Let’s Just Plant A Trillion Trees
The Climate Denier's Playbook
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Rooting for Change: The Tree Planting Debate
This chapter critically examines the rhetoric around tree planting as a solution to climate change, questioning the authenticity of political initiatives. It highlights historical context, grassroots movements, and the importance of local engagement in environmental efforts. The conversation culminates in discussing significant research on the global tree population and the potential for enhancing climate action through reforestation initiatives.
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Episode notes
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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- Kennedy, B., & Tyson, A. (2024, March 1). How Republicans view climate change and energy issues. Pew Research Center.
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- Erratum for the Report: “The global tree restoration potential” by J.-F. Bastin, Y. Finegold, C. Garcia, D. Mollicone, M. Rezende, D. Routh, C. M. Zohner, T. W. Crowther and for the Technical Response “Response to Comments on ‘The global tree restoration potential’” by J.-F. Bastin, Y. Finegold, C. Garcia, N. Gellie, A. Lowe, D. Mollicone, M. Rezende, D. Routh, M. Sacande, B. Sparrow, C. M. Zohner, T. W. Crowther. (2020). Science, 368(6494). https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abc8905
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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.
- Hodgson, C. (2021, August 4). US Forest Fires Threaten Carbon Offsets as Company-Linked Trees Burn. Inside Climate News.
- 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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