would release gases that are warming the planet, officials said Monday.

The automaker, a division of General Motors, said it has bought more than 39,000 metric tonnes of carbon credits from North Dakota ranchers in the prairie pothole region, a broad expanse of grasslands and wetlands reaching across the northern Great Plains and parts of Canada.

"The amount of carbon dioxide removed from our atmosphere by Chevrolet's purchase of carbon credits equals the amount that would be reduced by taking 5,000 cars off the road," U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said.

Grasslands store huge volumes of carbon dioxide, one of the gases most responsible for climate change.

Tilling the soil for agriculture releases the gases into the atmosphere.  Preserving grasslands keeps carbon bottled up and preserves habitat for waterfowl and other wildlife.