Quote Originally Posted by jp1 View Post
Why is building more housing not the answer to the cost of housing? Economics 101 says it is. And most construction today uses sustainably managed forests. The old growth wood has already been used up.
I think incentivizing builders to build scads of new housing irrespective of the true demand is not the answer. I say let the market dictate housing development.

And as far as old-growth forests, there are pockets of old-growth forest left in the US (6% of all the forested areas), and those pockets are constantly under attack by private enterprise and local stewards of the forests who find themselves willing to sell out to the developers. In my state of Vermont for instance, I am part of a group that is fighting the sale of a portion of the Green Mountains to loggers because there is old-growth forest in that area. Nothing can replace old-growth forests for maintaining the integrity of the eco-system and sequestering carbon.

It is imperative to protect those trees; it is even part of the national agenda. But you and I know that money wins the day so people need to pay attention to the corporate entities that see only dollar signs and have the political clout to rape the land with no consideration to what we lose in the process.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/a...rowth-forests/

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-...-system-lands/

https://www.theguardian.com/environm...tation-logging