Reducing sulfur emissions..?

Question

Rather than spending money to further reduce gas emissions from their power stations, the Dutch government has decided to spend $35 million on reduction of sulfur emissions in neighbouring Poland and $300 million in tropical countries to plant new trees in areas where the trees have been felled. Why did the government make this decision?

Answer 1

They felt, (with good reason), that SOx was a worse polutant than CO2.
If they do manage to reforest denuded areas, they may well get more CO2 reduction for the $ than they could by trying to increase the efficiency of existing power plants.
The Dutch are pragmatists and pretty good engineers.

Answer 2

I think this is a very good idea.

If you look at the alternatives, nuclear power for instance. Wind power is a good idea but you would have to cover so much space with turbines to produce the power from one power station people would soon get fed up with those. Solar panels are too expensive at the moment.

Planting new trees will offset at least part of the carbon dioxide released in to the atmosphere. It will give jobs to people in the tropical counteys that might otherwise be employed to chop down forest.

First time i've heard of it, a great idea i hope it catches on.