It would seem though, that extending his argument to the extreme; what we should do is cut down the old growth forest, plant replacements and use the concentrated carbon (wood) to build homes in the desert where trees don't grow.
And this would be bad how?? There is nothing magic about "old growth forest". ALL forests should be managed by appropriate cutting of trees. A lot of people seem to get the notion that "forest management" means clear-cutting everything, and planting new trees, which it does not. Preventing proper forest management is the source of most of todays wildfires.