Biden signs order to protect US old-growth forests from wildfires | Climate Crisis News
On Earth Day, the President of the United States pledged to plant 1.2 billion trees and compile statistics on aging trees across the country.
US President Joe Biden signed an executive order to strengthen the protection of the country’s old-growth forests during a war. climate crisis that has exacerbated wildfires and other environmental disasters.
Plan, announced on Earth day on Friday, will create the first inventory of old-growth forests on federal lands. It also calls for expanding reforestation efforts and building partnerships for reforestation outside of U.S. government-owned lands.
“Our forests are the lungs of our planet. They actually recycle and move CO2 out of the atmosphere; that’s what they do,” Biden said in a speech in Seattle on the west coast of the United States.
Biden also announced plans to plant 1.2 billion trees across the country, a move he said would “start the important work of reforestation in America.”
“It makes sense and it makes a big difference, both in our cities and on our city streets,” Biden said of the tree-planting plan.
The past year has seen an increase in environmental disasters across the United States, including fatalities heat waveforest fire and stormy.
Experts say climate change has caused the annual US wildfire season to start earlier and get hotter, especially in the western part of the country. Last summer, the fires were destroyed entire community across California and killed thousands of giant Sequoia trees.
Despite Biden’s emphasis on the environment, climate activists criticized President of the United States for not fighting the crisis more aggressively.
The White House is currently stalled social spending program included measures – funded with billions of dollars – to cut carbon emissions and mitigate the effects of climate change, but due to an impasse in Congress, all are now dead.
But Biden spoke about his own environmental record on Friday, including his push for electric vehicles as well as terms in a $1 trillion bipartisan party. infrastructure bill which he signed into law last year.
“Bipartisan infrastructure legislation… I signed off to provide billions of dollars for a nationwide network of 500,000 charging stations,” he said.
However, Biden urged Congress to do more.
“Look around, cities and states are taking action; business is taking action; I am taking action. We also need Congress to act,” he said.
Democrats hold a small majority in the House and thinnest majority in the Senate, where conservative Democrats Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema regularly upset Biden’s plans.
On Friday, Biden attacked Republicans for not cooperating with him on major legislation. “This is not your father’s Republican Party… this is the MAGA party now,” he said, referring to his predecessor. Donald Trump campaign slogan, Make America Great Again.
The US President also emphasized racial justice aspect of the environmental crisis, as lower-income and more diverse communities are more likely to feel the brunt of environmental disasters.
“We put environmental justice at the heart of what we do, addressing the disproportionate health, environmental and economic impacts that are borne primarily by communities of color,” he said. , places that are often left behind”.
The White House released a statement previewing the environmental executive order earlier in the day.
“Wildfires and extreme weather events are increasing in frequency and intensity, engulfing communities in the West and across the country, and costing lives,” it said. house and money. “Because President Biden knows the costs of inaction are too great, he is taking bold executive action and reaffirming his call to Congress to address the crisis. climate”.
