Why is an organization called Trump Forest striving to plant enough trees to cover an area equivalent to the size of Kentucky?
The policies of US President Donald Trump, that’s why.
The New Zealand based project was launched following an executive order, signed by Trump on March 28, which threatens to have severe environmental impacts.
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Protecting the environment is essential to achieving an end to extreme poverty. You can take action with Global Citizen here to support Global Goal 13, which focuses on climate action.
Trump’s executive order goes after the Clean Power Plan (CPP) created during the Obama Administration, mandating that it be rewritten. If implemented in its entirety, the rule could potentially reduce carbon emissions by 650 megatons. But many environmental groups fear that the environmental rule will be gutted during its re-evaluation.
Meaning those megatons of carbon emissions that would have been avoided could end up entering the atmosphere.
Other environmental policies set forth by Trump certainly justify claims that the rule could be drastically cut.
After Trump said he would pull the US from the Paris Climate Agreement, he announced his plans for the Mexico-US border wall, which would cut directly through the Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge in South Texas, devastating an area home to hundreds of animal species.
Trump Forest told BBC that even though only a small number of people voted Trump into office, everyone has “to deal with the consequences of his climate ignorance,” and something must be done to combat those consequences.
To offset Trump’s climate policies, Trump Forest is aiming to plant 100 billion new trees by 2025.
A goal, it seems, they just might reach.
Within the first month of operation, Trump Forest recorded over 15,000 trees planted from the pledges of 450 people around the world. The number of trees has since soared to 120,000.
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In a single year one tree can absorb 48 pounds of carbon dioxide. To put that into perspective, in a year, an acre of trees can absorb the amount carbon dioxide equal to the amount released by driving a car 26,000 miles.
To participate in the project, all one has to do is plant a tree anywhere in the world and send the receipt to the Trump Forest team so they can track how many life-saving trees are growing in the world.
Alternatively, one could simply send a donation here and The Eden Reforestation Projects, a Trump Forest charity partner, will use the funds to plant more trees.
Founded by British climate scientist Dr. Dan Price, American PhD candidate Jeff Willis, and French-New Zealander Adrien Taylor, Trump Forest is responsible for new trees across every continent, except Antarctica.