Sort of, a plant converts a net positive of CO_2 to O_2. This is also another one of those cases where some folks can misunderstand the statement to believe th

Sort of, a plant converts a net positive of CO_2 to O_2. This is also another one of those cases where some folks can misunderstand the statement to believe that plants somehow take in all this CO_2 and scrub it of Carbon. Not really, that Carbon becomes the plant itself. The amount of C's that a plant pulls out of the CO_2's is nearly equivalent to the plant's dead weight. This is important to understand, because old growth forests don't actually remove net CO_2 from the atmosphere, they just fail to release it. If you cut down the forest, the dead plant matter starts decomposing and/or burning and then CO_2 and/or methane goes back into the atmosphere. Or at least, that's how I understand it.