Has Tree Hugging Become the Bipartisan Solution to Climate Change?
By: David Tamasy
In an age of hyper partisan fighting in Washington over just about every issue one can think of, law makers have entered into one of the most important issues of our time which is climate change. Their solution? As the Hill Reports, Republicans are putting the finishing touches on a bill that would cement President Trump’s commitment to a global initiative to plant 1 trillion trees. Legislation drafted by Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.), that was unveiled last week, would commit the U.S. to planting some 3.3 billion trees each year over the next 30 years, an increase of about 800 million trees per year.
The bill is just one component of a coming package of legislation from House Republicans that offers their solution to the climate crisis following Democrat’s rollout of their own sweeping plan that would aim to have the U.S. reach carbon neutrality by 2050. But Republican’s efforts to deal with carbon so far lie primarily in sequestering it in trees, which can take in carbon and store it, offsetting some atmospheric carbon dioxide emissions. Westerman’s bill also comes on the heels of a Democratic climate plan that would push utilities to work toward 100 percent carbon-free electricity by 2050 and require reduced emissions from both cars and airliners.
Is Tree Planting Truly a Viable Solution to Address Climate Change?
According to a recent article in the Independent Magazine, Jean-Francois Bastin, an ecologist and geographer at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, has spent the past decade trying to answer that question.
Several years ago, Finkbeiner wanted to know how many trees currently exist, a question that inspired his collogues Bastin, Crowther and others to map global tree density. In a study published in the journal Science in 2015, they estimated that there are about three trillion trees on the planet. A follow-up in 2019 found room, theoretically, for about a trillion more.
Using Google Earth satellite images, Bastin, Crowther and their colleagues examined 80,000 half-hectare plots in protected areas worldwide, noting where trees should be abundant, such as rainforests, and where they don’t grow, such as grasslands. Using this knowledge, they calculated the total theoretical canopy cover in today’s climate if the planet were scrubbed of human existence.
When the needs of people were added back into the equation, the researchers calculated that an additional 0.9 billion hectares could be covered with trees, an area the size of the US. When fully grown – which would take hundreds of years of effort – this forest would suck more than 200 gigatons of carbon out of the atmosphere, or 25 per cent of the carbon in the atmosphere, the scientists calculated. The study found that six countries hold more than half the potential to restore trees – the US, Russia, Brazil, Canada, Australia and China – because they have the most land available to plant. Additionally, according to the article, few scientists dispute that trees are useful, but many have concerns regarding the Bastin, Crowther Paper including its failure to address the challenges of reforestation and preventing deforestation.
Conclusion
While it appears that tree planting might not be the solution that scientists have been looking for to solve the climate change crisis, it may be an important tool in mitigating its effects over time. Additionally, in an age where bipartisanship in Washington appears endangered or nearly extinct, legislation such as this could give hope to many that our legislators are taking steps to prevent one of the most important issues on voter’s minds.
Sources
https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/tree-planting-climate-change-trump-greta-thunberg-philippines-a9299256.html
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/480968-gop-lawmaker-wants-us-to-commit-to-planting-33-billion-trees