Let’s Just Plant A Trillion Trees
The Climate Denier's Playbook
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Green Responsibility: Planting Hope
This chapter explores the role of personal responsibility in environmental activism, focusing on a tree-planting initiative led by a prominent figure. It critiques corporate marketing strategies while highlighting the importance of sustainability efforts, including a campaign for reforestation.
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Why stop emitting when we can just plant a bunch of trees?
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CREDITS
- Created by: Rollie Williams, Nicole Conlan & Ben Boult
- Hosts: Rollie Williams & Nicole Conlan
- Executive Producer: Ben Boult
- Post-production: Jubilaria Media
- Researchers: Carly Rizzuto, Canute Haroldson & James Crugnale
- Art: Jordan Doll
- Music: Tony Domenick
- Special thanks: The Civil Liberties Defense Center, Shelley Vinyard & The Natural Resources Defense Council, Angeline Robertson & Stand.Earth
SOURCES
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- Popkin, G. (2019, October 24). Catchy findings have propelled this young ecologist to fame—and enraged his critics. Science.
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- Kennedy, B., & Tyson, A. (2024, March 1). How Republicans view climate change and energy issues. Pew Research Center.
- Roll Call. (2020, March 11). Is the GOP warming to climate action? Trillion trees plan hopes for growth. YouTube.
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- Hasler, N., Williams, C. A., Vanessa Carrasco Denney, Ellis, P. W., Shrestha, S., Terasaki, D. E., Wolff, N. H., Yeo, S., Crowther, T. W., Werden, L. K., & Cook-Patton, S. C. (2024). Accounting for albedo change to identify climate-positive tree cover restoration. Nature Communications, 15. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-46577-1
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- Vadell, E., de-Miguel, S., & Pemán, J. (2016). Large-scale reforestation and afforestation policy in Spain: A historical review of its underlying ecological, socioeconomic and political dynamics. Land Use Policy, 55, 37–48. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2016.03.017
- TED-Ed. (2023, December 19). Does planting trees actually cool the planet? - Carolyn Beans. YouTube.
- Howard, S. Q.-I., Emma, & Howard, E. (2022, December 12). “How are we going to live?” Families dispossessed of their land to make way for Total’s Congo offsetting project. Unearthed.
- Garside, R., & Wyn, I. (2021, August 6). Tree-planting: Why are large investment firms buying Welsh farms? BBC News.
- Gabbatiss, J., & Viisainen, V. (2024, June 26). Analysis: UK misses tree-planting targets by forest the “size of Birmingham.” Carbon Brief.
- Buller, A. (2022). The Value of a Whale. Manchester University Press.
- Alexander, S. (2024, May 3). A Billionaire Wanted to Save 1 Trillion Trees by 2030. It’s Not Going Great. Bloomberg.
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- Choi-Schagrin, W. (2021, August 23). Wildfires are ravaging forests set aside to soak up greenhouse gases. The New York Times.
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- What’s the potential of a trillion trees? (2020). Crowther Lab.
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- TED Audio Collective. (2022, July 3). Can planting trees really stop climate change? | Thomas Crowther | The TED Interview. YouTube.
- Fleischman, F., Basant, S., Chhatre, A., Coleman, E. A., Fischer, H. W., Gupta, D., Güneralp, B., Kashwan, P., Khatri, D., Muscarella, R., Powers, J. S., Ramprasad, V., Rana, P., Solorzano, C. R., & Veldman, J. W. (2020). Pitfalls of Tree Planting Show Why We Need People-Centered Natural Climate Solutions. BioScience, 70(11). https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biaa094
- Oglesby, C. (2021, Feb 9). Republicans want to plant 1 trillion trees — and then log them. Grist
CORRECTIONS
- Felix Finkbeiner was 13 years old when he spoke at the United Nations, not 12.
- The industry that has currently contributed the most to Rep. Bruce Westerman’s career campaigns for federal congress is the Forestry & Forest Products industry, as reported by Open Secrets. The Oil & Gas industry is listed as #2.
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