US government to plant trees to help tackle climate change
- Published
America is about to get a lot more green, as the US government is providing over $1 billion to communities across the country to plant and maintain trees in their local areas.
The aim is to help reduce extreme heat and improve people's access to and relationship with nature.
The $1.13 billion fund will pay for 385 projects across all 50 US states, focusing on the most deprived areas in each one.
Washington DC, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and some tribal nations will also be receiving funding.
The US agriculture secretary Tom Vilsack is set to announce the plans properly on Thursday 21 September, but told journalists ahead of this that "We believe we can create more resilient communities in terms of the impacts of climate," "We think we can mitigate extreme heat incidents and events in many of the cities."
Mr Vilsack will be making the announcement in Cedar Rapids, a city home to 135,000 people that lost nearly all its trees during a huge windstorms, called a derecho, in the summer of 2020.
It's a rare type of thunderstorm that's similar to a tornado, but instead of damage across a wide area, it will travel in a straight line
It can be called a derecho if the wind damage goes on for at least 240 miles (about 400 kilometres) and includes wind gusts of at least 58 mph (93 km/h) or higher across most of it
Cedar Rapids has made tree planting a priority since the storm, and the area will be receiving $6m through the new grants to help with this.
Brenda Mallory, chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, said: "Everyone should have access to nature.
"Urban forests can really play a key role in ensuring both that access but also increasing the climate resilience of communities, helping reduce extreme heat and making communities more liveable."
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