Donald Trump became the 45th President of the United States on the 20th of January 2017, since then he has made some rather bold statements during his time as one of the most powerful men on the planet. One of which is his scepticism towards climate change, having tweeted:
The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 6, 2012
Only 4 months into his presidency, Donald Trump made arguably one of the most controversial decisions in recent decades, whereby he pulled the United States out of the Paris Agreement. This agreement was signed by 195 countries around the globe, with a principle focus of “reducing the amount of greenhouse gas emissions and transitioning towards climate-resilient development”.
However, all is not lost! Due to Barack Obama having signed the initial agreement, the earliest date at which the United States can effectively back out of the agreement is November 2020. Furthermore, back in March, a group of climate scientists launched a project which aims to offset 650 million tonnes of carbon dioxide which would be released as a result of Trump’s reversal on President Obama’s Clean Power. To achieve this target, the project would need to plant 10 billion trees, covering an area equivalent to the size of Kentucky.
The idea of the scheme (known as “Trump Forest”) is get people around the world to contribute towards living a greener life, whereby they pledge trees or donate money towards the Eden Reforestation Projects. Trump Forest itself has no defined area, instead people are able to allocate areas of land which have been recently planted to contribute towards the total area. Once you have planted a tree, you can then upload photographic evidence alongside the location of the tree. Organisers have a principle aim of planting 10 billion trees by 24 December 2017 to cancel out the 650 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, which will be emitted by the United States’ dependence on fossil fuels as a power source. Although 10 billion trees may seem like an unrealistic target, it is the equivalent of just over every person on the planet planting 1 tree in their garden.
Although the project is still in its infancy and only 500,000 trees have been planted and $80,000 pledged thus far, with the final tree having said to be a Christmas Tree which is anticipated to be planted on the White House lawn.
Whether you believe that the project will reach its goal of 10 billion trees by Christmas Eve, this idea will still contribute towards cleaning up the air by reducing the amount of carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere. If you would like to read more about these schemes or even pledge some trees to the Trump Forest, then please check out the websites below:
James Deed
Image: mother-earth.net