Longtime leader in “conservation capitalism” Norfolk Southern, one of the nation’s premier transportation companies, signed a $5.6 million, five-year reforestation and carbon sequestration agreement with GreenTrees LLC on June 20. In order to offset the company’s CO2 emissions and create a national environmental legacy, NS and GreenTrees will plant 6.04 million trees on 10,000 acres in the Mississippi Delta area that the railroad serves.
GreenTrees, the leader in reforestation programs for private lands in the United States, calls for the planting of native hardwoods and cottonwoods on privately owned acreage in Mississippi and Louisiana. To put the project into perspective, the plantings will represent 211 trees for every NS employee, 299 trees or every mile of NS track, or 1,450 trees for every NS locomotive.
The planting program should deliver more than a million carbon offsets over time. “That’s good news for all of us who enjoy breathing, and it’s a solid financial investment for NS,” comments Blair Wimbush, NS Vice President Real Estate and Corporate Sustainability Officer. “This isn’t mere landscaping – it goes beyond anything else in the transportation industry, and its impact will be felt for generations to come.”